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For Guyana’s Private Sector AI success is a data, workflow, and people game
Karen Abrams, MBA, AA, Doctoral Candidate
By Karen Abrams, MBA, AA, Doctoral Candidate
Kaieteur News – Lately the global headlines screamed that “95% of generative AI pilots are failing.” These headlines are based on a recent MIT study that interviewed 150 executives, surveyed 350 employees, and looked at 300 individual AI projects. It found that 95% of AI pilot projects failed to deliver any discernible financial savings or uplift in profits.” Some blame the technology, others dismiss AI as hype.
But the real truth is this; AI is not the real problem. The problem is the business. The researchers discovered a “learning gap”, people and organizations simply did not understand how to use the AI tools properly or how to design workflows that could capture the benefits of AI while minimizing downside risks.
For local business persons still wondering what exactly AI is and what potential value it can deliver; I want you to think of AI not as complex technology, but as your most efficient, never-tiring employee. It can automatically handle repetitive tasks like data entry, customer questions, and invoice processing, freeing up your staff for more important work. It can analyze your sales data to predict what customers will buy next, it can help prevent theft and waste in your inventory, and it can provide 24/7 customer support. This means you will see lower operating costs, higher sales, and fewer errors, directly boosting your profits and giving you a major advantage over competitors who are still doing everything manually and this is only the beginning.
However, every business depends on processes like sales, on boarding, and inventory management and if these processes are fragmented, undocumented, or inefficient, no software can fix them. AI, which runs on data like a car runs on fuel, will only produce dangerously inaccurate results if fed contaminated “fuel” from scattered spreadsheets, emails, and notebooks. You cannot put AI on top of chaos and expect order. Investing prematurely leads to costly failure. The essential first step is the disciplined work of mapping workflows, cutting redundancies, and establishing reliable processes without AI. Only by first centralizing and cleaning your critical data and understanding your business processes, do you create the solid foundation AI requires to deliver real value.
For Guyana’s private sector, the integration of AI into workflows presents a clear opportunity but also a wake-up call. Local companies are now facing an increasingly competitive environment brought on by the oil economy and that competition is now increasingly global. Foreign investors are coming with strong business processes, world-class tools, and expertise that drives efficiency. And while local content rules may provide temporary protection in some spaces, the LC rules will not save companies that have historically been poorly run. Even more disruptive, nimble new players right here at home that adopt modern practices quickly, will dominate in their sectors and older firms that cling to outdated methods risk being left behind.
Finally, even with good data and clean processes, AI adoption will fail if your people are left out. Too often leadership announces big technology projects without explaining the why or preparing staff to use the tools. The result is predictable; resistance, confusion, and wasted investment. Real change requires training, communication, and support so employees understand how the tools improve their work.
The few companies worldwide that are succeeding with AI are not lucky. They are disciplined. They start small, involve their teams, and build carefully. Guyana’s private sector must do the same. This is not about whether you use AI, it is about whether your company can survive in a more competitive, more demanding economy, doing business the way they’ve always done business…inefficiently.
The bottom line is simple; don’t buy a Formula 1 car when you haven’t paved the road. Fix the workflow, clean the data, and train the people. Then, when you finally apply AI, you will be building on rock, not swamp. And in Guyana’s new economy, where global competition is fierce and nimble local players are rising fast, that discipline may be the difference between thriving and disappearing.
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Ai is ARTIFICIAL intelligence and speaks to the kind of intelligence that comes out an inanimate object that will lead mankind into the next century. Today, since the 1990’s war has been declared on our young generation and the artificial intelligence is winning the war. Our young people no longer interact PERSONALLY with peers or others seniors to gain information and solve problems. They have become aloof and self-centered as they peruse the nasty grounds of social media where everyone is a superhero, selfish and self-serving; they no longer go outside and “play”, which is the core of human development. Rather they are told to stay indoors because the streets are not safe and they can interact better on social media!! Parents have contributed to this massive derangement of our youths.
However, the bible says” In the last days, people will be selfish and self serving, while the destruction comes from within the family”