AI Strategy

Sales AI

Spend more time closing deals and building valuable relationships with intelligent sales tools based on Dynamics 365. This tool helps you to identify patterns in your customer data and predict needs that cannot be easily detected by human capabilities alone.

Inaugural AI conference a hit in UK universities

Nightingale HQ (NHQ) continues to ramp up attendance at tech and AI conferences across the UK and Ireland this summer with the first-ever AI conference by the Centre for Doctoral Training in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning & Advanced Computing (AIMLAC UKRI)

6 board-level agenda items and how AI can help

Persistent COVID-19 uncertainty, disruptive technologies, and supply chain challenges are some of the big concerns facing manufacturing CEOs and corporate leaders right now. However, despite uncertainty, we are seeing some promising trends around automation and transforming processes from the back office to the factory floor. Here are the top six board-level agenda items and a look into how AI can help.

Digitising your factory floor is hard

Digitising your factory floor is hard, that’s why we try to accelerate digital transformation in other operational areas. Focusing on helping workers, modernising core functions like Finance, and supporting your growth, gives you the opportunity to demonstrate value whilst gaining digital technology maturity. It’s hard to rapidly change, acquire expertise, and digitise the factory floor at the same time. By working in areas that are easier to change you can free up vital staff time to dedicate to the harder challenges.

The State of AI and learning from Transformers

Deloitte’s State of AI in the Enterprise report is an enlightening read. This edition focuses on becoming an ‘AI fueled’ organisation. The results come from a survey conducted on 2,875 executives from across the Americas, Europe and Asia. They separated companies into four groups based on their success with AI implementation and identified what was driving the success of the highest performers.

Why you should upskill your team with Azure AI fundamentals

As digital transformation and AI adoption become the norm in manufacturing it’s vital that management are all on the same page. A lack of understanding of AI and a fear of the unknown are some of the key barriers to successful implementation in most organisations. Microsoft Azure AI Fundamentals could be your solution.

UK Government supports AI approaches to manufacturing sustainability

The UK government released its AI strategy on 22nd September 2021. We’ve looked at the report and broken down how this will affect the manufacturing industry going forward. We outline some key areas such as skills shortages, addressing net-zero challenges, and new product development as well as the next steps manufacturers can take.

Europe’s Digital Strategy and Manufacturing

Data in manufacturing could have a net benefit of €1.5 trillion by 2027 so the European Digital Strategy needs to help realise that benefit. The strategy will help make common data spaces available and support cloud infrastructures to assist manufacturers.

Data Champions are critical to your success in digitally transforming

Manufacturers need Data Champions to help them succeed in today’s digital world. To learn more about how you can find your Data Champion for your team or company, read on!

Reports supported by AI & automation

Data compilation for reports created by experts is usually more time consuming than writing the valuable content. Using AI and no-code automation techniques, data collation and visualisation can be greatly streamlined, letting staff focus on the value.

EU to recruit world-class AI researchers

While Europe is a global leader in academic research of human-centric artificial intelligence we lag behind when it comes to putting research into practice.

How can Digital Innovation Hubs support SMEs to adopt AI?

A workshop on “AI-standardisation landscape & the role of Digital Innovation Hubs (DHIs)” discussed the role hubs can play in supporting the uptake of AI among SMEs and how they can help technology frontrunners.

Artificial Intelligence growth in the EU

This article is part of an ongoing series sharing insights into the development of AI policy in Europe. In November last year we were appointed to the European DIGITAL SME Alliance focus group on Artificial Intelligence (AI), and as an 'AI intensive' SME, we provide feedback on the adoption of AI technologies in relation with the impact of EU initiatives on the topic.

Grow your business with Social Media Listening

Social media is an important medium for engaging with new and existing segments of your audience. While your social media efforts can help your audience connect with your product, you can be using social media listening to get deeper insights on them to drive operational efficiency and innovation. It's the marketing equivalent of business intelligence.

European Commission selects Nightingale HQ to shape AI policy

The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) and the European DIGITAL SME Alliance have come together to set up a focus group on AI which will shape policy and monitor the impact of AI adoption across the EU. We are excited to announce that Nightingale HQ have been selected to join the focus group, along with 100 other SMEs from across Europe.

