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Humans in the Loop: AI’s New Business Models From Boston Consulting Group

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Maureen Metcalf, CEO of the Innovative Leadership Institute, shared this article as a companion to her podcast with Suchi Srinivasan, Boston Consulting Group Managing Director and Partner Humans in the Loop: AI’s New Business Models. 

Link to the entire interview:

Listen to the companion interview and past episodes of Innovating Leadership: Co-Creating Our Future via Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, Spotify, Amazon Music, Audible, iHeartRADIO, and NPR One.

In a rapidly evolving digital landscape, keeping up with technological advancements is no longer a luxury but a necessity for contemporary business leaders. These innovations, especially in the field of artificial intelligence, are drastically redefining the way businesses operate. They steer businesses towards an efficient, sustainable, and profitable future. However, while AI has the potential to reshape business models, it also comes with its unique set of challenges.

1. Addressing Ethical Challenges in AI Adoption

The evolution of AI has brought with it challenges that organizations must face, chief among them being ethical considerations. The protection of consumer data, the need for unbiased algorithms, and the imperative for responsible use of this technology are issues that cannot be downplayed or overlooked. The solution lies in adhering strictly to ethical guidelines, implementing stringent security measures, and fostering transparency within organizations. Introducing rigorous stability checks and setting robust standards is also key as we navigate the landscape of an ever-evolving AI vendor ecosystem. By doing so, we are laying the foundation for an AI future that is not only innovative but also accountable.

AI, as a tool, is powerful enough to disrupt established systems and processes, and its infusion into business models necessitates the formulation of a new code of ethics. At this intersection of innovation and responsibility, enterprises have the opportunity to affect positive change at an unprecedented scale. By addressing the ethical challenges that come with AI adoption, companies can ensure that they are not only delivering greater value to customers but also safeguarding their interests. The real potential of AI lies not just in its ability to streamline operations and offer new services but in revolutionizing the very fabric of business conduct by fostering a culture of accountability and trustworthiness.

2. Harnessing AI for Business Model Innovation

The implementation of AI has drastically reshaped the business landscape, offering unprecedented opportunities for innovation and entirely new possibilities for value creation. AI is not merely a tool for automation or increasing efficiency; its most significant potential lies in its capacity to offer unique insights from large unstructured data sets. These insights can empower companies to develop new products or services, fundamentally disrupting traditional business models in the process. Instead of selling raw data, companies are now able to deliver ready-to-consume insights, heralding a shift in the value chain and opening doors to entirely new commercial and billing models. Enterprises have been gathering data for years, hoping to obtain a return on investment. AI offers a significantly faster path to ROI by leveraging this data. Instead of just selling data, businesses can now deliver ready-to-consume insights and reports tailored to the specific needs of their clients.

This opportunity represents a paradigm shift in how we approach value creation in the business world. It places the emphasis on a more client-centric model, where businesses move from selling raw materials or data to providing deep, actionable insights that clients can readily consume and implement. In this sense, AI facilitates a more nuanced understanding of consumer needs, allowing businesses to create more tailored, high-value offers. Moreover, it allows businesses to optimize their operations, making them more efficient and environmentally friendly. The potential is enormous, and we’re only just beginning to scratch the surface. By harnessing the full potential of AI, businesses can not just improve their offerings but disrupt their own business models, paving the way for future growth and success.

3. Mitigating Biases in AI Models for Accuracy

While AI brings automation and efficiency, managing bias in AI models is extremely important. Our reliance on these models for crucial insights and decision-making creates an imperative need to ensure they’re not swayed or affected by inherent historical or human biases. They should represent a fair and balanced interpretation of the world. Suchi Srinivasan suggests that AI models with a capacity ranging between 10 billion to 50 billion parameters are more adaptable to nuances and contexts of these fields. They offer a more focused mitigation of bias and can incorporate explainability better, producing trustworthy insights. As we rely more and more upon these models in guiding critical business decisions and strategies, it is paramount to continuously focus on refining them, actively seek out ways to mitigate biases and strive for accuracy. Remember, AI isn’t a substitute for human intelligence but a tool to augment it. So, the responsibility of ensuring it accurately represents our world lies with us as well.

