AI

How Could AI Help Boost Your Productivity

A guest article from Lionel Naidoo from Dragon IS

It feels like everyone is talking about Artificial Intelligence (AI) right now – and it’s no surprise, with the last 12 months seeing an explosion in AI-driven tools hitting the market, including releases from big names such as Google and Microsoft. 

For businesses of all sizes this is great news and there are some major benefits to be had for those who make the most of the innovative tech, especially when it comes to boosting productivity. 

Lionel Naidoo, MD at IT solutions provider, Dragon Information Systems, explains: “When people think of AI they often think of something big and complex, but what we’re seeing now is that AI is going mainstream.”

“While historically AI has been used for applications designed for specific tasks – such as marketing automation, accountancy software and time management tools – AI tools are starting to emerge that can support businesses with their day-to-day activities too.”

“By fully integrating and engaging with these type of AI tools, businesses can free up precious time and focus their energy where it is needed most, with significant benefits for productivity.” 

He added: “Adopting AI on a regular basis and starting to save time on daily tasks can collectively have a big impact and the more you engage, the more time you save. The first step is to look at all the different ways the business works and to consider how AI could be best integrated to support each of those areas, overall bringing about an increase in what is achieved every day.”

What kind of tasks can AI help with, day-to-day?

Taking Microsoft Copilot as an example, here are just some of the ways the AI assistant can help with day-to-day tasks across the full suite of Microsoft’s 365 applications:

Outlook – Copilot can summarise what is in your inbox and help pinpoint your priorities for the day.

Word – Whether it’s drafting letters, emails, blogs, social media posts or any other type of communication, Copilot can help provide a draft ready for you to personalise and finesse.

Bing – Rather than conducting a Google search and trawling through webpages, Copilot can do the research for you in a matter of seconds, finding sources and providing links. 

Powerpoint – Copilot can turn a report into a presentation. 

Excel – You can ask Copilot to create new columns and formulas, or look for interesting patterns and trend.

Teams – It can provide a transcription of a Teams calls, help pinpoint key actions and even analyse sentiment to summarise the participant’s views on a topic discussed.

In summary, AI’s ability to automate tasks, analyse data, and provide intelligent recommendations are just some of the ways that the tool can help significantly boost productivity.

To find out more, including for advice on safely integrating AI within your business operations, reach out to the Dragon IS team on info@dragon-is.com