Artificial intelligence (AI) has been making waves in recent years, promising to revolutionize industries and reshape economies. However, a significant barrier stands in its way: a crippling shortage of AI talent that shows no signs of easing.

To truly harness the power of AI, U.S. businesses need to look beyond their borders and nearshore artificial intelligence architects from a tech hub like Colombia. In the hands of Colombian AI experts, companies can improve resilience while staying ahead of the curve in a hyper-competitive landscape.

Top 7 Statistics About Artificial Intelligence (AI) Adoption in Business

AI is no longer just a buzzword; it’s a breakthrough innovation redefining the business landscape. To appreciate its impact on the future of business, let’s explore some of the most compelling statistics highlighting the growing number of organizations integrating AI into their operations.

Artificial intelligence is undoubtedly an exciting new frontier for businesses seeking a competitive edge. But capturing AI’s maximum value hinges on a profound understanding of its operation models — and this is where the role of AI architects comes into play:

5 Ways Artificial Intelligence Architects Build the Foundation of Your AI Success 

AI’s influence has rippled across all industries, from financial services and consumer retail to healthcare. Take a look at these findings from a 2023 McKinsey Survey:

• 79% have gained at least some exposure to generative AI.
• 22% are consistently implementing generative AI in their profession.
• 40% say their firms will increase overall AI investment due to the development of generative AI.

But who are the visionaries behind the success of these AI projects? 

AI architects design and implement artificial intelligence (AI) systems and solutions, ensuring they meet specific business objectives and technical requirements. They also collaborate with software developers, IT teams, and machine learning (ML) engineers to enhance computer and software functionality.

Here are five critical roles they play in your AI success:

Aligning Efforts With Business Objectives

Amid soaring inflation and supply chain disruptions, most (84%) business leaders recognize the potential of AI technologies in achieving their growth objectives. 

With a deep understanding of these goals, AI architects identify opportunities to leverage AI- and ML-powered systems and devise strategies to optimize your operations. They design apps to automate routine processes and free up your workforce for more revenue-generating tasks, making your operations more efficient and productive. As your objectives evolve, they realign their efforts and pivot technologies to meet changing demands.

Armed with technical expertise, industry knowledge, and problem-solving skills, they create AI solutions that ultimately help you reach your goals. 

Strategizing Integration

Diversifying your business functions can be an exciting opportunity, enabling businesses to address pain points from multiple angles. However, this “two heads are better than one” approach will only be fruitful if all “heads” are given equal attention.

Achieving seamless integration across diverse operations requires the expertise of AI architects. They use innovative technologies to merge various departments (such as marketing and sales, data analytics, and IT experts) into a single network, eliminating expensive duplicates and enhancing operational efficiency. 

Creating a centralized department allows these AI experts to study insights across departments and develop tailored solutions for business operations. With the help of Application Programming Interfaces (API), AI architects also facilitate seamless data flow and interaction between different departments, allowing companies to be more responsive and adaptable to evolving business demands.

Designing Infrastructure and Technology Stack

With over 1.11 billion websites worldwide, competition between brands is fierce. Companies that want a competitive edge must invest in their site performance to boost online visibility and convert that into sales. The same goes for your AI endeavors.

Businesses can rely on qualified AI architects from Colombia to design cutting-edge infrastructure that helps them deliver a high-quality user experience (UX). These tech experts partner with data scientists and engineers to build, develop, train, and fine-tune different infrastructure and tech stack models.

• Machine Learning: Imitating human intelligence through the use of data and algorithms 
• Software Frameworks: Creating a template for the development of software applications
• Natural Language Processing (NLP): Allowing computers to comprehend, produce, and manipulate human language as it is spoken or written
• Cloud Infrastructure: Automating complex tasks such as data entry and making them accessible for authorized users
• Data Processing: Deciphering and converting unprocessed data for analysis

Considering critical factors like scalability, reliability, security, and compliance, these architects choose the technology stack required to support AI projects and decide on the appropriate ML models and techniques based on the problem.

Testing and Validation

The trustworthiness of AI systems has been a pressing issue among U.S.-based companies, with over half (52%) of Americans more worried than excited about the increased use of AI systems. Even among the people who are well-exposed to AI, concern (47%) outweighs excitement (15%).

Many businesses don’t trust AI because they are often wary of the quality of AI-driven solutions. Thankfully, working with outsourced AI architects can help address this concern. Through testing and validation strategies, they evaluate the performance of AI models to ensure that the AI solution meets your business requirements.

For instance, you want to create a Chatbot Artificial Intelligence to resolve their real-time issues. So, you create several canned responses, hoping that they will suffice. But to your surprise, most consumers are turning away from your brand.

Why? Customers don’t want to feel like they’re speaking to a robot and prefer more tailored interactions, with 71% expecting personalized support from brands. Businesses that master the art of personalization can rake in 40% higher revenue than their competitors.

So, to enhance your live chat functions and avoid the responses from sounding robotic, AI architects can leverage the Turing Test, ensuring that the answers cater to your client’s unique needs. When they encounter system flaws, they’ll recalibrate and retrain the models to ensure the chats sound natural and human-like.

Ensuring Security and Compliance 

In 2023, the cost of a data breach hit an all-time high, resulting in the loss of $4.45 million in revenue. As cybercrimes become increasingly prevalent, businesses can no longer afford to ignore threats.

One viable solution they can consider is outsourcing AI architects in Colombia.

