AI Applications in Business: Driving Innovation in 2025

Introduction

We are currently at the cusp of transformation, the world around us is becoming more and more connected, digital technologies are no longer just a trend, they are the heart of modern businesses. Among all the revolutionary technologies of this time, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the forefront of transformation.

In 2025 AI is no longer a futuristic process - it has become a part of everyone’s reality. AI meaning can be defined as the technology that can be used by computers and other machines to perform complex tasks. AI applications in business allows machines to simulate human thinking and comprehension, which eventually helps them in decision making.

Among the various industries where AI has left a significant impact, banking, finance, HR and real estate are the major ones.

AI use in business, specially in the finance domain has led to increased accuracy and efficiency. AI applications in finance have the ability to process vast amounts of data at a very high speed which can help businesses to make more informed investment decisions.

AI is also being used by real estate developers to design smart buildings and perform predictive maintenance, which ensures minimum downtime and increased efficiency.

AI is enhancing various HR processes by enabling quick resume screening and ensuring that candidates are selected based on their qualifications and cultural fit within the organization.

Through this blog we aim to discuss the various ways in which AI applications can be useful to business and how it is driving innovation in various sectors.

Understanding AI in Business

Before we discuss how AI is transforming businesses, it is important to explain what AI applications are and how it functions. AI refers to the ability of a machine to understand the world around them and learn from previous data, after doing so they are expected to mimic how a human brain would take various decisions or execute a particular task.

Even though there has been a misconception around AI that it is going to take over various jobs or overpower humanity as a whole, the reality is far from it. As per most experts, AI is supposed to be used as a tool and not a means of substitution, what can be said more certainly is that people using AI in their job can possibly replace people not using AI. As we look around we can see AI being used in different ways, like in the form of smart voice assistants like Alexa or personalized recommendations when you’re scrolling through Netflix figuring out what to watch.

Nowadays AI is being extensively used by businesses for success but not a very long time ago most of these businesses were dependent on traditional programming. When it comes to traditional programming, the developer was responsible for writing down specific rules or setting boundaries for how the software is supposed to behave. These rules are hard coded into the system and the softwares was expected to take in the required input from the user, process it as per the defined logic and then produce the output.

However when it comes to AI based approaches that use Machine Learning algorithms in various applications in the business, they don't follow a predefined pattern. AI systems are trained to learn from past data and experiences and identify patterns, and make decisions on the basis of those patterns. As opposed to the deterministic pattern of traditional methods, AI based methods are more probabilistic, dynamic and use a continuous improvement loop.

Key Applications of AI in Business

AI in Banking and Finance

AI use is becoming increasingly important in the banking industry, primarily in a few specific areas, like - providing personalized offerings to the customers, in order to predict and identify potential threats and frauds, automating manual processes and finally to identify new revenue streams or opportunities. As per a McKinsey report, technologies like Gen AI can be used to generate an annual value of USD 2.6 trillion to USD 4.4 trillion.

While the use of AI applications in banking and finance is not new, they are being used more frequently now. Investment banking firms have been using Natural Language Processing (NLP) for processing vast amounts of data, from internal or third party sources. By adopting various means of AI applications in banking, high quality customer services can also be ensured by means of interactive chatbots or virtual assistants. Along with Robotic Process Automation, AI applications in finance can automate workflows, empower decision making and work responsibly.

AI in IT Operations

In order to ensure that digital transformation takes place at a fast pace, it is important for traditional IT infrastructure to evolve into an AI based IT infrastructure or AIOps.

As per Gartner, Artificial Intelligence for IT Operations or AIOps refers to all the AI use cases in IT operations that uses AI/ML functionality in order to replace various IT functions like performance monitoring, event correlation, automation, etc. AIOps helps organizations to reduce operational cost by effectively predicting areas where there can be an issue thereby reducing probability of downtime and hence improving efficiency.

AIOps uses event correlation to identify patterns that signal an anomaly and also allows to perform a root cause analysis. As opposed to traditional IT systems which depended on disparate data sources, AI uses cases in IT operations that work on a common framework that uses information from various sources.

AI in Real Estate

When it comes to the real estate industry, there are copious amounts of data both from the proprietary as well as third party sources in relation to a property, the market, tenants, etc. Manually managing such a vast amount of data is a huge task, here comes technologies like Generative AI tools that can be used to carry out specific tasks, like predicting market value or categorizing customer segments.

According to McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), GenAI can generate a value of USD 110 billion to USD 180 billion or more for the real estate industry. AI application in commercial real estate can include summarizing and highlighting key themes after analyzing several leasing documents, or act as a means of managing interactions like tenant requests and negotiations.

AI can also be used for virtual staging of properties, by adding furniture and other items virtually to an empty room, can help potential buyers to get a feel of how the room might look when it’s fully decked up; this can result in a quicker sale.

