How AI Partnerships Work (& What to Look for in Partners)

Key Takeaways

• AI partnerships are essential for businesses lacking in-house expertise. They can streamline the AI adoption process and ensure scalability and customization.

• AI partners help manage data issues, employee resistance, and the complexity of AI implementation. 

• To maximize your AI investments, it is important to differentiate between AI partners (consultants and vendors) and understand their roles. 

• Choosing the right AI partner involves evaluating their AI algorithms, platform flexibility, data security measures, and scalability.

Where Do You Even Start?

Start with a problem you want to solve. As our senior NLP engineer Andrew McKishnie says, don’t just buy AI to become an “AI-powered company“. To get ROI, you need to identify a real problem that needs solving. 

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can greatly benefit from AI by reducing operational costs, enhancing decision-making, improving customer experience, and boosting productivity.

A good AI partner can help you clearly define which problems you can solve with AI and determine how to solve them, enabling you to achieve more effective results.

You want to plan everything in advance. Leaders designing the project need to know exactly what their users, whether customers or employees, need from it. Everyone on the team should understand the purpose of the AI you’re building and its limitations.

We have already covered the questions you need to answer before implementing AI in business. If you’re contemplating whether or not you need a partner for that, keep reading.  

Do You Really Need an AI Partner?

AI implementation can be daunting for companies lacking in-house expertise. This is where AI partnerships come into play. 

Here are some reasons why you might need an AI partner:

• Lack of in-house skills

Many companies lack the necessary AI and machine learning skills. AI is a complex and rapidly evolving field that requires specialized knowledge and skills, often beyond the capabilities of existing staff.

• Data management issues

Effective AI implementation requires high-quality, well-structured data. Many companies struggle with issues such as insufficient or poor-quality data and the need for significant data preprocessing. 

• Employee resistance

Implementing AI can lead to resistance from employees who may fear job displacement or simply resist change. An experienced partner can help manage this transition by providing training and demonstrating the benefits of AI.

• Complexity and specialization

Businesses need diverse AI tools to tackle new and emerging obstacles effectively. On top of that, the AI field is evolving fast, with new capabilities and techniques emerging regularly. 

Keeping up with these developments and integrating them into your business processes can be challenging without the help of an AI expert.

• Scalability and Customization 

AI systems need to be scalable and customized to meet specific business needs. AI partners can develop tailored solutions that integrate seamlessly with existing systems, ensuring companies can scale their AI initiatives effectively.

All of this is exactly what we do for our clients!

What Type of AI Partner Do You Need?

Choosing the right partner depends on your specific needs and is crucial for the success of your AI implementation. Strong AI partners streamline your operations and teach your team to maximize AI tools, boosting their overall impact.

The two main types of AI partners are consultants and software vendors. 

In short, AI consultants focus on high-level strategic planning and decision-making, and AI vendors concentrate on the practical implementation and execution of AI projects. Both ensure AI initiatives align with business objectives, are technically sound, and yield tangible results for companies.

While their roles can often intertwine, understanding their differences can help you make an informed decision that aligns with your business needs.

AI consultants possess strong analytical abilities, strategic thinking, and business proficiency. They specialize in analyzing client needs, examining data, and developing AI strategies to meet specific goals. They also excel at problem-solving and translating complex tech concepts for non-technical audiences.

AI vendors are experts in machine learning algorithms, data preprocessing, and model optimization techniques. They are skilled developers with strong technical abilities in software engineering, including version control, testing, and debugging, ensuring the durability and scalability of AI solutions.

How AI Partnerships Work: Software Vendors Edition

Partnering with software vendors like Multimodal is the best option for enterprises that cannot develop AI in-house. As AI model providers, we excel in the technical execution of AI strategies, turning them into practical systems and applications.

Here is how we handle this process:

1. Initial Consultation and Needs Assessment

The first step is understanding your business needs and objectives. During this process, we typically:

• Help clients choose the right use case for their business
• Estimate the potential ROI 
• Assess available data that can be used for training, and more.