These cybersecurity experts are responsible for ensuring the security and compliance of AI solutions, including data privacy, encryption, access control, and compliance with regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or industry-specific standards. They also continually monitor AI systems and address issues through system maintenance, updates, and improvements.

Here are some practices AI architects follow to reinforce data security and avoid information leakage:

• Gathering and retaining only necessary information
• Instituting strict data privacy contracts or agreements
• Expressly communicating privacy measures 
• Reducing the sharing of confidential data

10 Benefits of Nearshoring AI Architects in Colombia

The rigid job market affects most industries — and the AI sector is no exception. 

Recruiting for artificial intelligence jobs remains challenging in 2023. Even when companies successfully find and hire qualified AI professionals, they still need to upskill or reskill their new hires, which can be costly.

The good news is that businesses can navigate these recruitment challenges through nearshore AI architects from Colombia. Take a look at how you can benefit from this innovative approach.

Cost Efficiency

While Colombia does not have the lowest cost of living or labor, it still offers a more competitive cost advantage than other Asian and European countries.

Let’s compare the salaries of IT or software engineers in India (another prominent outsourcing destination) and Colombia. In India, the average pay of IT engineers is $19,039.13, significantly higher than in Colombia ($2,483.85). 

On top of labor costs, companies can reduce overhead expenses such as office spaces, equipment, and onboarding costs through outsourcing.

Talent Pool

AI advancements are making waves in Colombia across every sector, including education.

As such, some universities in Bogota, Colombia, are embracing ChatGPT, a generative AI, to assist researchers, writers, and editors in synthesizing information and improving grammatical accuracy. Moreover, Colombia University has introduced the Center for Artificial Intelligence in Business Analytics and Financial Technology (FinTech), allowing students to apply AI, ML, and deep learning (DL) to real-world challenges.

Language Proficiency

Bilingualism is one of Colombia’s greatest assets.

It’s already no surprise that Colombians are fluent Spanish speakers. However, the Ministry of Education recently launched the National Bilingual Project to improve citizens’ English-teaching capacity and produce a workforce capable of working abroad.

With English and Spanish being widely spoken in the U.S., Colombians can easily overcome communication barriers when speaking to U.S.-based teams and clients.

Cultural Compatibility

Since Colombia’s independence from Spain, the U.S. and Colombia have shared solid diplomatic relations. 

The two nations have shared cultural values thanks to a bilateral agreement and various cultural immersion programs. One such program is the Fulbright Program, which invites international educators, including Colombians, to teach at U.S. graduate schools.

Through these programs, Colombian culture integrates seamlessly with Western business practices, making it easier for service providers to establish rapport with their U.S.-based clients.

Proximity and Time Zone Compatibility

Unlike offshoring to countries like India, Poland, or Ukraine, nearshoring AI tasks to Colombian specialists allows concurrent collaboration and direct communication with U.S. teams. 

Since parts of the U.S. are only an hour ahead of Colombia, you won’t need to wait long for a response if you encounter issues in your AI-related work. Instead, you’ll be guaranteed quick turnarounds, especially crucial for urgent tasks such as IT security.

If the project or training sessions require an in-person meeting, you can conveniently fly to Colombia without requiring long, expensive flights. The average flight takes about 5 hours. 

Strategic Location

Dubbed the “Gateway to South America,” Colombia’s strategic location enables efficient access to various markets, including the United States, Canada, and Latin America.

As one of the leading telecommunication exports in Latin America, U.S.-based companies can source IT equipment in Colombia without the burden of high import costs and long delivery times. 

Stable Economy

With an economic growth of 7.9% in 2022, Colombia stands out as one of Latin America’s powerhouses. Industry analysts expect Colombia’s GDP to soar faster than Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina in the next five years.

Government Support

Recognizing the outsourcing market’s economic contribution, Colombian government entities such as MinTIC, ProColombia, SENA, and Colombia Productiva are laying the foundation for BPO companies to flourish.

The Colombian Constitution protects foreign and domestic investments equally, so the government provides a favorable business environment and tax incentives for foreign investors.

Technology Infrastructure

Colombia’s large cities, particularly Bogotá, Medellin, and Cali, have emerged as significant hubs for tech and innovation.

Being a pioneer of urban development, Bogotá launched the Bogotá High Impact Route (Ruta Bogotá Alto Impacto), unlocking opportunities for micro to small businesses to fortify innovation capacities and tap into international markets.

Proven Track Record

Colombia has reigned in the Offshore BPO Confidence Index for the past two years, scoring an outstanding 85.1%. As such, the South American country has become a leading outsourcing destination, especially in the U.S.

The country also placed 3rd among LatAm countries (following Peru and Mexico) for economic competitiveness in the 2023 World Competitiveness Ranking. In 2022, its GDP rose 7% despite the pandemic, showcasing its prudent macroeconomic and fiscal management. 

Unlock Your AI Success With Nearshoring

Whether you’re a startup aiming to leverage AI for growth or a global enterprise seeking optimization, outsourcing a team of artificial intelligence architects offers a flexible, efficient, and cost-effective path to realize your AI goals. They can design AI tools to address your most pressing challenges and help propel your business forward.

SuperStaff, a world-class BPO company with a strong presence in Colombia, can guide you through the AI transition. We can design solutions tailored to your unique business needs by leveraging our robust tech infrastructure and high-performance AI teams.

Take the next step towards AI success and elevate your business’s capabilities with SuperStaff. Together, we carve the path towards your business’s future!