For 2 years already, hundreds of millions of workers have discovered the potential of Artificial Intelligence by freeing themselves from certain painful daily tasks thanks to ChatGPT. This profound transformation of work leads many leaders to ask themselves the same question: how can I make my organization more competitive using AI?
Take part in a revolution already underway
Artificial Intelligence is a discipline at the crossroads of mathematics, computer science and cognitive sciences. Lately, there has been a lot of talk about Large Language Models (LLM), the origin of ChatGPT. There are in fact many other subfields, such as deep learning or reinforcement learning [2].
Generally, these methods involve the use of neural networks, directly inspired by our cognitive system [3]. These artificial neural networks take the form of algorithms and are capable of learning from a data environment, to respond to one or more problems.
As with every technological revolution, the first to benefit from AI are the companies whose leaders have demonstrated boldness and pragmatism. Boldness involves providing access to these new tools, quickly and to as many people as possible. TotalEnergies, for example, stood out by deploying Microsoft's generative AI assistant to all of its employees [4]. Pragmatism translates into the choice of applications guaranteeing a clear return on investment. At this stage, the first applications of AI specific to supply chain demonstrated two ROI levers: saving time for the manager when making a decision and making optimal decisions, that is to say decisions that minimize costs or maximize revenues [5]. Amazon, for example, uses machine learning for a long time in its warehouses. This partly explains the exceptional performance of its logistics [6].
Capitalize on the know-how of French start-ups
France is fertile ground for the emergence of innovations linked to Artificial Intelligence. The main reason for this is the quality of its teaching. French schools such as the Ecole Polytechnique or the ENS train engineers and researchers among the best in the world every year. While many emigrate to the United States and contribute to the success of GAFAM, the dynamism of the French tech ecosystem, supported by a proactive government policy, tends to reverse the trend [7]. Indeed, France is seeing future AI champions emerge on its soil (Mistral AI, Kyutai, H) and numerous start-ups emerging from the country's best incubators are already offering promising business applications. In the sector of supply chain, we can cite DCBrain which optimizes transport routes, Pulse who manages the supply of restaurants or even Alki, a start-up founded in 2022 with Entrepreneur First that is developing the first co-pilot for warehouse team leaders.
Alki started from an observation: in an environment as complex and uncertain as the warehouse, it has become essential for managers to rely on data to make decisions. However, the widespread use of Excel poses many problems. First, its manual side leads to wasted time and entry errors. Then, each file is a risk for the organization to the extent that the sustainability of the process provided by the tool depends on the presence of the person who set it up. Finally, spreadsheets are limited, less powerful than a series of algorithms specially designed for the world of logistics and housed in an easy-to-use application. Alki replaces Excel. The SaaS solution refines data from information systems (ERP, WMS, HRIS) and makes it available to the manager in a digestible and actionable format. This allows it to predict its workload, plan its resources, manage its productivity or even orchestrate warehouse tasks in real time. This new generation technology is powered by algorithms machine learning. Simply put, Alki helps team leaders make better decisions without wasting time on headache-inducing Excel files. Ultimately, the application is intended to become a personal assistant. Loquacious and omniscient, he will be able to guide the manager in the most critical decisions he must make [10].
Demonstrate leadership and support change
We are incredibly lucky. That of being able to experience the next great industrial revolution up close. Supply chain decision-makers have a choice between differentiating themselves or falling behind. Those who stand out are pragmatic and daring leaders, they move AI projects from innovation departments to put them in the hands of operational staff. Furthermore, French leaders have a clear advantage over their European competitors: innovation is produced on their soil by start-ups to which they have easy access. Indeed, behind the fundamental leaders in AI, like Mistral AI, follow start-ups which are going vertical and transforming this technology into value-creating business applications.
Moving from Excel to a voice assistant is a smoother transition than going from pencil to Excel in the 1980s. However, it is the responsibility of leaders to support the change by reassuring the people who will be affected by it. impacted [11].
Artificial Intelligence is a fantastic opportunity to free workers from painful and repetitive tasks to refocus them on more exciting missions. Optimistic and conquering bosses see many levers of competitiveness: increasing the level of production, increasing the quality of work, lowering costs and why not reducing the working hours of their employees [12]. Moving to a 4-day week is a strong argument for attractiveness at a time when it is so difficult to recruit [13].
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