Nightingale HQ to present at Digital Manufacturing Week 2020

World-class manufacturers will take the virtual stage at the 2020 Digital Manufacturing Week happening from 9 - 12 November. The Originator of Industry 4.0 Henrik von Scheel and leaders from Cobra Beer, Dyson, Rolls Royce, Airbus, Autodesk will all share experiences of bouncing back in uncertain times. We have also been selected to present at the Made Smarter Emerging Technology Show taking place on Friday 13 November.

Bigger, better sales with AI

Automation and Artificial Intelligence can support the sales team to make bigger, better sales. AI in sales and marketing can be particularly valuable. In this #GoSmarter webinar Steph Locke, CEO of Nightingale HQ takes a look at automation tools in a B2B context and how easy they are to adopt.

COVID triggers a wave of automation

For companies that have survived thus far through the global pandemic, the next huge challenge they face is getting back to normal. Numerous factors, from uncertain cashflow to making the workplace safe enough to return to, prove that the old ways just won’t work.

Social listening for small businesses

Our latest webinar was on social listening. Social listening is monitoring social media for feedback, mentions, or relevant chatter to gain insight or act. The price tag on this capability is at least $150 per month putting it outside the budget of a small business. With #GoSmarter, we're introducing a practically free and highly extendable option for small businesses.

Automation: The fundamentals

GoSmarter is an AI-powered tools and training support toolkit to help businesses optimise digital operations, saving precious time and helping increase productivity.

7 reasons why SMEs need to automate and how

Going digital and using automation has never been more important to small businesses than it has been since COVID-19. Here's some stats you may not know...

Automation for SMEs: the new normal

SMEs are the backbone of our economy, but they have been worst hit by the pandemic. The lockdown has forced many of them to change how they operate and automation has played a key part. However, many small businesses are still apprehensive about taking the first steps and think that automation is only for bigger and scaling businesses. The GoSmarter automation toolbox has been developed to help SMEs kick start their automation journey, quickly and at a relatively low cost.

5.6million UK SMEs - listen up and automate!

This week on AIFightsBack, Steph Locke, CEO of Nightingale HQ, talked about the new GoSmarter automation toolbox, funded by Innovate UK and free for SMEs to use.

2020 - the year of Contact Tracing Apps

Guest contributor on our AIFightsBack webinar series was Dr. Iain Keaney, Data Scientist and Founder of Skellig.ai. Iain took on the world of contact tracing apps and discussed how both governments and companies are fighting the pandemic while mitigating the risk to personal privacy. He pointed to the adoption levels of different countries with China having the largest-scale adoption of contact tracing apps in the world and Iceland next at 40%.

The Jazz Ensemble of Data Science with Novartis

Everyone is an expert and each one is allowed to do their own part separately but when we come together the magic happens. The team lead, along with Math and Stats person, the Data Visualisation, Storytelling team and domain experts all work in unison. This according to Ashwini Mathur, Head of Data Science at the Novartis AI Innovation Hub in Dublin is essential to delivering great data science.

The Historian and AI Webinar (AIFightsBack)

AI for manufacturing has huge potential. As well as clear AI use cases like robotics and automation, the wealth of data being consolidated into industrial time series via historian appliances presents an opportunity for further AI applications. Using the data being consolidated, we can build early warning systems for critical issues, optimise maintenance programs, and improve processes.

Artificial Intelligence for Marketers

Yesterday, we delivered the AI for Marketers webinar as part of our AIFightsBack series. Here, you will find the resources (slides, recording, information, and links) from the talk. As a sector, marketing is ripe for AI adoption due to the volume of data insights available. It's transforming how companies market their products and services to other businesses, streamlining processes at all levels of the sales funnel. Broadly speaking, AI can help to improve the customer journey and improve your ROI on campaigns. But how exactly?

No code. No data. No servers. How Marino Software became a ML company.

Marino Software are one of the longest standing software consultancies in Ireland with almost 20 years under their belt they have seen their fair share of ups and downs. As part of our AIFightsBack webinar series CEO Keith Davey talks candidly about how they have morphed into a machine learning company helping their clients deliver exceptional customer experience. They have a pretty impressive list of clients who are testament to this service and it includes telcos, banks and retailers. Both slides and the webinar are available below.

AI in Manufacturing (presentation, video, and quick guide)

Yesterday, we ran our first AI in Manufacturing webinar, in association with the Irish Centre of Business Excellence. You can grab the slides, read up on the topic, and/or watch the webinar below.

