The Future of GenAI: From Insights to Actionable Intelligence

Adriaan
4 min readNov 14, 2024

--

GenAI excels at gathering data and offering insights, it falls short in making this information consumable and executable.

Imagine if GenAI didn’t stop at delivering raw insights but evolved into a true business partner — one that could turn data into clear, structured strategies and detailed action plans. This article explores that vision and the key components needed to make GenAI insights truly actionable.

GenAI vision for actionable insights

GenAI Today: Readable and Understandable, But Not Yet Consumable

While GenAI is highly capable in sourcing and structuring information, it struggles to present this data in a way that businesses can easily interpret and act on. GenAI outputs are often readable, even understandable in some cases, but they lack the layer of clarity and context that would make them truly consumable for decision-making.

The challenge, then, is for GenAI to go beyond merely telling companies what’s happening to showing them how to act on that information effectively.

Consider human communication: only about 10% of a message’s impact comes from words; the remaining 90% relies on non-verbal cues like body language and tone. In the same way, the data itself (the “10%”) may hold valuable insights, but it’s how the information is presented that makes it meaningful. Without an intuitive design layer — one that communicates urgency, context, and clarity — GenAI’s insights often come across as “flat,” leaving users with a lot of information but little sense of direction.

GenAI’s Current Strength: Data Sourcing and Insights

One of GenAI’s greatest strengths lies in data sourcing. It can pull from a company’s proprietary data (such as customer behavior, operational metrics, and performance indicators) and combine it with external macroeconomic and microeconomic data to provide valuable insights. This integration allows companies to gain a comprehensive view of trends, risks, and opportunities, which is invaluable for strategic planning.

In the future, GenAI could bridge this gap by integrating directly with design and presentation tools to format insights into digestible and engaging formats.

However, insights alone are not enough to drive effective action. For example, GenAI might analyze data and identify that demand for a product is rising. Yet, without a way to present this insight in a way that communicates urgency or guides next steps, the insight remains unutilized. Companies need more than just information; they need to know what to do with that information. This is where GenAI’s capabilities still fall short.

The Missing Piece: Data Design and Executable Insights

The biggest gap in GenAI’s capabilities today is its lack of integration with design tools that allow for effective data presentation and structured execution. In the business world, tools like PowerPoint and Miro are used to design and communicate ideas because they allow for creative freedom in structuring narratives, visualizing data, and adding interactive elements. Without a similar capacity, GenAI-generated insights remain “unfinished” and fail to engage users effectively.

A Vision for the Future: GenAI as an Execution Partner

In an ideal future, GenAI would bridge the gap between data and action through a structured framework that organizes insights into actionable plans.

GenAI vision for actionable insights

Imagine a system that follows a clear framework:

  • Objective and Key Results (OKRs): At the top level, GenAI would allow businesses to define objectives and measure outcomes
  • Action Charter: Each key result could be broken down into specific actions, complete with descriptions, objectives, benefits, and implementation plans
  • Action Plan: Each action would be further detailed into an operational plan, specifying workstreams, cost estimates, timeline, benefits, implementation steps
  • Capabilities and Resources: Plans would also outline the required capabilities and resources, aligning strategy with operational readiness

By mapping insights onto a structured framework, GenAI could make it easy for companies to understand not only what to do but also how to do it. The visual structures you see in consulting presentations — where every insight has a place within an overarching objective and action plan — could be replicated within GenAI’s output.

Final Thoughts

GenAI today is a powerful knowledge engine, but without better integration with design and execution tools, its insights remain unrefined and difficult to act upon. The future lies in a more sophisticated GenAI, one that can synthesize data, communicate it effectively, and provide a clear roadmap for action.

If realized, this evolution of GenAI would empower businesses with not only the “what” but also the “how” in strategic decision-making, creating a new era of democratized, actionable intelligence.

If realized, this evolution of GenAI would empower businesses with not only the “what” but also the “how” in strategic decision-making, creating a new era of democratized, actionable intelligence. As companies move toward this future, they could transform from reactive organizations to proactive, data-driven innovators — harnessing AI not just to understand the world around them but to shape it.

--

--

Adriaan
Adriaan

Written by Adriaan

Consultant with a passion for sharing knowledge

No responses yet