Off-the-Shelf vs Custom AI for Businesses: Why Choosingthe Right AI Tools Matter
Published Date: January 9, 2024
With real-world applications that are yielding tangible results and positively impacting industries, artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a transformative force for a lot of organizations around the world. Organizations are no longer just dabbling in AI for businesses but actively integrating it into their products and services. In fact, a recent report finds that in China alone, 58 percent of companies are already deploying AI and 30percent are considering integration. Furthermore, the same report indicates that the AI market is projected to reach $407 billion by 2027 and is expected to see an annual growth rate of 37.3 percent between 2023 and 2030.
Since the release of ChatGPT, there has been a surge in the number of available AI-driven solutions and tools in the market. From customer service automation, content generation, product and services enhancement, social
data mining, to global trends prediction, one can find an AI tool for any use case.
data mining, to global trends prediction, one can find an AI tool for any use case.
Jumpstarting Your AI Journey: Off-the-Shelf vs Custom AI for Business
With a market that continues to be saturated with AI tools for businesses, choosing the right solution is crucial yet rarely straightforward. Organizations typically get started with AI by adopting either off-the-shelf AI products or custom AI software.
Off-the-Shelf AI: When Cost, Speed, and Support Are Main Priorities
Organizations that are looking to integrate AI directly into their day-to-day business operations benefit the most from off-the-shelf solutions. Besides offering them the unique opportunity to employ AI in a manner that is both accessible and immediate, these tools are also cost-effective, swift to implement, and get extensive customer support.
- Cost. Off-the-shelf AI is cheaper to deploy than a custom solution because organizations aren’t required to make a large upfront investment for AI development or data resources. These tools are also available on a subscription basis and on different price points, which makes expenses consistent, predictable, and transparent.
- Speed. Off-the-shelf AI comes with preconfigured infrastructure and pretrained algorithms which can be indispensable for organizations who value agility or are looking for AI solutions that can be rolled out rapidly. Typically featuring a user-friendly interface, these tools don’t require a technical team to manage them and can be deployed with just a few clicks.
- Support. Off-the-shelf AI removes the burden for organizations to build an in-house team and tools as they come with access to expertise, resources, user communities, and managed technology. By leveraging the capabilities of external specialists to gain insights and make better decisions, organizations can focus on their core competencies instead.
However, off-the-shelf AI solutions are designed to meet more generic business needs. For organizations with unique and very specific use cases, these solutions may not be the right fit.
Custom AI: When Scalability, Control, and Competitive Advantage are Paramount
Though organizations can achieve AI transformation with off-the-shelf solutions, some of their priorities may still not be addressed because there is no existing solution for their business function, industry, or data type that exists yet. Organizations in niche areas that are looking to gain scalability, greater control, and a competitive advantage therefore opt for custom AI solutions.
- Scalability. Over time and as they grow, organizations will discover new use cases and opportunities. Custom AI is tailored to address an organization’s business requirements and built to scale with it as it grows—making the addition of more users, data, features, and functionalities to it faster and easier.
- Control. Custom AI grants organizations full autonomy to customize and meticulously tune their own foundational models. Because these tools have been configured to work better with an organization’s workflows and processes and trained with its dataset, each of their components and functionalities offer maximum compatibility and performance. Additionally, custom AI gives total control over how an organization’s data, particularly sensitive information, is processed and stored.
- Competitive advantage. Custom AI offers maximum accuracy, efficacy, and relevance as it is specifically tailored to fit an organization’s operational context, strategic objectives, and use case. Because custom AI accommodates and integrates more seamlessly with an organization’s proprietary data, knowledge, and business processes, these tools include features that other organizations may lack and provide unique insights that they could leverage to move ahead of its competition.
Finding the Right AI Tool for Your Organization
Without a doubt, tool selection involves a consideration of several factors and can be a lengthy process. Consequently, most organizations that are keen on making the most out of AI are now asking: What should I consider when choosing the AI tool to deploy? Is there a way to guarantee that it will work seamlessly for my organization? What is objectively the best business AI tool currently available?
The best business AI tool does not exist, because what works for other organizations may not work for you and vice versa. Instead, organizations need to take a hard look at their priorities: Is cost-effectiveness a more pressing consideration than functionality? Will having support have a more palpable and immediate effect on efficiency and performance than customizability? Does the speed of deployment and integration take precedence over having full control of the tool?
Making an informed decision on which solution to select requires a strategic and comprehensive approach.
- Identify your goals. Determine the goals you want to achieve with AI. Aside from understanding your objectives—whether it be task automation, customer experience enhancement, or trends prediction—, envisioning how AI has successfully integrated with your workflows and processes can additionally guide your tool selection.
- Evaluate your business needs. Look into your processes and identify areas that require data analysis, automation, predictive capabilities, and other pain points where AI can make a difference.
- Research available AI tools. Check the different AI tools and solutions in the market. Compare factors such as customer reviews, features, functionalities, ease of integration, pricing, and scalability.
- Take short-term and long-term costs into account. Consider the upfront investment and ongoing maintenance costs of adopting and implementing AI tools—these tools should offer a favorable return on investment.
- Consider data privacy and security. It is crucial to protect sensitive business information, and the AI tools you choose should comply with data regulations and have robust security measures in place.
- Assess vendor support and reputation. Choose vendors with a proven track record of providing excellent customer support. Aside from reading reviews, get feedback from other businesses that have used the tools and learn from their experience.
- Factor in scalability and future needs. The right AI tools should be able to adapt to future needs and changes in technology so that they can scale with your business as it grows.
- Get feedback from stakeholders. All relevant stakeholders should be involved in the decision-making process. Ensure AI tools meet diverse business needs by collecting feedback from different departments.
The success of your AI implementation primarily hinges on how well your chosen AI tool addresses your needs, considers your resources, and aligns with your business objectives. With pressure from competition that is increasingly placing AI at the strategic core of their business operations, it is important to leverage AI with the right tools as soon as possible.
Get Expert Help in Your AI Tool Selection
AI is advancing at an unprecedented pace, and organizations have a wide range of AI tools and solutions at their disposal. Yet the overwhelming variety of available options poses a significant roadblock for many and makes tool selection a daunting task.
At XURPAS AI Lab (XAIL), we understand AI’s intricacies, business value, and potential. With our team of independent, technology-agnostic experts, we can help you evaluate your organization’s needs, resources, and risk tolerance so you can find or build the right AI tools and solutions for your business. With these tools, you can confidently navigate the evolving AI landscape and steer toward your goals.
Regardless of your requirements or readiness, XAIL is committed to your AI success. We will help you at every step of the way—from assessment, planning, and implementation, to monitoring, optimization, and adaptation—so that you can create new innovations, enhance your operations, and yield tangible business results with the power of AI and data science.
Are you looking to kickstart your AI journey but can’t decide what AI tools are right for your organization? Schedule a call with our experts today.