How Businesses Can Begin Their Own Generative AI Journeys
Bryan Mistele, Co-founder and CEO of INRIX.
Business has always been about the art of the possible. Technological and logistical limits are constantly reshaping what businesses can do, narrowing the gap between what we can imagine and what we can accomplish.
Over the past few years, GenAI has democratized data science, opening new possibilities and driving innovation across industries. With the ability to access massive datasets in real time and use GenAI to quickly provide insights, businesses are transforming what’s possible in decision-making, analytics, automation and product development.
As a global leader in transportation analytics and data solutions, we at INRIX are leveraging GenAI to transform how historical and real-time transportation data is used to address modern problems. Analysis that once took months is now done in minutes, advancing our ability to detect transportation trends, optimize road networks and deliver actionable insights. We’ve seen firsthand how this technology can transform operations, accelerate innovation and enhance decision-making for organizations across sectors.
AI Increasing The Possible
In June 2024, CalTrans, California’s department of transportation, awarded us a project to test our new GenAI-powered solution to improve safety for vulnerable roadway users. This project has shown us how GenAI expands possibilities when addressing complex problems, a lesson that almost any industry or public sector can apply.
• Embracing Vast Amounts Of Data: GenAI and machine learning helped us make sense of massive datasets, including 20 years of worldwide historical transportation data and real-time data from more than 600 sources. The sheer amount of information that AI can process creates new and exciting possibilities.
• Understanding Cause And Effect: One of the most significant possibilities that GenAI introduces is the ability to analyze these vast datasets for patterns and a better understanding of root causes. GenAI helps transportation departments and traffic engineers quickly get to the root cause of specific phenomena in traffic networks, the first step in addressing them.
• Implementing Smarter Solutions: Thanks to GenAI’s predictive modeling, we can now find the best solutions to traffic problems by scanning thousands of government reports, using AI to extract and summarize key data in minutes. This speed and accuracy allow engineers to implement proven solutions that are in line with local policies. Using AI, businesses and organizations now have almost immediate access to smarter, better solutions with decades of data supporting their implementation.
GenAI Lessons Learned
AI is changing the way we work, the way we solve problems and how we understand the world. As we develop these tools, we must do so with a clear understanding of AI’s speed and how to make it work to our advantage.
The speed of innovations in AI is unlike anything we’ve seen. As leaders in this industry, our journey with GenAI has opened significant, far-reaching opportunities and taught us something about impermanence. Since technology is moving much faster, what you’re developing today may be obsolete in six months. The flip side to this speed is the ability to bring products to market in a matter of weeks rather than months. Factor this accelerated pace into all you do and embrace the possibilities it creates.
You must understand precisely what you want from GenAI. Map out concrete goals and outcomes before jumping in with both feet. We were clear from the beginning that we didn’t want a simple chatbot. We wanted to integrate our data lake, and we needed AI to understand the design of that data lake so that when you asked it a question, it would automatically know where to find the answers to specific questions. We wanted users to be able to query the data as if they were interviewing an expert.
The best tools are designed in reverse, so you should understand what data you have and what data you need. Begin by envisioning the specific outcome and engineer backward. For example, we knew we wanted to better understand abnormalities in traffic patterns. Why was traffic stuck on a bridge during an off time? To get to root causes, we knew we had to figure out which data lakes would provide the answer as well as what data would be able to help us understand the impact of specific solutions.
As you begin your own AI journey, challenge your entire organization to experiment with possibilities. Look at different models for AI—there isn’t one magic model for every problem. Find the best model for your specific use case.
It’s also important to involve everyone in the planning process. As executives, we can’t dream up every scenario for using AI. However, employees can think about how AI could help in their own specific roles and beyond. During Innovation Week, we shut down our day-to-day activities for a company-wide hackathon, which has generated around 20 projects that have since gone into production. We’ve discovered that the most innovative GenAI ideas often come from our employees rather than the leadership team.
GenAI is rewriting the boundaries of innovation, transforming what we once thought was possible. Smart businesses that embrace this shift and invest time, energy and resources into GenAI tools are not just shaping the future but creating it. The opportunities are limitless. Now is the time to think boldly, act decisively and think beyond the imaginable.
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