Applied AI for Business Consultants: Mastering AI Solutions for Today’s Challenges

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GA Students in classroom working on laptops and writing on a whiteboard

Consulting — by its very nature — disrupts. With a penchant for status quo shaking and innovative thinking, consultants are the architects of strategic initiative and organizational transformation for their clients. Therefore, it begs the question: why shouldn’t you spearhead the adoption of artificial intelligence powered solutions?

The time is now, with the “fourth industrial revolution” well underway. AI for business is the topic of discussion in every boardroom as leaders face mounting pressure to identify impactful use cases that will markedly improve customer service, software engineering, and overall business operations. Nearly half of organizations worldwide have already started embedding artificial intelligence into their products and workflows. 

To blend into this landscape, there’s no need to relinquish your role to a chatbot or switch careers entirely. Practically speaking, all you need is a path to upskill your entire firm with the latest AI consulting skills. General Assembly’s Applied AI for Business Consultants workshop is tailored to help you make this transition seamlessly.

Let’s unpack what that means for you and those you serve.

Leveraging Large Language Models (LLMs) in Consulting

Fueled by advances in natural language processing (NLP) techniques, artificial intelligence has entered a new era dominated by large language models. By harnessing LLMs, you can rapidly analyze vast datasets, generating breakthrough insights to drive better decision-making for your clients. 

GA’s tailored AI training solutions empower your team with essential AI consulting skills:

  • Prompt Engineering: Work with pre-trained models on tasks related to customer service, content generation, market analysis, and more.
  • Task Automation: Learn how to harness capabilities of machine learning to build more efficient workflows for your consultancy — and your client organizations.
  • Data Management: Preprocess data and develop annotation skills to source and prepare quality training data.
  • Analytical: Develop best practices for evaluating model performance, interpreting results, and providing informed recommendations.
  • Critical Thinking: Implement AI responsibly with an understanding of ethical implications and bias mitigation techniques.

Effective Prompt Writing Techniques for AI Applications

A well-structured AI prompt leads to actionable insights, tailored to your client’s needs. On the other hand, a poorly structured prompt can lead you down a rabbit hole of back-and-forths that waste time — or even steer you down the wrong path entirely.  

Whether you’re advising on market trends, segment targeting, financial decisions, risk mitigation, or supply chain optimization, training in prompt writing for AI is one of the hottest new tech skills to learn in 2024. 

Beyond practical implementation, GA’s consulting workshop serves as the ideal forum for discussing the benefits of an AI-enabled workforce and dispelling common AI myths and misconceptions.

“Like any technology, there can always be a fear of being replaced,” explains Lupe Colangelo, Manager for Outcomes Partnerships at GA. “But there’s still so much space for the humans working on these tools to remain there and own the digital transformation,” she adds. 

It’s estimated the market for generative AI tech will reach $22.12 billion by 2025, with nearly half of businesses expected to embrace it on a large scale, so now is the time to put your team at ease and on board with generative AI consulting pilot projects. 

Given the speed of AI adoption, it’s all too easy to put the cart before the horse. But with your reputation and business partnerships on the line, it’s worth considering how bias, discrimination, and breach of privacy can accompany AI technology. By studying the relevant ethics and AI legal implications, you can put yourself in a proactive position to avoid reputational risk, lawsuits, and noncompliance fines.

Case Studies: AI-Driven Solutions in Consulting

Corporate demand for generative AI and business AI integration expertise doubled the annual growth rate of the IT consulting market from 2% to 4% — or $665.9 billion — in 2023. Major players in the consulting industry like Accenture, Booz Allen Hamilton, and Dell Technologies are investing billions to expand their AI practices. 

“Over 10% of our current network, and 17% of new consultants in our network, have AI experience,” explains Dorothy Mead, COO for Talmix in the UK. “AI is giving our consultants the ability to do more themselves versus third-party support. We already provide our platform talent with an AI assistant, assisting with services like research, company profiling, presentation production, and translation. This will continue. How AI will directly impact top-line business is harder to predict than efficiency gains, but we’re positioned to offer AI as an additional service area.”

By analyzing early AI implementation case studies, we can get a feel for how the industry’s trending, including the AI skills and best practices you need to be a leader in this space.

AI Consulting Workshop Overview: What You’ll Learn 

GA’s workshop makes artificial intelligence and machine learning approachable, moving from basic definitions to practical application. You’ll see how data-driven competitors are adopting AI and extract learnings from their case studies. 

Here’s what to expect from GA’s two-hour Applied AI for Business Consultants workshop: 

  • Get a comprehensive introduction to the intersection of AI and business consulting.
  • Identify use cases for task automation, data-driven analysis, and prompting. 
  • Learn how to streamline daily operations like communication, data, and reporting.
  • Empower your team with a strategic AI mindset that considers ethical and legal risks.
  • Gain tools and frameworks to seamlessly incorporate AI into client engagements.

This workshop is part of GA’s full suite of solutions for an AI-driven economy, which also includes:

  • AI for Leaders, empowering C-suite executives with knowledge to make informed decisions regarding the implementation of generative AI tools throughout their teams.
  • Applied Generative AI, enabling professionals across technical and non-technical roles to enhance productivity by harnessing AI in practical business contexts.
  • Applied AI Engineering, assisting software engineers and data scientists in developing their AI skills and mastering advanced techniques.

How to Integrate AI into Your Consulting Toolkit

Investing in a culture of continuous learning is the only way to embrace AI and keep up with the latest AI trends. Trained teams are game-changers, but skipping out? Risky business. Get onboard with General Assembly’s new AI training solutions

Ready to take a leap forward? Visit our AI Solutions page to learn more and sign up.

Disclaimer: General Assembly referred to their Bootcamps and Short Courses as “Immersive” and “Part-time” courses respectfully and you may see that reference in posts prior to 2023.