The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is all set to embrace the emerging technologies to adapt to the post pandemic economic landscape. Envisioning Saudi Arabia as a global hub for AI and Data, the National Strategy for Data and AI is a landmark upon which enterprises in the region will unveil the potential of AI and Data Analytics to attain the Kingdom's transformation into a leading AI and data-driven economy. Middle East Enterprise AI and Analytics Summit 2023 attempts to bring Saudi Arabia closer to its vision by curating a world class platform for tech-leaders in the region to connect, communicate and collaborate under the theme "Accelerating Innovation in Enterprises with Applied AI and Analytics Strategies". Governments and enterprises realize the significance of AI and Data Analytics in their digital transformation journey to make their operations smoother, faster and more efficient leading to huge investments in cutting-edge technologies. But there still exist challenges in terms of real time implementation, scalability, infrastructural and organizational cultural changes at the enterprise level.

Digital transformation (DX) is not just a differentiator but a matter of survival in the modern business world. And while a maelstrom of technologies, including cloud computing, mobility, IoT, and AR-VR, are delivering value and creating better experiences for customers, studies show that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will play the most crucial role in driving businesses through DX. That said, while leading tech companies such as Amazon, Netflix, and Google use AI and Machine Learning (ML) at scale in their core business processes, small and medium-sized enterprises often struggle to expand their machine learning projects beyond a small pilot scope. In a Deloitte survey involving 2,875 executives from 11 top economies, 79% of leading digital transformers (as against 49% of the starters) stated that their AI initiatives are essential to their market competitiveness. As a catalyst for digital transformation, AI helps companies become more data-driven, accelerate innovation, strengthen decision-making and increase productivity with better resource utilization in crucial business functions and domains.

It's the holistic approach to developing better processes, improving employee engagement, and optimizing your business for long-term growth by adopting the proper technology. Complex endeavor, you should expect some resistance along the way and be prepared to overcome challenges. Let's start with the basics. A digital transformation uses technology to help improve business operations and customer relationships. It can be as simple as ensuring your website works properly on all devices or as complex as using artificial intelligence to automate specific tasks.

The fast-paced age of computer connectivity is blurring the lines among physical, digital, and biological spheres. Tech is everything and tech is everywhere. Most organizations have somehow gone through a digital transformation journey. Today, almost every company is a technology company. As automation technology matures and becomes an integral part of business operations, it's time for organizations to pivot from process automation to intelligent automation, and from data-driven organizations to AI-powered organizations.

"In a world full of disruptions, the need for digital transformation is not a choice but a requirement that every organisation, big or small, has to undertake," says Vineet Jaiswal, chief digital and technology officer at Vedanta Resources Limited. With the advancements in IT, it becomes mandatory for all businesses to deploy technologies like analytics, AI and utilise cloud-based systems to help them keep abreast with modern ways that help businesses. In an exclusive interaction with Analytics India Magazine, Vineet Jaiswal speaks about how Vedanta has used the latest technologies to transform its business. AIM: What was the need for a mining company and conglomerate like Vedanta to undergo digital transformation? Vineet Jaiswal: According to me, there are four requirements or needs for digital transformation.

Digital transformation is considered to be the future of business, but it isn't a one-size-fits-all approach. Slower growth is still progress, and in the long term, a slower strategy may actually benefit the company. For some years, digital transformation has been the term du jour, and with good cause. Its worth is evident, given the benefits of automation, better workforce management, and greater company analytics. Whether it was accelerated by the unexpected necessity for remote work or by expanding on existing projects, the conversation about digitizing modern business isn't going away anytime soon.

Machine learning and artificial intelligence (ML and AI) have been at the heart of the King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre's (KFSH&RC) response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia, accelerating a digital transformation journey that has been underway since the start of the 21st century. The rapid development of a highly integrated COVID-19 digital support machine learning platform, using predictive analytics to optimise the hospital's operational response and patient care delivery, has been a game-changing experience for the organisation – and in particular, for the Healthcare Information Technology (HIT) team led by CIO Dr Osama Alswailem. "The hospital as an organisation is transitioning from'smart' to'intelligent' systems," says Alswailem. "Before the pandemic, we were already moving from interoperability, data warehousing and simple analytics into more machine learning projects from genomics to 3D printing. When COVID happened, we shifted our focus from the defined use cases that we had into a platform that could use real-time, multi-dimensional data to enable focused organisational decisions." Adapting to the uncertainties of a rapidly developing pandemic demanded a platform that could be integrated with every internal and external operational and clinical function, including the hospital's Integrated Clinical Information System (ICIS), bringing real-time data to care providers and administrators so that decisions could be made and resources such as beds and devices allocated based on the latest knowledge.

EVP of products at Kofax, a supplier of intelligent automation software to digitally transform end-to-end business operations. If organizations want to get further down the road (faster) in their digital transformation journey, they're going to need fuel. And not just any type will cut it: They need artificial intelligence. Over the last few years, companies have made smart investments in robotic process automation (RPA) and business process management (BPM). They've deployed RPA to streamline discrete processes and, in doing so, freed up countless hours of their employees' time.

As organizations increasingly embark on their digital transformation journey, IT is turning into a profit center, rather than a cost center. CIOs (chief information officers) are more than often referred to as chief innovation officers. New roles like chief data officer and chief analytics officer are rising to prominence. Organizations on their digital transformation journey are facing increasing pressures due to the pandemic, remote workspaces and increasingly distributed applications. IT's ability to rapidly adapt to changing market needs is paramount to a successful digital transformation journey.

Kamales Lardi is CEO of Lardi & Partner Consulting and a global award-winning expert in digital business transformation. In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has entered the mainstream business landscape as a critical path to advance in the digital economy. However, there is still a strong misconception in the business world as to what AI is and how it contributes to the digital transformation of an organization. Often, as I work with leadership teams to develop the company's digital transformation strategy, it is not uncommon to find strategic goals such as, "implement AI-based solutions to realize xx% revenue gains," or "implement AI to increase productivity and efficiency." These vague, high-level strategic goals betray a lack of understanding of the capabilities of AI-based solutions and how it could really add value to businesses.