What is AI strategy?

AI strategy refers to a company’s vision for how AI will be deployed to help achieve the company’s business goals. It should be closely linked to your data strategy and hence to your business objectives.

Announcement: AIFightsBack webinar series

It's been a very tough few weeks, and the world as we know it has changed forever. Our families, our communities, businesses and the global economy are all feeling the pressure of the COVID-19 virus. As with many other startups, we feel the impact of these volatile times and we plough on as much as we can. We remain hopeful that many great innovations came out of times of crisis; that is why we have created the AIFightsBack webinar series.

Low ROI from AI is a people problem, not a tech problem

The top blockers to effective AI use in businesses aren't technical issues. They're people problems.

How to use Azure Cognitive Services to make voiceovers for your videos

In this post, we take you through how to use Microsoft's Cognitive Services to generate voiceovers for your videos. In practice, this technique for generating speech from text can be used in a wide range tasks but one of the ways we're using it at Nightingale HQ is to support our marketing team.

What does it mean to be AI-Ready?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) have burst into the spotlight in recent years getting attention from businesses and all levels of society. Awareness of AI has drastically increased as people become more familiar with how the tech giants are using data to enhance their products and create better solutions. The market is opening up to more AI-infused products, and the public are regularly interacting with AI as it slips into their day-to-day lives through smartphones and virtual assistants.

AI Winters and hype

This is not the first time AI has been all the rage in the business world. In particular, AI was big in the eighties with solutions called expert systems. Will AI be a passing fad now?

The AI Hierarchy of Needs meets the Minimum Viable Product

Two of my favourite pyramids are the Data Science Hierarchy of Needs and the Minimum Viable Product. Combining them helps us build effective artificial intelligence (AI) proof of concepts in businesses. It also supports building AI competency at the same time as demonstrating Return on Investment (ROI).

How to score your first AI quick wins: Intelligent Insights

There’s no doubt that going ahead with Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be risky. We’ve seen numerous AI fails from major companies including IBM, Amazon and Microsoft which landed them in hot water, something big companies can often bounce back from, but could be more of a problem for the smaller players. The trick to getting started with AI is to start small, which is where our quick win AI projects come into play.

Mastering AI in manufacturing: the three levels of competency

Manufacturers have been facing continual pressure to improve their technology base, reduce costs, and improve quality since the Industrial Revolution. Manufacturers are used to change but not every manufacturer can or will embrace it at the same rate. Also, no manufacturer jumps straight to being an expert at the new thing they're needing to adopt. The same goes for Artificial Intelligence (AI) as an emerging change in manufacturing.

How to score your first AI quick wins: Social Listening

Marketing is a ripe area for Artificial Intelligence (AI) adoption, with all the data and the insights, but how do you make the jump into the AI pool when you look around and all you see is resistance? Quick win projects are an essential tool for building confidence among your team, particularly when introducing new concepts. That is why Nightingale HQ have created a guide of quick-win projects to help departments and companies ease into AI and build momentum for future, more complex projects. In this edition, we will discuss the benefits of practising social listening and how to pull it off as your first AI win.

How to score your first AI quick wins: Knowledge Worker Productivity

When you choose to introduce Artificial Intelligence (AI) in your organisation or department there can be a lot of resistance and uncertainty, which is why it is important to start small and win fast. By taking on smaller fail-proof projects, you can build up confidence among your team as they begin to see the value of the projects and stop fearing failure and resisting changes. In this project we discuss how to boost knowledge worker productivity, something employees will be able to track themselves and see the true value of. Building momentum in this way will pave the way for greater successes down the line.

Add an FAQ bot to your Facebook page with Chatfuel

If your business has a Facebook page, and you and your staff often find yourselves answering the same questions repeatedly via Messenger, you can take ten minutes out of your day to save hours of time in the future. Score a quick-win with AI by building your first FAQ bot with Chatfuel.

Announcing our Research Panel

We want to help more than one million businesses adopt artificial intelligence (AI) in the next five years. To do that we need your help. We're working on the world's biggest dataset on AI adoption via what we collect on our site, but qualitative data from knowledgeable people can be extremely valuable. As such we're launching our research panel to engage with people around the world.

