Process optimization, predictive analytics, and enhanced customer experience. These are just some of the ways artificial intelligence (AI) has reshaped businesses across the globe.

As business systems progress and AI tools integrate into offices, hospitals, and homes, understanding emerging AI trends becomes crucial to adapting (and thriving) in this exciting new landscape. Businesses are increasingly focusing on implementing AI to streamline operations and stay competitive. The role of technology in business has never been more prominent as AI continues to revolutionize industries.

We’ll cover top trends to watch for and discuss how students can prepare themselves for success in business across industries.

How is Artificial Intelligence Used in Business?

With the ability to do everything from automate time-intensive processes to shape strategic decisions, it’s no wonder that AI and business are closely linked. Today, the business sector is only becoming more data-driven, with an estimated 70% of the most successful companies leveraging artificial intelligence to:¹

• Process vast amounts of customer data
• Identify patterns 
• Enhance customer experience
• Make informed decisions

Let’s take a closer look at how implementing AI for businesses leads to improved efficiency and better business outcomes.

Finance

Artificial intelligence is invaluable to industries like banking and finance, where accurate and efficient data analysis is essential to performing business tasks.² With AI’s ability to process large amounts of structured and unstructured data, financial institutions can:³

• Identity fraud and manage risk
• Assess market trends 
• Optimize investment strategies

AI solutions can also enhance the customer experience by quickly resolving queries and simplifying more tedious processes like credit applications and loan requests. But AI’s predictive analysis isn’t just transforming the financial business landscape—it’s reshaping the healthcare industry, too.

Healthcare

Healthcare professionals rely on AI-driven tools to solve some of the industry’s most pressing problems, like rising costs and caring for an aging population.⁴ While AI’s influence in clinics and labs is already advancing care, healthcare experts predict it will become a linchpin in driving innovation for the future by:⁵

• Analyzing patient charts and imaging to improve diagnosis and treatment  
• Creating personalized treatment plans based on patient data 
• Predicting future health risks and preventing disease in large swaths of the population 
• Processing large data sets from clinical trials to identify new treatments 
• Hastening drug development trials and improving success rates

Retail

Companies across the retail industry have leveraged AI’s power of predictive analysis to improve almost all aspects of their business processes, including:⁶

• Analyzing data on suppliers and transportation to improve efficiency and cut costs
• Utilizing sales data to predict demand and increase profitably
• Collecting consumer data to improve pricing strategies and stay competitive
• Resolving customer concerns with virtual assistants
• Analyzing customer demographics to tailor marketing campaigns to diverse groups

What’s more, data-driven tools like image recognition systems and chatbots have been so transformative that the retail industry is likely to be at the forefront of some of AI’s most impactful emerging trends.⁷

2025 AI Trends Shaping the Business World

As we look to the future of artificial intelligence in business, three major trends are expected to sweep the business landscape by 2025:⁸

• Workforce automation – AI systems may soon be able to operate without precise instruction or human input, automating several end-to-end business tasks. Additionally, AI models will likely learn to adjust their behavior, leading to increased accuracy and better business outcomes.
• Enhanced customer experience – By analyzing purchasing patterns, customer preferences, and market trends, AI can promote personalized shopping experiences, recommending preferred products and services. This can increase brand loyalty and customer engagement.⁹
• Streamlined data analytics – Recent performance testing revealed that AI technology is surpassing humans in several simple tasks, and the rate at which humans are being surpassed is increasing, too.¹⁰ As data analytics and AI capabilities become increasingly streamlined, businesses can expect artificial intelligence to augment human effort, advancing overall business success.

Understanding these exciting AI trends can position business leaders for measurable growth in their field and help them adapt to evolving markets and business environments.

How MBA and DBA Students Can Adapt to AI in Business

Artificial intelligence itself is a rapidly growing industry, with generative AI estimated to become a 1.3 trillion market by 2032.¹¹ With this growth in mind, adapting to AI tools can help businesses leverage the power of artificial intelligence.