 

ABOUT THE GUEST:

Suchi (Suchita) Srinivasan has worked at Boston Consulting Group since October of 2010. She is a core member of BCG’s Health Care practice and has significant experience in biopharma—specifically focused on market access, pricing, commercial strategy, and innovative growth. She is the lead for global value, access, and pricing in biopharmaceuticals.

Suchi helps clients with new product planning by supporting investment decisions and ensuring careful consideration of the relevant market and development drivers.

She supports due diligence efforts by quickly understanding new markets, unmet needs, and how to win. In her recent casework at BCG, Suchi also developed end-to-end disease area strategies to identify key areas for investment, led the strategy development for an imminent competitive threat, supported the US salesforce effectiveness effort to identify HCP value drivers, developed the brand positioning strategy for a launch drug entering a competitive class, and developed creative pricing, reimbursement, and access strategies for a drug entering a highly competitive class of drugs by building the narrative around value derived.

 

Thank you for reading Innovative Leadership Insights, where we bring you thought leaders and innovative ideas on leadership topics each week.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

Ready to measure your leadership skills? Complete your complimentary assessment through the Innovative Leadership Institute. Learn the 7 leadership skills required to succeed during disruption and innovation.

Check out the companion interview and past episodes of Innovating Leadership: Co-Creating Our Future on your favorite podcast platform, including Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, Spotify, Amazon Music, Audible, iHeartRADIO, and NPR One.

When Produce Produces Innovation with Avocados From Mexico CEO

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Alvaro Luque, President & CEO of Avocados From Mexico shared this article as a companion to his podcast Avocados: When Produce Produces Innovation.

Link to the entire interview:

Listen to the companion interview and past episodes of Innovating Leadership: Co-Creating Our Future via Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, Spotify, Amazon Music, Audible, iHeartRADIO, and NPR One.

This year, Avocados From Mexico celebrates a major milestone — 10 years of fast, exponential growth. Our company was created to do two things: build a brand for Mexican avocados, and drive avocado demand in the U.S. In our first decade, we’ve tripled brand preference, becoming by far the preferred avocado brand in the U.S., and doubled the volume of Mexican avocado imports. All this while generating an economic output of more than 11 billion dollars.

Innovation and a passion for performance have been the driving forces behind our success story. By reinventing the way produce is marketed in the U.S., we have created a visible brand in a brandless category that is now considered a staple in the Super Bowl and have driven consumption to almost 9 pounds per capita in the U.S. Today, 8 out of 10 avocados in the U.S. come from Mexico.

I am incredibly proud of the team that we have built and the hard work that has gone into expanding the avocado market in such an unprecedented way. Since our founding, we have developed a long-term strategy to accomplish the goals of building a brand and driving demand, and we have successfully implemented our company programs following a disciplined business model approach guided by this process:

  1. Let STRATEGY be the igniter. First and foremost, in this company, we believe that everything needs a why. I love risky marketing ideas, but I firmly believe that strategy is king. A good strategic vision and a solid insight are the north star guiding you to the results you want to achieve. Always, always start there, and don’t let shiny objects distract you along the way.
  2. Stay in your lane and DISRUPT everything around you. Once you identify the why, the strategy allows you to set the playground where you can be creative. At this moment, go crazy and break the mold. Be as disruptive as possible and try to do what no one else has done, but always within your playground. I believe in innovation that matters — creative ideas that have an impact and drive results.
  3. Have a PERFORMANCE mindset from beginning to end. Measure, measure, measure. Creativity always needs accountability. Ideas can’t just be strategic and disruptive; they need to move the needle, and everything can be measured if you pre-define well your success metrics. Concentrate on the biggest opportunities in front of you and then bring the results.
  4. Repeat, improve, and build a CULTURE around it. Following this formula creates a discipline that sparks the innovation and brings results. Now, be sure to do that in a way you can enjoy yourself and collaborate with amazing people around you. That’s culture. I like to say, “Work hard and have fun,” and I believe that perspective helps keep our team motivated, bringing the results while having a good time. At Avocados From Mexico, the essence of our culture and brand is Mexicanity, our term for the celebration of meaningful good times. That’s the spirit we use to celebrate our innovative, high-performance programs that have built this brand in a brand-less world.

