How generative AI is reshaping competitive dynamics by eliminating operational friction and unlocking human potential
The corporate landscape is experiencing a seismic shift. Whilst executives debate AI strategy in boardrooms, their teams are spending up to 80% of their time on mind-numbing repetitive tasks that could be automated today. This operational burden isn’t just inefficient—it’s becoming a competitive death sentence as AI-powered rivals surge ahead with superior speed and customer experiences.
The General-Purpose Revolution
Artificial intelligence has evolved beyond a specialised tool into something far more transformative. According to DeepOpinion co-founding partner Ahmed Al-Ali, speaking on the SEF Backstage Pass Podcast, AI has joined the ranks of electricity, the internet, and microchips as a general-purpose technology that fundamentally reshapes entire industries.
“Research shows that there are two interesting paradigms appearing… AI, and more specifically, generative AI, is a general purpose technology,” Al-Ali explained. “That means it’s a foundational technology that allows innovation to be built on top of it, and accordingly create a more positive impact on the abundance of resources.”
This distinction matters enormously. Unlike narrow technological advances that improve specific functions, general-purpose technologies create exponential value across multiple domains simultaneously. McKinsey projects that generative AI alone could contribute over $4 trillion annually to global GDP—exceeding the entire economic output of the United Kingdom.
From Busywork to Breakthrough Work
The most successful organisations are using AI not just to cut costs, but to fundamentally redefine how their teams spend their time. The goal isn’t efficiency for efficiency’s sake—it’s strategic reallocation of human intelligence toward high-value activities that drive competitive advantage.
“We are helping organisations to automate their repetitive processes and help them to be more productive and achieve higher value for their operations,” Al-Ali noted. “Employees do not enjoy doing repetitive tasks. They are actually looking for fulfilling work.”
This transformation manifests in three critical ways:
Operational cost reduction through automated workflows that eliminate manual intervention in routine processes. Innovation acceleration as small teams can accomplish enterprise-scale impact with AI augmentation. Customer experience enhancement through instant, touchless resolution pathways that exceed traditional service expectations.
Real-World Implementation: Beyond the Hype
The most effective AI deployments target specific operational friction points rather than pursuing broad “digital transformation” initiatives. Leading organisations are systematically identifying high-volume, rules-based processes where AI delivers immediate returns.
In inventory management, Al-Ali describes how “AI actually can receive this document, review it, check that you actually bought this item, and then book it off in your ERP system, and hence, automate that process and keep track of your inventory.”
Customer service presents another compelling use case. “Customers do not want to talk to your customer support. Actually, in every single survey, it says that customers prefer a touchless and instant process, and the only way to do this is with AI.”
Industry leaders like Siemens and DEWA aren’t experimenting—they’re systematically deploying AI across predictable, high-volume workflows including customer inquiry processes, ERP system updates, and document-heavy workflows with consistent patterns.
The Organisational Challenge
Despite AI’s transformative potential, many initiatives fail to deliver expected value. The primary barrier isn’t technical—it’s organisational. Companies struggle with change management, employee adoption, and strategic alignment around AI capabilities.
“The challenge that we face today is mainly an organisational challenge. How can we leverage this technology? How do we manage change? How do we transition to that direction smoothly? And this is something that at least the C suite cannot outsource,” Al-Ali observed.
Organisations succeeding with AI prioritise comprehensive awareness building, structured change management processes, employee empowerment to identify automation opportunities, and success metrics that extend beyond cost reduction to include employee satisfaction and customer impact.
The Lean Competitor Threat
Perhaps the most intriguing—and threatening—implication of AI automation is how it enables entirely new classes of competitors. Al-Ali envisions a future where small teams can deliver enterprise-scale impact through AI augmentation.
“Now, will that job be with the same organisation or would we start to see the first one person or 10 people, billion organisations appearing in the next decade, because you know now you can augment yourself and be able to create innovative ideas and products without really needing crazy resources to make it happen.”
This suggests an existential competitive threat: AI-powered startups and small teams may soon compete directly with established enterprises while operating with dramatically lower overhead and faster decision-making cycles.
Strategic Implementation Framework
Based on leading practices from organisations successfully deploying AI automation, a three-phase approach maximises competitive advantage:
Phase 1: Foundation Building Develop AI literacy across leadership teams, map current processes to identify high-volume repetitive workflows, and benchmark operational efficiency against industry leaders to establish baseline performance metrics.
Phase 2: Strategic Deployment Prioritise automation projects based on employee impact, customer experience improvement, and measurable ROI. Create cross-functional teams that blend domain expertise with technical capabilities, while developing success metrics that extend beyond cost savings.
Phase 3: Organisational Evolution Evolve team structures to focus on high-value strategic work, develop new skills in process design and exception handling, and create continuous feedback loops to identify additional automation opportunities.
The Competitive Imperative
The competitive landscape has fundamentally shifted. Organisations that continue wasting human potential on repetitive processes will be systematically outpaced by those leveraging AI to unlock their teams’ full creative and strategic capacity.
As Al-Ali emphasises, this transformation isn’t about replacing people—it’s about redirecting human energy towards complex, nuanced problems and customer experiences that drive genuine competitive advantage. The question isn’t whether AI will reshape your industry, but whether your organisation will lead or follow in this inevitable transition.
