While the popular view is that insights are the key benefit of artificial intelligence, in truth AI creates value by improving the quality of decisions. The good news is, the opportunities for it to do that in business are countless. But because decisions in one area of an organization usually have an impact on decisions in other areas, introducing AI often entails redesigning whole systems. In that way, AI is similar to groundbreaking technologies of the past, like electricity, which initially was used only narrowly but ultimately transformed manufacturing. Decisions involve a combination of prediction and judgment, and because AI makes highly accurate predictions, it will shift decision rights to where judgment is still needed, potentially changing who makes decisions and where, when, and how. More-accurate predictions in one part of a value chain will also have ripple effects on other parts. For instance, if a restaurant can reliably forecast the amount of ingredients it needs each week, its orders will fluctuate, making its suppliers’ sales more uncertain. Strong communication is needed to synchronize effort and resources in a system, and modularity will help prevent changes in one area from disrupting others.

Forget opposable thumbs--our greatest evolutionary advantage has been a capacity to deal with variability, adapting to the prevailing conditions and finding opportunity in the unpredictable. Elite yacht-racing is a fine and fearsome showcase for those human qualities. And it doesn't get more elite than the America's Cup: 11 top-of-their-game sailors in a highly-engineered boat pitched against inconstant waves and another similarly sized, crewed and engineered yacht. All things being equal, the race would be a simple case of best crew wins. But all things are not equal.

Looking at the America's Cup boats, you can't help but notice how futuristic they appear. But this year, Emirates Team New Zealand had a competitive edge, when they enlisted a new crew member to hyper-boost their boat design process: AI. The 2021 race officially began on March 10, when boats hit the water, but the real competition started three years earlier, when the new Class Rule was released. With each America's Cup, the Class Rule defines the parameters for yacht design -- and design can mean the difference between winning and losing. Once the rule is released, it becomes a race to design and build the fastest possible America's Cup boats.

The America's Cup, the oldest trophy in international sport, is competitive sailing's most coveted prize. When the 36th edition begins in early March, the race's defending champion, Emirates Team New Zealand, will hit the water having utilized a new crewmember: an AI bot created by McKinsey. Winning the America's Cup has always been as much about technology and innovation as it is about sailing. Boat designs are governed by the competition's "Class Rule, " which leaves small opportunities for design tweaks that might give one team an advantage over another. Those opportunities, if brilliantly seized, can translate into a shining race-day performance.

A few days before racing in the 36th match for the America's Cup, the covers have been lifted on the testing and development process, using Artificial Intelligence employed by Emirates Team New Zealand, and developed in conjunction with one of worlds most prestigious consulting firms McKinsey & Company. While the team's use of simulators has been widely discussed, and one is on display at the America's Cup Village. The team has been working with McKinsey subsidiary Quantum Black to develop a "digital twin" of the team's AC75 that used a process of machine learning to perform many more iterations of a sailing situation than was possible using human crew, and to come up with options that were faster than the crew was currently achieving. AI Bots work particularly well when there is large volume of data. The Bot is programmed to self-learn from its own analysis.

Team NZ intern Juan Perdomo proved invaluable to the Kiwi America's Cup campaign. Team New Zealand used an artificial intelligence agent to help set up their stunning America's Cup victory. The genius innovations behind the successful Kiwi campaign in Bermuda continue to emerge four months after they blitzed the challenger series and defenders Oracle Team USA to win back the Auld Mug. Stuck in New Zealand and short on money and time to build a second test boat to engage their cycle-powered AC50, the Kiwis went to the computers to find a "virtual" rival to train against. By the time Emirates Team New Zealand lined out against Oracle Team USA for the America's Cup match, helmsman Peter Burling was well schooled in tactics thanks to battling an artificial intelligence agent. The AI was crucial to getting Cup rookie Peter Burling up to speed with starting manoeuvres and tactics in the lightning-fast foiling catamarans.