(Note, however, that this is not standard for software vendors.)

This helps us create AI solutions that meet specific client requirements. 

2. Fine-Tuning

We then fine-tune our solutions to better fit:.

• Clients’ intended use case(s), and 
• Clients’ existing processes.

Essentially, we try to find the best way for clients to interact with our AI based on their existing workflows and desired end state.

We also ensure that clients can quickly integrate our AI into existing systems. 

Fine-tuning helps solve common business problems.

3. Deployment Options

The easiest way to implement AI is to integrate it with your existing systems. You also want your solution to be flexible and integrate seamlessly. 

That’s why we take an API-first approach. This allows clients to leverage our AI capabilities in many different ways. 

For example, they can access the solution via a web app, interact with the AI agent directly, or integrate it into their own applications. 

Clients can deploy the AI on their infrastructure or have it deployed on their AI partners’ infrastructure, in which case it works more like a SaaS solution. 

We offer our clients both options!

4. Ongoing Support and Optimization

After deployment, continuous monitoring and optimization ensure the AI model performs effectively and adapts to changing needs.

We train, monitor, evaluate, and retrain the models for you when necessary. We also provide ongoing technical support, updates, and maintenance to ensure your AI systems run smoothly and efficiently.

How AI Partnerships Work: Consultants Edition

Consultants collaborate with stakeholders to assess business needs, identify opportunities, and develop AI strategies aligned with corporate goals. They perform market analysis, competitor studies, and feasibility assessments to uncover potential AI applications and innovation opportunities. They also guide companies through AI adoption's regulatory, ethical, and implementation challenges.

1. Strategic Planning and Roadmapping

Consultants help identify the best AI use cases and create a detailed implementation roadmap. This roadmap includes prioritized projects, timelines, resource allocation, and key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure success.

We advise starting by automating a part of your workflow that takes a lot of time but doesn’t take much mental effort. Such use cases are the easiest to automate and will generate ROI faster.

2. Training and Education

Consultants educate and train your team to ensure they can effectively work with AI technologies.

To overcome these difficulties, we recommend starting with menial tasks, upskilling your employees, and understanding that upfront costs will save you a lot of money in the long run.

3. Change Management and Handover

While AI vendors handle the technical implementation, consultants focus on change management and the smooth handover of AI projects. They develop strategies to manage employee resistance, address concerns, and foster a culture of innovation. 

With that in mind, here at Multimodal, we primarily develop and implement your AI solutions. However, we can also help you with consultation and designing your Generative AI strategy. 

Important Factors To Consider When Selecting AI Vendors

Once you've defined your AI requirements, you must carefully evaluate potential AI vendors. Ask the following key questions to make an informed decision:

1. Are their AI algorithms and models robust and scalable?

2. How flexible and adaptable is their AI platform to accommodate evolving business needs?

3. How do they handle data preprocessing, security, feature engineering, and model training techniques?

Ask other questions, and thoroughly research the company, including its case studies, references, and testimonials, to determine its reputation in the industry before making your final choice. Consider conducting a pilot project to test the provider’s capabilities before scaling up.

Not to blow our own horn, but we handle large datasets, integrate AI models seamlessly with existing systems, and ensure accurate, reliable results. Our robust technical foundation and commitment to continuous innovation keep our clients at the forefront of AI advancements.

Scalability, Flexibility, and Integration Capabilities

As your organization grows, choose a partner with scalable and flexible applications to accommodate future AI needs. Assess their ability to handle increasing data volumes, adapt to new use cases, and continuously innovate to keep pace with the evolving AI landscape.

Data, Privacy, and Compliance

Find a partner who prioritizes data security and privacy. For example, we adhere to industry standards and regulations, such as GDPR and SOC 2 compliance. We handle sensitive information securely, preventing unauthorized access and data breaches. 

