Many companies are sitting on a real goldmine of data without fully leveraging it. Both internal and external data offer unprecedented opportunities for growth and efficiency. In this blog, we dive deeper into how companies can utilize these sources and how AI can play a crucial role in unlocking this potential. We will discuss how to make data more searchable, how to converse with your data, and how to link and integrate various sources.

Internal data: an untapped potential

Companies continuously collect data from various sources such as CRM systems, accounting, HR, production, logistics, and more. This internal data contains valuable insights that often remain unused. Over the years, companies build significant expertise and knowledge in their workflows. By implementing AI solutions, companies can effectively analyse and make this data accessible to make strategic decisions.

By providing a Large Language Model like GPT-4 (the language model behind ChatGPT) access to the right data within your workflows, AI can become a versatile tool. This way, years of knowledge and experience are made directly available for all aspects of your business, ensuring that your team can perform more efficiently than ever.

External data: a treasure trove of information

In addition to internal data, there are numerous external data sources that companies can utilise. Think of public data such as that from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Google Maps, weather data from KNMI and Buienradar, and government data (data.overheid.nl). Furthermore, social media (X, Facebook, LinkedIn), news sources (RSS feeds, APIs), scientific publications (PubMed, arXiv), and financial data (stock exchanges, annual reports) provide valuable information.

By integrating these sources with internal data, companies can gain a more complete picture of their market, competitors, and customers. AI can assist in this by converting large volumes of data into understandable language and analysing it, allowing companies to respond more quickly and effectively to changes in the market.

The role of AI in data management and integration

AI plays a crucial role in managing and integrating data. With techniques such as Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) , AI models can retrieve relevant information from both internal and external data. This enables companies to make more accurate and reliable decisions.

Data quality is essential for successful AI solutions. AI models perform well only when fed with quality data. Therefore, it is important to log, structure, and clean data before it is used.

AI tools can not only analyse data but also visualise it. This makes it easier to interpret and share insights within the company. For example, by combining data from the CRM with external market data, companies can discover trends and patterns that would otherwise remain hidden.

Vector databases are powerful tools for making large amounts of data searchable. They can help quickly find relevant information, which is crucial for real-time applications such as customer interaction and decision-making. By using AI-driven search technologies, companies can work more efficiently and effectively.

Practical applications of AI in data analysis

A practical application of AI in data analysis is combining CBS regional classifications with the Google Maps API. Companies can outline a map within a specific area with a clear delineation, which can be useful for municipal reports or other applications. Then, GPT-vision can read the map and convert it into a piece of text. This makes it possible to quickly and accurately generate reports based on visual data.

Conclusion

The power of AI lies in harnessing the goldmine of data that companies already possess, supplemented by valuable external data. By making this data more searchable, integrating it, and analyzing it, companies can gain strategic advantages. Whether the goal is to improve customer relationships, automate reporting, or make data-driven decisions, AI provides the necessary tools.

Would you like to learn how your company can leverage this untapped data? Contact one of our AI experts to learn about the opportunities available to your organization.