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What AI Can Do For Your Business

Posted on July 28, 2026 by Dr. Thomas Nelson
Dr. Thomas Nelson

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Dr. Thomas E. Nelson is an associate professor at the Mitchell College of Business, where his research and work focus on design-centered entrepreneurship, creative problem-solving, and non-traditional business models.

Artificial intelligence has progressed from a fringe interest to a novelty to a phenomenon to, now, an imminent business necessity. Virtually all businesses have some level of AI adoption, even if they don’t realize it.

AI technology has been baked into everything from Adobe to Zoom, generating such features as predictive text in your email or categorization of expenses in your budgeting software. Like the internet before it and the computer before that, this technology isn’t going anywhere. With that in mind, let’s look at some positives and some pitfalls related to AI use in a business setting.

Intentionally incorporating AI into a business can produce time savings, efficiency gains and cost reductions. Automating repetitive tasks, such as data entry, scheduling, email response and customer service, can save hours a day, making your time more productive.

The time savings also contribute to cost reductions, because employees trained in the use of AI can be much more efficient than before. AI tools can also replace the need for multiple types of software, yielding additional cost reductions.

Businesses should be cautious when adopting AI due to concerns about data privacy and accuracy. Many internet-based “free” services use the data collected not only to update their software but also to monetize that data by selling it to other vendors, meaning your proprietary information could be made available to competitors.

In addition to evaluating the privacy policies of any AI software before proceeding with adoption, businesses should consider paid enterprise solutions, as they offer privacy solutions to protect your company’s data.

AI tools often have accuracy limitations and can produce what are known as  hallucinations — inaccurate or fabricated information. Relying on information produced by an AI tool can lead to operational mistakes or reputational damage. A New York law firm made headlines when lawyers unknowingly submitted an AI-generated legal brief that cited nonexistent cases.

Hallucination rates often drop with every new model release. Recent data has shown some hallucination rates dropping below 1%. Still, fact-checking is a must.

In order to mitigate AI’s pitfalls and maximize success, businesses should develop internal policies, evaluate existing and new technology, and prioritize employee training. The Mitchell College of Business is continually updating our instruction to ensure that our graduates develop the knowledge and skills necessary to be able to confidently engage with AI in their careers.

Dr. Nelson's Favorite AI Tools

Tool  What is it? What's it for?
Google Notebook LM A Gemini-powered research assistant bolstered by your personal data. Great tool for strategic evaluation of meeting notes, competitive analysis and many more applications.
Comet AI-based web browser powered by Perplexity AI search engine. Automates browser tasks and searches such as helping you find the best deal on pet food!
Lumo Privacy-focused large language model AI assistant. Lumo does not collect, store or share your information, prompts or results, making it a very secure option for a variety of businesses.

 

This article appeared in the 2025-2026 issue of the Mitchell Magazine, an annual publication of the Mitchell College of Business. READ THE FULL ISSUE >>>

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