Navigating volatility: how AI is supporting businesses
Today’s businesses face a huge problem: balancing the demands of multiple, fast-moving disruptions all at once. “The biggest challenge that leaders are facing today is the high degree of volatility that’s associated with a number of forces that are impacting their business all at once,” says Liam Buswell, Director at True. “The speed and potency of those forces is something we haven’t seen in a long, long time.”
According to Omera Khan, a global thought leader in supply chain risk and resilience, “It’s almost impossible to predict every risk. But actually, sophisticated tools and technologies have enabled us to forecast risk a lot better. There’s lots of technologies that can help improve transparency and continuous monitoring.” This is where artificial intelligence in business offers an edge. When used strategically, AI can help leaders navigate uncertainty, forecast change with more precision, and allocate resources with greater agility. While disruption can be unnerving for some, Omera asks how we can energise and even embrace it.
The future of globalisation is hybrid
As companies rethink their global supply networks, we’re seeing a shift toward more hybrid and regionalised models. “Where we are with globalisation is it’s going to be a hybrid approach” explains John Gattorna, supply chain thought leader and author. “Running a complex global, regional, and local type network will be more complicated. But the good thing about that complexity is if something breaks it won’t destroy the whole system.”
This complexity makes the case for AI and automation solutions even stronger. Redundancy and recovery are easier to build when systems are digitised. According to Ros Shinkle, CEO and Co-Founder of Tuesday Lab, AI automation will be critical in making regionalised manufacturing economically viable. “We know there’s this trend towards near-shoring manufacturing. And if we’re going to do that in a way that is actually economically efficient, we’re going to need way more automation.”
The benefits of AI in business go beyond resilience
The benefits of AI in business are growing. From predictive analytics to autonomous operations, the potential of business automation with AI is rapidly expanding. And as more tools become accessible, the ability to scale this impact across organisations becomes a key advantage. According to Liam Buswell, getting AI right means meaningful productivity gains. “It creates space for people to focus their time on more high-value tasks that require human creativity and human input.”
This reflects a broader trend in AI business process automation—using intelligent tools not just to do things faster, but to free up human talent for more strategic, creative, and relationship-driven work. AI doesn't just replace manual tasks; it reshapes how businesses think about value creation. “AI technologies allow us to solve problems in a completely different way,” says Ivan Poupyrev, CEO of Archetype AI.
How to implement AI in business: Start with focus, not scale
Although the opportunity is clear, the path to AI adoption can seem overwhelming. The best approach is to start small, with targeted use cases that offer fast feedback and measurable value. “Find those specific areas where AI can amplify your operations,” Poupyrev advises. This could be automating a specific process, using AI to improve customer insights, or integrating intelligent tools into supply chain forecasting. By identifying practical entry points and aligning with business objectives, companies can turn AI transformation into a phased, manageable process—rather than a disruptive overhaul.
Rethinking tomorrow: AI is a business enabler
In a volatile world, AI helps businesses do more than just react. It empowers them to anticipate, adapt, and thrive. Whether it's through AI business process automation, real-time risk analysis, or smarter operations, the organisations investing in AI and automation solutions today are building a foundation for resilience, innovation, and growth today that will benefit tomorrow and beyond.
Now with so many opportunities to implement AI in business, as Ivan says, “with artificial intelligence systems and large behaviour models, every business becomes an AI business.”
