Strategic Insights Inc: Leveraging AI Platforms for Equitable Access to Technology and Business Opportunities

Dr.Suj Chandrasekhar, Founder, and Principal, Strategic Insights Inc.

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues to gain traction in various aspects of our lives, it manifests as a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it harbors vast potential for boosting business productivity and driving innovation. However, this rapid rise also invokes concerns regarding job security, cybersecurity, and equitable access to the many benefits of AI.

One of the questions raised is if the imminent pervasiveness of AI can amplify economic disparities. As such, the urgent task lies in making deliberate efforts to steer the trajectory of AI towards inclusive access to the technologies, business tools, and benefits it has unleashed. As MIT professors David Autor, David Mindell, and principal research scientist Elisabeth Reynolds note in their book  Work of the Future – “we must foster institutional innovations that complement technological change.”  

Addressing the issue of Equity in Leveraging  the AI Business Boom 

“In our client engagements, AI-powered platforms have become a game changer in accelerating equitable access to advanced technologies, contracts, skills development, and capital,” says Dr.Suj Chandrasekhar, Founder, and Principal at Strategic Insights Inc. 

Equitable access to advanced technologies, accelerated employment, and greater business growth opportunities for entrepreneurs are some major benefits of the AI revolution. Leveraging these benefits of AI depends entirely on equitable access to relevant tools, technologies, and training and skills development. Equitable access, therefore, is a critical lever in leveraging AI’s potential. 

AI-powered platforms are a  great example of how organizations can leverage technological innovation to promote equitable access to technologies, tools, skills, and opportunities. They have the capacity to accomplish what the MIT authors recommend: “a labor market of the future that offers benefits, opportunities, and a measure of economic security for all.”

AI-Powered Platforms as a Way to Boost Equitable Access to Opportunities

In line with this belief, Strategic Insights has harnessed the potential of AI to provide clients with platforms that provide equitable access to opportunities and advanced technology applications. This effort vividly demonstrates AI’s transformative role in successfully helping corporations combine business efficiencies with equity and social justice goals.  

AI-powered platforms help foster multilevel connections between entrepreneurs, corporations, lending institutions,  local and state governments, and educational institutions. They provide equitable access to advanced technologies for small and medium-sized businesses across the board. AI platforms also aid in reducing biases inherent in traditional lending and access to capital and credit for historically disadvantaged groups of the population,  further enhancing their appeal. Finally,  AI platforms significantly accelerate the skills development process for equipping employees and businesses with skills required for future jobs and business opportunities. These compelling reasons underscore the imperative for organizations to capitalize on AI-powered platforms. 

A three-pronged approach to leveraging AI for Equity

The first area of the Strategic Insights approach revolves around enabling organizations of all sizes to leverage AI for advanced operational effectiveness and competitive business intelligence . This is offered through their  AI  Powered Analytics and Business Intelligence Hubs.The goal is to especially equip small and medium sized businesses with sophisticated and advanced tools necessary to improve their operational functions, product visibility, and cost efficiency at a manageable and reasonable price point.

One case that stands out is a  small manufacturer aided during the pandemic. This manufacturer obtained real-time predictive maintenance data by connecting to an Analytics Hub through data pulled from relatively inexpensive sensors installed on the various machines in the plant. This helped reduce unplanned downtime, enhance productivity, and facilitate timely deliveries. This example epitomizes the “Democratization of Analytics,” one of the goals of Strategic Insights,  so SME manufacturers and other organizations can have equitable access to best-in-class technological applications without a huge capital investment.

“The demand for “Analytics Hubs” is high among state and regional entities as well as large corporations,” says Dr. Suj Chandrasekhar. “ These hubs aim to provide equitable access to advanced AI-powered features for businesses and suppliers in their ecosystem, thereby enhancing the overall performance of all businesses in the supply chain.  Besides improving operations, these AI platforms offer valuable opportunities for equitable access to capital and credit,  skills development, mentoring, and networking, particularly for disadvantaged businesses.

The second example is that of a large Auto Manufacturer using the Strategic Insights Innovation Hub-an AI-powered platform to empower suppliers of all sizes to collaborate in their Research and Development projects. The platform’s built-in real-time access to posting business challenges requiring R&D expertise, alongside features like Workbench, facilitated real-time scaled collaboration for the co-evolution of solutions with suppliers and distributors.

Strategic Insights’ most ambitious and commendable mission is the third area: providing equitable access to opportunities, skills development, mentors, capital, and investors for socially and economically disadvantaged groups. They have developed the “Oppaccess Hub,” utilized by corporations, regional economic development groups, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and community colleges. This platform aims to enhance access to  business opportunities, capital and credit sources, skills training, and  scaled mentoring and networking to disadvantaged groups at a level not possible prior to the AI revolution. 

Looking forward

Dr.Suj Chandraekhar, a leading business growth strategist, is drawing upon her training as a Sociologist to now set new industry standards by using AI platforms for equitable business success. In an age where access to technology can be a significant determinant of success, her dedication, initiatives, and collaboration with private and public sector organizations spearhead the efforts to democratize access to opportunities and advanced technologies.

The paradigm shift brought about by Strategic Insights Inc. demonstrates how technology can be harnessed to drive social change. With AI at the helm, the future certainly seems bright – a future where corporations, local and state governments, lending institutions,  and education institutions use AI to level the playing field for all socio-economic groups. 

Dr. Suj Chandrasekhar can be reached at suj@strategicinsights.com