Exercise: Module 1, Lesson 1 - The AI Value Ladder in the Real World

Objective: To apply the "AI Value Ladder" framework to a real-world company, analyzing how it currently uses AI and identifying opportunities for it to move to a higher level of the ladder.

Your Task

1. Select a Company: Choose a well-known, publicly-traded company that is NOT a major tech company (e.g., avoid Google, Meta, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft). Think of a company in a traditional industry like retail, consumer goods, automotive, or finance (e.g., Starbucks, Nike, Ford, JPMorgan Chase).

2. Research its AI Initiatives: Conduct a brief web search to understand how your chosen company is currently using artificial intelligence. Look for press releases, investor reports, or news articles that mention their AI strategies. Search for terms like "[Company Name] artificial intelligence," "[Company Name] machine learning," or "[Company Name] automation."

3. Map to the Value Ladder: Based on your research, identify at least one specific example of how the company is using AI for each of the first two levels of the ladder:

   • Efficiency: How are they using AI to automate tasks or reduce costs?
   • Effectiveness: How are they using AI to improve the performance or outcome of a process?

4. Identify an Opportunity for Innovation: Now, think like a strategist. Propose a new, hypothetical AI-driven feature, product, or service that would move the company to the highest level of the ladder: Innovation.

   • Your proposal should be for something that creates a new way for the company to make money or interact with its customers, not just an improvement on an existing process.

Deliverable

Write a short (300-500 word) analysis in a Markdown file. Structure your analysis with the following headings:

• Company: [Your Chosen Company]
• Efficiency Example: [Your description]
• Effectiveness Example: [Your description]
• Innovation Opportunity: [Your description of the new, innovative AI concept]

Example Submission Snippet:

Company: Starbucks

Efficiency Example:

Starbucks uses AI to automate inventory management, predicting how much of each coffee bean and milk type to order for each store, reducing waste and preventing stockouts.

Effectiveness Example:

The Starbucks mobile app uses a recommendation engine (a form of AI) to suggest new drinks or food items to users based on their past order history, making the app more engaging and increasing the average order value.

Innovation Opportunity:

Starbucks could create a hyper-personalized "AI Barista" subscription service. This AI would know your taste preferences, caffeine tolerance, and even your daily schedule. It could automatically place an order for the "perfect" drink for you at the right time each day, perhaps even creating novel drink combinations it thinks you'd like. This moves from selling coffee to selling a personalized wellness and productivity service.