# What Makes a Company Successful at Using AI?

Vijay D’Silva and Bruce Lawler

and

hbr.org

February 28, 2022

[AI](https://www.ketryx.com/learn/blog?tag=generative-ai)

## Table of Contents

[Section link](https://www.ketryx.com/blog/what-makes-a-company-successful-at-using-ai#)

[_This article originally appeared in Harvard Business Review on February 28, 2022._](https://hbr.org/2022/02/what-makes-a-company-successful-at-using-ai)

Vistra, a major U.S. power producer, had a problem. For its plants to operate efficiently, workers had to continuously monitor hundreds of different indicators, tracking temperatures, pressures, oxygen levels, and pump and fan speeds — and they had to make adjustments in real time. The process involved a huge amount of complexity, and it was too much for even the most skilled operator to get right all the time. To address this challenge, the plant installed an AI-powered tool — a heat-rate optimizer — that analyzed hundreds of inputs and generated recommendations every 30 minutes. Result: a 1% increase in efficiency. That may not sound like much, but it translates into millions in savings as well as lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Companies in a wide range of industries are trying to integrate analytics and data to improve their operations. Wayfair, the e-commerce company, was an early mover in shifting its data to the cloud and investing in machine learning. When Covid-19 hit, and rapid changes to consumer demand followed, it was able to optimize container ship logistics, continually adjusting what goods were sent to which ports. Result: an astonishing 7.5% reduction in inbound logistics costs.

‍

[Read the full article](https://hbr.org/2022/02/what-makes-a-company-successful-at-using-ai)

### Interview transcript

Vijay D’Silva and Bruce Lawler

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