☰ Menu
☰ Menu
AI (Artificial Intelligence) chat tools are grabbing headlines, but what difference will that make in how you run your business? Many software tools targeted at SMBs offer these enhanced features, but what is the risk of AI?
MLA Companies’ fractional CFO solutions encourage human strategic financial advice. We help you define your objectives for your business and help you find the right tools to get there.
QuickBooks, maker of the popular business finances software, began rolling out its AI features last year. Other products aimed at small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) have followed. These tools can help time-constrained business owners get up and running, manage their day-to-day operations, and reduce the need for hiring additional team members. SMBs are turning to technology and artificial intelligence to try and fill the gaps.
But technology and AI without a human touch can be more damaging to a business than helpful. Seth Morgan, President and CEO of MLA Companies, says, “If you have basic problems in how your business is structured going in, no tool is going to help it. It almost always makes it worse. We’ve served clients who are stuck partway through a big implementation of some software package, and they’re worse off than when they started. They call us to not only fix that but get them back on track to where they need to be.” That is the risk of AI.
The best approach is to refine the process by hand, then find a tool to automate it faster and repeatedly. Solutions are marketed as providing solutions that they’ve designed for a few large categories. But if you don’t fit perfectly into one of those lanes, it becomes a frustrating experience.
Morgan offers this advice; “While most business owners believe technology helped them grow in challenging conditions, it’s not a one-to-one replacement. Technology and AI should be balanced by human involvement to mitigate this overreliance.”
MLA Companies offers finance, strategy, and solutions. Our expertise can help you determine where you’re going and select and deploy the tools to help you get there. Contact us to learn more.