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Skills application

Instruction and application
In Progress

ML use case proposals and competitor benchmarking​

How will these skills help you and your business?

Activity instructions​

Choose a business function​

Select one of the following industries/business units that best fits the industry you work in.

Industries and business units-Marketing: Promotes products/services, drives brand awareness and generates leads.

  • Sales: Converts leads into customers, manages relationships and drives revenue.
  • **Operations:**Oversees production, logistics and process efficiency to ensure smooth workflows.
  • **Human resources (HR):**Manages recruitment, employee development, compliance and workplace culture.
  • Finance and accounting: Handles budgeting, financial planning, risk management and compliance.
  • Customer service: Supports customers, handles inquiries and ensures satisfaction and retention.
  • IT and security: Manages infrastructure, cybersecurity and tech solutions to support business operations.
  • Product development: Designs, tests and enhances products/services to meet customer needs.
  • Supply chain and procurement: Manages sourcing, supplier relationships, logistics and inventory.
  • Legal and compliance: Ensures the company adheres to laws, regulations and industry standards.

Brainstorm ML use cases​

Imagine you’ve been tasked with improving business performance for your chosen business unit. Brainstorm at least two potential ideas to use ML to drive improved performance.

If you're working on a business unit that you're not familiar with, you can see some typical key performance indicators (KPIs) for your choice of business unit below.

Marketing KPIs-Customer acquisition cost (CAC) – total cost of acquiring a new customer.

  • Marketing qualified leads (MQLs) – number of leads that meet predefined marketing criteria.
  • Return on marketing investment (ROMI) – revenue generated from marketing efforts compared to spend.
  • Website traffic and conversion rate – number of visitors and percentage converting to leads/customers.
  • Brand awareness and engagement – social media reach, impressions and engagement rates.Sales KPIs-Sales conversion rate – percentage of leads that convert into paying customers.
  • Average deal size – the average revenue per closed deal.
  • Sales cycle length – average time taken to close a deal from lead to customer.
  • Quota attainment – percentage of sales team members hitting their targets.
  • Customer lifetime value (CLV) – total projected revenue from a single customer over time.Operations KPIs-Process efficiency ratio – measures productivity vs operational costs.
  • Order fulfilment time – average time taken to complete and deliver an order.
  • Operational cost per unit – cost of producing/delivering a single unit of product/service.
  • Downtime and utilisation rate – percentage of time equipment or resources are operational.
  • First-time right rate – percentage of processes completed without errors or rework.HR KPIs-Employee turnover rate – percentage of employees leaving within a given period.
  • Time to hire – average time taken to fill open positions.
  • Employee engagement score – satisfaction and engagement levels from surveys.
  • Training and development completion rate – percentage of employees completing training programmes.
  • Absenteeism rate – percentage of working days lost due to employee absence.Finance and accounting KPIs-Net profit margin – percentage of revenue remaining as profit after expenses.
  • Cash flow ratio – measures the company’s ability to cover its short-term liabilities.
  • Accounts receivable turnover – how quickly outstanding invoices are collected.
  • Return on assets (ROA) – profitability relative to total company assets.
  • Budget variance – difference between projected and actual budget performance.Customer service KPIs-Customer satisfaction score (CSAT) – measures customer happiness with support interactions.
  • First response time (FRT) – average time taken to respond to customer enquiries.
  • First contact resolution (FCR) – percentage of issues resolved in the first interaction.
  • Net promoter score (NPS) – measures customer willingness to recommend the company.
  • Ticket volume and resolution time – number of support tickets and average resolution time.IT and security KPIs-System uptime percentage – availability of IT infrastructure and systems.
  • Mean time to resolution (MTTR) – average time taken to resolve IT issues.
  • Security incident response time – speed of addressing cybersecurity threats.
  • IT cost per employee – cost of IT services and tools per employee.
  • Compliance audit pass rate – percentage of security and regulatory audits passed.Product development KPIs-Time to market (TTM) – duration from product ideation to launch.
  • Product defect rate – percentage of faulty or rejected products.
  • Innovation pipeline strength – number of new products/features in development.
  • Customer feedback and adoption rate – usage and satisfaction with new features/products.
  • Research and development (R&D) ROI – revenue generated from R&D investments.Supply chain and procurement KPIs-On-time delivery rate – percentage of orders delivered on schedule.
  • Supplier performance score – evaluates supplier quality and reliability.
  • Inventory turnover ratio – frequency at which inventory is sold and replaced.
  • Cost per order – total cost associated with fulfilling an order.
  • Logistics efficiency – measures transport and warehouse optimisation.Legal and compliance KPIs-Regulatory compliance rate – percentage of compliance with legal requirements.
  • Contract cycle time – average time taken to review and finalise contracts.
  • Legal risk exposure – number of legal disputes and associated risks.
  • Data protection and privacy compliance – adherence to data security regulations.
  • Audit success rate – percentage of successful legal and compliance audits.

Research competitors​

Research known competitors or industry leaders that are using ML to solve their challenges within your chosen industry or business unit.

Tips for conducting researchBy researching a range of these sources, you can uncover what’s working, what’s evolving and where opportunities may exist to innovate in your own business.

  • Industry reports and case studies:Look for reports from trusted sources such asGartner, McKinsey, Deloitte and Harvard Business Review that analyse ML trends and real-world applications.
  • Competitor websites and blogs: Check the AI/technology sections of competitor websites, product pages and company blogs for insights into their ML initiatives.
  • Tech and business news: Follow publications likeTechCrunch, Wired, Forbes and MIT Technology Review for updates on how companies adopt ML.
  • LinkedIn and company announcements: Search for posts, white papers or press releases from industry leaders showcasing ML-driven innovations.
  • Patents and research papers: Google Patents and platforms likearXiv.org can reveal ML breakthroughs competitors are working on.
  • AI vendor case studies: Explore ML service providers (e.g. AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft AI) as they often publish case studies featuring real business applications.
  • Webinars and conferences: Attend AI/ML-focused events or webinars where companies share best practices and success stories.

Create a new and innovative ML use case​

Combine your use cases with competitor insights to refine your best ideas to stand out in the market. Use the insights gained in task 3 to refine and improve your ideas. The aim for this task is to create a new and innovative ML use case that will help your business stand out in the marketplace.

Group presentations​

Each group will have two to three minutes to share:

  • Your top ML use cases.
  • Key learnings from the competitor’s approach.
  • Improvement or replication ideas. During the presentations, the observing teams may ask questions and make suggestions to further improve the use case.

Key takeaways​

  • Brainstorming ideas and then benchmarking competitors' ML use cases can help you refine and improve your solutions.
  • Benchmarking competitor use cases is a continuous process that will help develop a broader understanding of ML capability.