Driving the next wave of innovations with Gen AI incubators

The launch of Generative AI (Gen AI) has delighted and surprised the world, opening the door to AI capabilities once thought to be far off in the future. With a remarkable capacity to generate novel output, Gen AI prompts excitement and stimulates ideas around how it can be used for organizational benefit. The technology has the potential to unleash innovation, permit new ways of working, amplify other AI systems and technologies, and transform enterprises across every industry.

Organisations are unsure how to proceed with Gen AI

Although a few organizations have already started experimenting with Gen AI-based applications to enhance employee productivity or improve customer experience, many have remained on the sidelines and adopted a cautious approach. Further, there are concerns regarding data privacy, security, intellectual property rights, and legal and compliance risks.

Why is an incubator needed?

To address these concerns, organizations need to fully understand the potential of Gen AI and the business benefits it can offer while managing risks. This is where a Gen AI incubator can play a pivotal role. An incubator is a specialized unit focused on building innovative solutions using pioneering technologies, such as Gen AI. It aims to provide the necessary training, tools, network, infrastructure, subject matter expertise, and support required to deliver Proof of Concepts (POCs) and make a significant business impact on organizations.



Gen AI is unchartered territory for many organizations across the globe. Clarifications around the way forward, implementation, risks, and ROI are still awaited. Hence, Gen AI incubators provide a platform for experimenting, researching, and applying Gen AI to make an impact in a responsible way and help build trust in the technology. The incubator can also help build the right strategy and create a roadmap of relevant use cases for the organization’s digital transformation journey.

A Gen AI incubator can also advise organizations on navigating the technical complexity, meeting cost and talent requirements, and addressing legal concerns. With the right talent, infrastructure, and partnerships, incubators can focus on speeding up the use case development process and move from the ideation to the execution stage. Incubators may also collaborate with premier academic institutions and industry bodies to get access to top talent and the latest developments in the field of Gen AI.

Gen AI incubators can benefit both small and large organizations. They enable organizations to experiment and bring innovative use cases to the market by rapidly experimenting, learning, and scaling Minimal Viable Products (MVPs) that gain traction. Organizations can start small and identify use cases that can be implemented quickly across key business functions – marketing, finance, customer service, human resources, and operations. Successful POCs can result in faster time-to-market and realization of benefits.

Incubator delivery advantage

The incubator helps formulate a repository of frameworks and tested delivery models, along with managing, building, and scaling Gen AI POCs. It manages risks and limitations associated with Gen AI by focusing on data safety and privacy. It also ensures that organizations responsibly use technology and data and that their Gen AI models are explainable. This paves the way for a responsible and ethical way of using Gen AI.

Conclusion

Many large firms across the globe plan to launch Gen AI incubators to help companies accelerate their industry-specific use cases. For instance, in India, Deloitte launched its global Generative AI incubator to support organizations in the development and deployment of new and innovative Gen AI-fueled solutions. The strong association with leading technology companies ensures in-depth functional and technical expertise and access to the latest infrastructure to develop world-class solutions.

These are the early days of Generative AI. However, the technology is rapidly maturing. Organizations in every industry are evaluating how this type of AI can contribute to their business and open doors to transformative opportunities. Running quick experiments with Gen AI is crucial to better understand both potential benefits and risks. A Gen AI incubator is powerful in driving experimentation and innovation and can prove to be a valuable companion for companies to make a holistic impact as the technology evolves.

Written by

• Prashanth Kaddi, Partner, Consulting, Deloitte India
• Sanghamitra Pati, Leader for Strategy and Analytics (AI and Data), Consulting at Deloitte US-India offices
• Raghu A, Director, Consulting, Deloitte India