Our robust security framework and clean track record instill confidence in our ability to safeguard your organization’s data assets.

Building a Strong AI Partnership

Evaluate the AI provider’s responsiveness, availability, transparency, and competence in addressing technical issues and providing guidance in knowledge transfer.

Consider key contract terms, including pricing, SLAs, intellectual property rights, data ownership, confidentiality, and NDAs. Ensure alignment with your business interests and adequate protection. 

Establish clear communication, set expectations, and define roles with your chosen AI expert. Regularly review progress, discuss challenges, and collaborate on continuous improvement initiatives.

Remember, AI partner selection is an ongoing partnership. You can maximize your AI investment and drive long-term success by maintaining open dialogue, adapting to changing needs, and working towards common goals.

Risk Assessment in AI Projects

Evaluating risks is another important aspect of AI implementation. AI consultants and vendors identify risks related to data quality, model accuracy, compliance, and ethics. We develop strategies to mitigate these risks and develop contingency plans to ensure projects achieve their goals with minimal disruption.

Our team also identifies technical risks, dependencies, and limitations that could impact AI deployment. This proactive risk assessment helps us anticipate obstacles and deliver desired results and value for our clients.

Effective Stakeholder Communication for AI Projects

Stakeholder engagement and communication are critical for the success of AI projects. Some leaders think that hiring external vendors is expensive, so they might decide to build it themselves. 

However, this severely underestimates the costs of building AI in-house. You will need two or more of your full-time employees working on this for probably more than two months, which is how long it takes us to complete a project. 

Now, add up their monthly salaries. It’s not that cheap anymore. You also need to consider that they’re putting all their regular work on pause to work on this AI project. That makes it pretty clear that that route is just unprofitable 99% of the time.

Managing upfront costs is key. The bottom line is that initial investments will save you money in the long run.

Real-World AI Partnerships

We have written about some examples of AI in business. But if you need more convincing, these high-profile companies have also successfully partnered with AI experts to develop and implement AI solutions tailored to their unique business needs. 

IBM x SAP

IBM and SAP have expanded their collaboration to integrate generative AI into SAP’s cloud solutions, enhancing business processes across various industries such as consumer packaged goods and retail. This partnership aims to optimize operations like supply chain management and product portfolio management by embedding IBM's Watsonx AI capabilities into SAP applications​​​​.

OpenAI x Expedia

OpenAI's ChatGPT has partnered with Expedia to provide a more interactive and efficient travel booking experience. This collaboration allows users to leverage ChatGPT's conversational AI to plan trips, find the best deals, and get personalized travel recommendations, streamlining the entire travel booking process​​.

OpenAI x Apple

OpenAI and Apple are reportedly exploring a partnership to integrate AI capabilities into Apple’s ecosystem. This collaboration aims to enhance user experiences across Apple’s devices by incorporating advanced AI functionalities like natural language processing and personalized assistance​​. Basically, it will give Siri the boost we have all been waiting for and leverage ChatGPT’s writing features with Apple’s Writing Tools, among other announced features. 

All these examples illustrate how strategic AI partnerships can drive innovation, improve operational efficiency, and deliver enhanced customer experiences across various industries.

Ready to Elevate Your Business With Generative AI?

An AI partnership is a collaboration between your organization and your chosen vendor. Building this partnership on trust, openness, and a mutual vision allows you to maximize AI's capabilities, ultimately transforming outcomes for your business.

Partnering with the right AI vendor is crucial for successfully implementing AI technologies in your business. Whether you need strategic advice from consultants or practical implementation from software vendors, choosing the right partner can streamline your operations, reduce errors, and enhance efficiency. 

Partner with us to unlock generative AI’s full potential tailored to your unique needs. Schedule a free 30-minute call with our team to see our AI Agents in action and discuss customized strategies for your business. Let's transform your operations and drive success together!