AI, one year on: Case studies and best practices

Rapid, massive AI deployment

The discussion opened with the results of a survey conducted by BCG, AI at Work: Friend and Foe, comparing the use of AI at work between 2023 and 2024. The results are striking: in 2024, 43% of employees used generative AI regularly in their professional practice, compared with just 20% in 2023. This rapid adoption reflects the growing interest in AI technologies across various sectors.

“In the space of a year, AI has established itself as an indispensable tool for many companies, making complex and time-consuming tasks easier.” - Barbara Vite

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The adoption of AI in companies

Barbara Vite detailed the initiatives taken by her team to integrate AI into their daily work. Dentsu International, being a global communications group with a strong data component, quickly saw the potential of AI to improve productivity and efficiency.

She explained how their Insight team, although small, was able to leverage AI technologies for a variety of tasks such as coding verbatims and creating questionnaires.

“AI is like a super intern. It allows us to focus on higher value-added tasks by automating repetitive ones.” - Barbara Vite

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Challenges and opportunities

The discussion also touched on the fears and challenges associated with AI adoption. Barbara pointed out that, contrary to the fear of job substitution, AI has instead created opportunities for teams by freeing them from thankless tasks and enabling them to focus on more creative and strategic aspects.

“Entrusting repetitive tasks to AI allows us to develop our creativity and make jobs more interesting, even for juniors.” - Barbara Vite

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Structured, empirical AI integration

The adoption of AI at Dentsu initially took place empirically, with strong curiosity on the part of the teams. More “data-minded” profiles carried out the first tests and shared results. Subsequently, formal training sessions with Microsoft were set up to structure this adoption.

“The adoption of AI began out of curiosity and was formalized through structured training, notably with Microsoft.” - Barbara Vite

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Training future professionals

Julien Cloarec shared his experience of integrating AI into training programs at Lyon 3 University. Aware of the importance of training non-tech professionals in AI issues, the university has set up specific modules to educate and train students in AI technologies.

Julien explained that students are introduced to the technical aspects of AI, with practical courses including writing code in Python and manipulating language models. The aim is to demystify AI and enable future marketers to appropriate these tools without depending solely on engineers.

“It's crucial for marketers to understand and use AI tools, so as not to be dispossessed of these means by engineers.” - Julien Cloarec

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Awareness and introduction to AI

For all Master 2 (M2) marketing students, whether in continuing education, sandwich courses or initial training, an AI awareness module has been introduced. This four-hour course offers an overview of the technical aspects of AI, aiming to demystify the technology and give a basic understanding of how it works.

“The aim is to popularize the historical technical building blocks of AI, from the 1940s to the present day, so that our students can understand the basic mechanisms and concrete applications of AI.” - Julien Cloarec

Preparing students for the job market

The main aim of these courses is to prepare students to use AI in their future careers as marketers. By giving them a solid grounding in AI techniques and training them in the practical use of these tools, the university seeks to prevent these future professionals from becoming dependent on engineers for the implementation of AI solutions.

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Integrating AI skills into traditional modules

Julien Cloarec also explained how AI skills are integrated into more traditional marketing modules. Rather than treating AI as a separate subject, the university has opted for a holistic approach where AI skills are applied directly within the context of traditional marketing courses. This enables students to immediately see the practical impact of AI in their field of study.

Future prospects

In terms of outlook, both speakers stressed the importance of continuing to integrate AI thoughtfully and responsibly. Barbara warned of the environmental impact of AI and the need to strike a balance between innovation and sustainability.

“AI is a great tool, but we need to use it constructively and avoid it becoming a mere gimmick.” - Barbara Vite

In conclusion, the webinar highlighted the many facets of AI adoption, both in the corporate world and in education. The rich exchanges and feedback from Barbara Vite and Julien Cloarec offered a valuable perspective on the challenges and opportunities of this revolutionary technology.

One year on, AI continues to transform professional practices and pave the way for new ways of working and thinking.

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