AI has undergone a remarkable evolution, transitioning from a mere curiosity to a vital force in real-world applications. Its significance in production-grade solutions is undeniable.
As the digital revolution accelerates, business leaders in healthcare and pharma must confront a stark reality: selecting the right AI partner is make-or-break, potentially determining a company’s survival.
This article serves as a crucial wake-up call, urging immediate action and strategic consideration in choosing an AI partner.
In an era where AI is rapidly transforming the landscape of industries, the choice of an AI strategic partner is not just a decision, but a critical juncture that could significantly impact the future trajectory of your healthcare and pharma business. The stakes are higher than ever. With AI evolving from mere demonstration tools to essential components in production-grade solutions, the absence of a competent AI partner could leave your business vulnerable and trailing in a highly competitive market.
Over the last five years, Tata Elxsi has been at the forefront of this evolution, fostering more than 60 AI proofs of concept (PoCs) across a spectrum of complexities. While not all these concepts have seen the light of the day for various reasons, the knowledge gathered from them is invaluable. Businesses that fail to adapt and align with a suitable AI partner may find themselves struggling to remain relevant in an increasingly AI-dominated landscape.
Leveraging this wealth of experience, we are poised to offer you a quick guide, to select your ideal AI strategic partner with ease.
Define Your AI Project Goals and Requirements
The absence of a clear vision and well-defined objectives in AI projects can lead to misdirection and inefficiencies. This lack of clarity not only hampers the planning and execution, but it can also risk the entire initiative becoming irrelevant or obsolete in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.
So, before you start looking for a strategic partner
- Clearly outline your project’s objectives, scope, and expected outcomes of AI projects.
This can help in providing direction, accountability, successful planning, execution, measuring progress leading to impactful initiatives.
AI Expertise
The requirement for AI solutions to be highly accurate, work 24/7, perpetually operational, and scalable is non-negotiable. A strategic partner lacking in these critical areas can be a significant liability, potentially leading to failed projects, wasted resources, and a tarnished reputation in the market.
It’s thus crucial that AI strategic partners (both Go-To-Market and Outsourcing) should possess:
- A fusion of deep AI expertise.
- Be able to visualise challenges and solutions, then translate them to desired AI centric solutions.
- Should have flexibility and versatility to cater to multiple platforms (Hardware, on-premise servers or cloud platforms).
- Have pre and post deployment support capabilities in terms of bringing the technologies at scale to cater to real-life environment.
- Possess Platform expertise (Cloud, Server and Embedded systems).
- Should have enough support system and capability to develop intuitive and robust solutions.
- Should be able to fit AI algorithms into an existing environment without taking too much computing load.
- The inability to visualise, develop, and scale AI solutions to meet real-world demands can quickly lead your organisation to be obsolete in a market that is increasingly reliant on innovative and efficient AI-driven solutions.
Ability to Innovate
In a field as dynamic as AI, resting on current technologies without innovating can be damaging. Partners who lack innovation may lead your business into a technological dead-end, stifling growth and allowing competitors to surge ahead.
A good strategic partner should thus not only be able to use existing AI technologies, but they should also be able to create new ones.
Check if your strategic partner has:
- Well-established innovation process that helps them identify problems and visualise solutions early based on the limited data gathered.
- Ability to solve unique problems and issues using latest technologies like AI and Machine Learning
- Should preferably have reasonable number of patents accepted worldwide.
Consider Technical Domain and Industry Knowledge
A strategic partner with deep technical expertise but little domain knowledge may struggle to create solutions that are truly aligned with your industry’s needs. Conversely, a strategic partner with strong domain knowledge but weak technical skills may not be able to deliver technically sound AI solutions.
It is unfair to expect partners to have expertise in every domain.
We need to rather look at engaging with domain specific strategic partners who:
- Have profound understanding of diverse domains and industries
- Understand the sensitivities of handling medical data, analyse test results with transparency, and have FMEA Analysis expertise.
- Are trustworthy as well as able to maintain transparency, while handling sensitive patient data and while analysing the Test Results
- Have capability in Anonymisation of Data, handle data with restriction and access control
- Are able to align to customers creative solution. Should have well-established skill development program that allows team members to upskill themselves regularly with the necessary AI skills required to perform tasks.
Ability to Scale
The inability to scale AI initiatives with a strategic partner can cripple your organisation’s ability to adapt to market changes and evolving demands, potentially leading to lost opportunities and a diminished competitive edge.
CHECK IF YOUR STRATEGIC PARTNER HAS
- Well-established innovation process that helps them identify problems and visualise solutions early based on the limited data gathered.
- Ability to solve unique problems and issues using latest technologies like AI and Machine Learning
- Should preferably have reasonable number of patents accepted worldwide.
Data Security and Ethical use of Data
With shift in government’s focus on strict data security for Personally Identifiable Information (PII), hire a strategic partner who has the same level of commitment and adheres to business shared values. Partnering with a firm that lacks commitment to these aspects can lead to legal repercussions, loss of public trust, and severe financial penalties.
Partners should:
- Handle Data effectively
- Sensitise employees
- Follow safe practices
- Have frequent quality audits
- Be open to 3rd party inspections
- Abide by non-retention of data policies
Remember that selecting the right AI strategic partner is not just about aligning with technical capabilities, it’s also about ensuring survival, relevance, and ethical responsibility in a rapidly advancing world. It should also align with your organisation’s values, goals, and long-term vision. The cost of a poor choice is not just a missed opportunity but a potential downfall in this AI-driven era. Taking a thoughtful and comprehensive approach to strategic partner selection can lead to a successful, mutually beneficial, and lasting partnership.
Author
Anup S S
Practice Head, Artificial Intelligence, Tata Elxsi
Anup S.S. is a visionary in leveraging Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Deep Learning. Leading breakthrough AI projects in healthcare, Anup’s strategic insight and innovation ignite client success, unlocking AI’s full potential.