AI for Small Businesses

The application of Generative AI in businesses is not dependent on the size of the organization. There are various AI apps for small businesses which can be used in their daily functioning. According to Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council (SBEC) 48% of small businesses have implemented AI tools in the last year. According to a survey conducted by them, 93% of small business owners agree that AI tools are cost effective and help in driving efficiency and thereby profitability. Upmetrics is an example of an AI app to write business plans, while ChatGPT and DALL-E 2 can be used for generating content (text and image based respectively) which can be used for generating articles, blogs, social media posts etc.

AI in Human Resources (HR)

The use of AI applications for businesses has also seeped into the human resource department leading to an overall success of the business. Most of the HR leaders feel positively about the use of AI applications in HR and how they are going to impact how recruitment and talent acquisition is going to work.

According to a Gartner report, 38% of the HR leaders have already implemented AI applications in their businesses and additionally 76% believe if an organization fails to implement it within the next 12-24 months, they can face loss in value.

When it comes to recruitment or talent acquisition there are various AI applications in HR that can be used to automate the process and reduce the time taken. Thanks to tools like Zeko Screen companies do not have to go through thousands of resumes, they can simply use it to compare the resume with respect to the job requirement, and then rank the candidates according to their relevance. By using such AI applications in businesses one can ensure the most eligible candidates are shortlisted and the unqualified ones are eliminated, thereby saving a lot of time.

There are other top AI business tools like Zeko Hunt which can act like a powerful magnet to attract all the top talents. All this AI application needs is the job description and then it would scan all the relevant profiles through LinkedIn and beyond and come up with a pool of potential candidates. Zeko Hunt’s work would not end there, then this AI application would go on to proactively approach the candidates to apply for the job in order to create a large pool of potential candidates. Using this app businesses can easily create a broader base of candidates with minimal efforts.

There are AI mock interview tools like Zeko Interview which can be used to provide video based dynamic interviews to candidates for them to prepare. Their AI assistant named “Avya” would interact with the candidates in a simulation format and ask them relevant questions according to their resume. This AI application would then judge the candidate on the basis of the answers provided. The candidates would be judged on various parameters such as how fluent they are, or how technically sound they are, etc. This tool is very useful for providing real time feedback as well.

Business Benefits of AI Adoption

According to a Harvard Business School Professor Karim Lakhani, the future of businesses is definitely going to be AI powered, according to them there is not going to be one single organization or role in the future which will remain untouched by AI. The PWC emerging technology report of 2023 also suggests that 73% of US companies have already implemented AI in some form or another in their businesses. There are various benefits that AI applications has provided to businesses, some of them are:

Increased efficiency and productivity: AI applications in businesses can help in reducing the time taken for various tasks by automating them, they can also be used to streamline workflows and also above all help in providing data driven decision making. According to a McKinsey report, AI has the potential to automate activities that could have otherwise absorbed 60-70% time of an employee, this allows them to focus their attention on more strategic activities.
Enhanced decision making: AI has the capability of analyzing vast amounts of data and identifying patterns (that humans might not be able to do), this can help them make more informed strategic decisions, and also reduce the change of risk.
Cost reduction: AI can lead to cost reduction in various ways, since it can automate routine tasks and it allows employees to focus on more important tasks that can improve competitive advantage. It can also reduce the cost of maintenance by anticipating the need for it through predictive maintenance.
Improved Customer Experience: AI apps are making every interaction with the customer more and more personalized. By using various virtual assistants customers can now interact with the brand on a personal level, they feel more connected with the brand and feel like they are being “heard”.

Challenges and Risks of AI in Business

AI tools come with its own sets of challenges, it's not very easy to integrate AI applications in business management. Some of the challenges are:

High cost: Implementing AI requires not only an initial heavy investment but also expenses in terms of maintenance, training cost and overall fund required for timely updates. Not all organizations can afford such high costs.
Ethical uses: One of the most important concerns with applications of Artificial Intelligence or AI in businesses is the questions of ethical use of AI, and whether due diligence is being ensured while working on sensitive data.
Data security and privacy: AI works on vast amounts of data, therefore ensuring that leaks, breaches or misuse of data does not happen is very important.

Selecting the Right AI Tools for Your Business

Choosing the right AI tool for your business has become very important to boost efficiency and innovation. There are popular platforms like IBM Watson, Google AI, Microsoft Azure AI among others. The correct AI apps for your business would depend on the size of the business, the budget as well the goal. For larger businesses, platforms like Microsoft Azure AI provide scalable solutions. On the other hand, Zeko AI stands out as a trusted provider for tailored AI solutions for small businesses and startups. At affordable prices Zeko AI products help organizations to integrate AI without requiring extensive technical expertise.

Conclusion and Future Outlook

AI applications in business are driving innovation by enabling automation, improving decision making, and ensuring robust customer experience. As businesses keep adopting such AI applications in business, those who would leverage these tools effectively would stay competitive in 2025 and beyond. Now is the time for even small organizations to explore various AI tools like Zeko AI and others to achieve success in the rapidly changing market.