How to score your first AI quick wins: Sales AI

Making big changes in your organisation or department such as kick-starting Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be a risky move if things don’t go to plan. Getting your team on board from the start is key to longterm success, which is why it’s so important to have an easy way in, such as one of our quick win AI projects. Not only do quick wins provide immediate value for your company or department, but they help build momentum among your team and change attitudes toward your projects. In this edition, we will discuss how to infuse your sales process with AI for ultimate results.

How to score your first AI quick wins: Accessible meetings

Artificial Intelligence (AI) can come across as a make or break move, perhaps a risky step, particularly if you don’t have disposable resources, which is why it is so important to start with some quick win projects in order to build confidence and momentum within the company. The sure success of a quick win project removes the pressure for following projects where there might be more at stake, but they also bring immediate value to your business.

Why do you need business intelligence?

How quickly could you answer the question, "How's your business doing?" if it was asked right now? How detailed would your answer be, and how confident would you be in your answer? If you were utilising business intelligence, your answer would be fast, comprehensive and accurate.

The real dangers of AI: Getting left behind

With AI set to expand and evolve over the coming years, with 61% of businesses already implementing some form of AI, you may be beginning to wonder where AI might fit in your company. Is it a god send to simplify daily work tasks, or is it an unsolicited evil come to displace hardworking individuals? In reality, AI can help to speed up processes and eliminate mundane tasks saving businesses precious time and money, thus it can be used to enhance jobs rather than replace staff.

How to score your first AI quick wins: FAQ chatbots

AIFightsBack webinar Augmenting Customer Service with Chatbots 16 April at 15.00 is now over. Check out our video and slide here

How AI in marketing is enhancing B2B sales

At the end of 2018, Salesforce reported that adoption of AI by marketers had grown by 44% last year, and that adoption rate is unlikely to slow anytime soon. With marketers showing "extensive interest" in exploiting AI for their roles, more and more tools are becoming available to support companies on their journey to smarter marketing. AI is transforming the way companies market their products and services to other businesses, streamlining processes at all levels of the sales funnel.

How can you attract the best AI talent from a limited pool?

According to research by MMC Ventures, demand for AI talent has doubled in 24 months, faster than the talent pool can keep up. As of 2019 there was one AI professional for every two available jobs, so building a team of AI developers for your organisation requires both focused recruitment and a sound retention strategy.

Let your business strategy drive AI adoption

To reveal the tactics and behaviours of companies that are getting the most out of AI, MIT Sloan Management Review and Boston Consultancy Group undertook a survey of more than 2500 executives alongside 17 expert interviews in their 2019 report, Winning with AI. One of their findings was that while 9 out of 10 respondents saw AI as an opportunity for their company, the perceived risk of AI is on the rise, with 45% of respondents reporting perceived risk from AI (compared to 37% in 2017).

Decoding the hype around AI

As the powers and capabilities of Artificial Intelligence (AI) expand and evolve, the same cannot be said for the general understanding of the topic. This has resulted in AI becoming a blanket term that gets misused and thrown around for all things, including things that it’s not. People also have very unrealistic expectations of what AI can do leading in some cases to fear and paranoia over things like potential world domination, in others, disillusion when the AI doesn’t perform to the high standards they were hoping.

How can companies lay the foundations to scale up AI?

Implementing AI at scale in an organisation can yield a wealth of benefits, from improving profit margins to saving workers' valuable time. But getting value out of AI projects requires long-term planning, culture shifts and organisation-wide training.

Project management: Are you backing the right AI projects?

As an executive with an influence over whether your company implements AI and which projects it embarks on, there’s a lot of pressure on you to be successful. The future of AI within your company could rest on you on how your chosen projects perform.

Do you really need big data to start using data science?

All businesses generate data. Even the smallest business has access to hundreds, if not thousands, of interesting data points that they could explore. But it is not uncommon for business owners to think their data is small, inferior and not yet worth analysing. This is where they are wrong every time. Starting small is the best thing you can do, so we say, the time to start your first data science projects is now.

How to get AI to work for your business and enhance operations

Enterprise cognitive computing is the application of AI to enhance business operations. It has a wide range of applications including call handling, fraud detection and maintenance scheduling. ECC systems automate repetitive tasks and improve efficiency through fast search and information processing.

Florence Nightingale: Lighting the way in much more than healthcare

Many may think of Florence Nightingale as the incredible woman who reformed healthcare in ways that still impacts the industry today, but at Nightingale HQ we admire her for an additional reason.