It's a running joke at our house that Siri is about as smart as our hamster. With Siri’s newfound understanding of human language, interactions are set to become more intelligible. But while these improvements are nice, the big innovation at Apple’s WWDC24 lies beneath the surface – AI Agents and automation.

Introducing App Intents: A New Paradigm

The true game-changer introduced at WWDC24 is the concept of App Intents. At first glance, they might seem like just another incremental update, but they represent a significant shift in how we interact with our devices. App Intents are essentially standardized interfaces that allow apps to communicate more effectively and for users to automate actions across multiple applications seamlessly.

Imagine a world where your apps not only understand your commands but can also work together to accomplish tasks without constant manual input. This is where App Intents come into play. Siri, who you can also write with, serves merely as the human interface for this change, enabling it to act on our behalf more intelligently.

What Can Siri Do Now?

With these new capabilities, Siri can pull lunch suggestions from messages, suggest the right driving time to your destination, make reservations, edit photos, and more. These actions demonstrate the immediate potential of App Intents, but they are just the beginning. As developers start to explore and implement these standardized APIs, the next weeks and months will reveal even more possibilities, or reveal how much was marketing and how much is real.

The Future of Commerce?

To me, this hints at the future of commerce, for both B2C and B2B. We’re heading towards a paradigm where AI agents and apps largely interact on our behalf through APIs, creating a new kind of open web. This web might not be for human-to-human interaction but rather for AI-to-AI collaboration.

The implications are profound. I'm imagining automated systems handling everything from customer service interactions to complex supply chain logistics, all without or with very little human intervention. 

Experimenting with Today’s Tools

If we squint our eyes, we can already experiment with this future using today’s tools. Many services have standardized APIs, but we’re often not using them to their full potential. Automation tools like Power Automate, Zapier, or Make can help bridge this gap, allowing systems to talk to each other and perform tasks that would typically require manual intervention.

By experimenting with these tools now, businesses can gain a head start in understanding how to leverage automation and prepare for the more advanced capabilities that are just around the corner.

Embracing the Future of Automation

So, if you want to get ready for this brave new world (dystopian pun intended), now is the time to experiment with automation tools. By embracing these technologies, you can unlock new levels of efficiency and innovation, positioning your business to thrive in an increasingly automated world.

AI-to-AI interactions are bound to happen. Those who experiment with automation systems already at our disposal might have a leg up working with these systems once they're ready.

A recent survey by Deloitte revealed that 54% of Swiss business leaders believe their tech infrastructure is AI-ready. This level of confidence stands in stark contrast to their counterparts in Germany (37%), the UK (25%), and the global average (40%).

Having engaged in numerous discussions with business owners and leaders in Switzerland, it's clear that many are still navigating the best ways to integrate AI into their operations. Given the rapid advancements in AI over the past 18 months, this uncertainty is understandable.

The Reality of AI Readiness

The high confidence among Swiss leaders raises an important question: What does it truly mean to be AI-ready? Many businesses are leveraging out-of-the-box SaaS tools that incorporate AI features, often through large language models (LLMs). While these tools provide a level of AI integration, genuine readiness involves a deeper, more strategic approach.

For businesses embarking on significant transformations, AI integration requires building robust, tailored infrastructure. It's not merely about using AI-powered tools but embedding AI into the very fabric of the company's processes and strategies.

The Complexity of AI Integration

The confidence reflected in the survey might be misleading. AI integration is complex and multifaceted, often requiring significant investment in infrastructure, talent, and ongoing maintenance. Simply using AI tools like ChatGPT does not equate to comprehensive AI preparedness.

Conclusion

Swiss business leaders exhibit remarkable confidence in their AI readiness, but true preparedness goes beyond surface-level integration. It involves a strategic, well-thought-out approach to embed AI into core business functions. As the landscape of AI continues to evolve, businesses must critically assess and adapt their strategies to stay ahead.

For a deeper dive into the survey findings and practical steps to ensure your business is genuinely AI-ready, check out the full report from Deloitte here.