Future business leaders can increase their AI expertise by:

• Committing to lifelong learning
• Nurturing proficiency in data analytics
• Developing AI literacy
• Fostering awareness of responsible AI use

AI Ethics: A Crucial Consideration

Despite these exciting innovations, AI poses several ethical, such as:¹²

• Privacy and surveillance – With access to vast amounts of data, secure AI models are essential to preventing data leaks and safeguarding personal information.
• Bias and discrimination – Facial recognition and screening software must be carefully calibrated to avoid conscious or unconscious prejudices based on race, ethnicity, or gender.
• Oversight and accountability – As AI technology becomes increasingly autonomous, oversight and accountability are crucial to ensure systems operate transparently, preventing harm and maintaining consumer trust in business operations.

Ultimately, as we prepare for an AI-driven future, leaders across industries will play an integral role in shaping the success of AI-driven tools and business development.

Preparing for the Future of AI in Business

From automating routine tasks to optimizing data use for decision-making and everything in between, artificial intelligence is transforming the business landscape—and it shows no signs of slowing down.

By fostering AI literacy and building skills in data analytics and ethical decision-making, business students can position themselves as leaders in this evolving landscape.

Alliant International University offers continuing education in business and business administration so that students can better prepare themselves for success. With practical training and hands-on guidance, our MBA and DBA programs are designed to provide future business leaders with the global outlook, exposure, and business expertise they need to thrive in their fields. Explore our programs today to learn more.

Sources:

1. “The state of AI in early 2024: Gen AI adoption spikes and starts to generate value.” McKinsey&Company. May 30, 2024. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/quantumblack/our-insights/the-state-of-ai. Accessed October 12, 2024.
2.  Akash Takyar. “AI in banking and finance: Use cases, applications, AI agents, solutions and implementation.” Leeway Hertz. 2024. https://www.leewayhertz.com/ai-use-cases-in-banking-and-finance/. Accessed October 12, 2024.
3. Akash Takyar. “AI in banking and finance: Use cases, applications, AI agents, solutions and implementation.” Leeway Hertz. 2024. https://www.leewayhertz.com/ai-use-cases-in-banking-and-finance/. Accessed October 12, 2024.
4. Sanjiv Goyal. “Unlocking the Potential of AI in Healthcare: How AI Can Improve Outcomes and Reduce Costs.” Linkedin. February 14, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/unlocking-potential-ai-healthcare-how-can-improve-outcomes. Accessed October 12, 2024.
5. Sanjiv Goyal. “Unlocking the Potential of AI in Healthcare: How AI Can Improve Outcomes and Reduce Costs.” Linkedin. February 14, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/unlocking-potential-ai-healthcare-how-can-improve-outcomes. Accessed October 12, 2024.
6. Vivek Pandey. “Unlocking the Power of AI and ML: How Retailers are transforming the Shopping Experience.” Linkedin. March 14, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/unlocking-power-ai-ml-how-retailers-transforming-shopping. Accessed October 12, 2024. 
7. Vivek Pandey. “Unlocking the Power of AI and ML: How Retailers are transforming the Shopping Experience.” Linkedin. March 14, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/unlocking-power-ai-ml-how-retailers-transforming-shopping. Accessed October 12, 2024. 
8. Bernard Marr. “The 10 Biggest AI Trends Of 2025 Everyone Must Be Ready For Today.” Forbes. September 24, 2024. https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2024/09/24/the-10-biggest-ai-trends-of-2025-everyone-must-be-ready-for-today/. Accessed October 12, 2024.
9. Vivek Pandey. “Unlocking the Power of AI and ML: How Retailers are transforming the Shopping Experience.” Linkedin. March 14, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/unlocking-power-ai-ml-how-retailers-transforming-shopping. Accessed October 12, 2024. 
10. Will Henshall. “4 Charts That Show Why AI Progress Is Unlikely to Slow Down.” Time. November 6, 2023. https://time.com/6300942/ai-progress-charts/. Accessed October 12, 2024.
11. “Generative AI to Become a $1.3 Trillion Market by 2032, Research Finds.” Bloomberg. June 1, 2023. https://www.bloomberg.com/company/press/generative-ai-to-become-a-1-3-trillion-market-by-2032-research-finds/. Accessed October 12, 2024.
12. “Ethical concerns mount as AI takes bigger decision-making role in more industries.” The Harvard Gazette. 2024. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/10/ethical-concerns-mount-as-ai-takes-bigger-decision-making-role/. Accessed October 12, 2024.

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