I’m a big believer in balance. I am a marketer, I love creativity, but with accountability and a strategy behind you that delivers results. If you can manage that balance between these two worlds and make them work seamlessly day by day, you are going to be successful. As the leader of the company, it’s my job to make sure that we’re moving the needle, but at the same time, I’m committed to fostering an environment where new ideas are supported. I must wear those two hats and be good at them simultaneously, but in the end, it is not only me that will drive this organization. It’s this group of highly engaged and effective people we have been fortunate enough to bring together at AFM. As their leader, it is also my job to offer my team the tools they need to be successful.

With that in mind, I’ve been developing some tools in each of the four quadrants of our thinking model to help our team execute our formula and foster a culture of innovative thinking and high performance:

  • Strategic Framework and Planning Process. We developed a detailed strategic framework that we have kept very consistent throughout the years. The framework defines very well our main targets, campaigns, channels, and strategic pillars. Every department in the company has its own framework that ladders up to our main one. That’s how you keep your company aligned and consistent. With a good framework in hand, we worked on a disciplined planning process that follows our thinking model, sets a solid foundation for creativity, and defines the goals we want to accomplish. We’ve been implementing and refining the process for years.
  • Innovation Ecosystem. We nurture our innovative spirit in everything we do. Disrupting is part of our DNA. To get to that mindset, you need to invest in it. One of our big priorities is training, so our team is constantly pushing the limits and thinking outside the box. We have identified within AFM “innovation champions” to make sure we continue thinking differently, and we have promoted innovation through our planning exercises and our own innovation awards that highlight our best ideas, always using the balance of creativity and accountability at the same time. We like to call that Brandformance.
  • Performance Platform: Measure What Matters. Tracking progress is just as important as the activations and ideas themselves. Using OKR thinking, we created our own customized digital platform where we track our growth. With this system, the whole company is measurable and visible to everyone. The process also inspires team members to consider clear goals and objectives that are defined from the bottom up not only to empower and encourage advancement but also to foster innovation and collaboration and serve as a place to ideate new ways to improve business. We even use this performance platform as our daily recognition tool to highlight our best work.
  • Develop a Culture Map. Our Culture Map defines our company’s purpose and the values we have as an organization. And because we are obsessed with performance, we develop our own operating guidelines for each value so we can operationalize our Culture and be sure we walk the talk.

After 10 years, I believe Avocados From Mexico’s thinking model is successful for a variety of reasons. Not only do we prioritize bold strategies and creative ideas, but we also understand that our creativity needs to drive results. That’s what modern marketing is all about, creating Value and Growth for our organizations.

I am optimistic about the future of AFM — and the future of innovative marketing as a whole. If we as leaders have a solid strategy, a good thinking process, and a true commitment to think differently and drive results, you will ultimately be successful at anything you do. That’s how I’ve built AFM and how we will continue thriving for the future.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Alvaro Luque has transformed the produce industry by delivering innovative marketing strategies that not only defy established paradigms but also deliver impressive results. With more than 28 years of marketing experience in the CPG and produce industries, Alvaro has successfully built a brand in a brandless category. Under Alvaro’s leadership, Avocados From Mexico (AFM) has led the growth of U.S. avocado consumption to more than 2.5 billion pounds per year, and today, 8 in 10 avocados in the U.S. come from Mexico. Alvaro’s vision for making AFM the first fresh produce brand to advertise in the Super Bowl is one of many industry firsts that have positioned AFM as the most preferred brand of avocados in the U.S. and one of the most innovative produce companies in the world.

 

Thank you for reading Innovative Leadership Insights, where we bring you thought leaders and innovative ideas on leadership topics each week.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

Ready to measure your leadership skills? Complete your complimentary assessment through the Innovative Leadership Institute. Learn the 7 leadership skills required to succeed during disruption and innovation.

Check out the companion interview and past episodes of Innovating Leadership: Co-Creating Our Future on your favorite podcast platform, including Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, Spotify, Amazon Music, Audible, iHeartRADIO, and NPR One. Also, stay up-to-date on new shows airing by following the Innovative Leadership Institute on LinkedIn.