Interest in artificial intelligence (AI) and GenAI is booming, and businesses across multiple sectors are eager to use these technologies to personalize customer experiences, improve employee efficiency, streamline operations, or create new content, such as text, visuals, audio, and code. GenAI’s scope spans a wide variety of use cases across all types of business operations and procedures.

In Spain, the GenAI market is projected to expand significantly. According to GlobalData’s GenAI forecast, the market opportunity in Spain is expected to surge from $19 million in 2022 to $425 million by 2027, reflecting a remarkable compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 86%. This trajectory indicates a strong appetite for GenAI solutions among Spanish businesses, aligning with global trends in the wider adoption of AI technologies. However, several obstacles exist to effectively integrating GenAI into a company’s infrastructure, particularly when it comes to operationalizing the models to replace manual tasks and become stable processes. Document analysis is a key example.

“We already have different GenAI solutions for document analysis and automatic text generation, which can save companies a lot of resources and time while minimizing human errors, but only if we know how to effectively implement and integrate them into daily processes”, says Rubén Granados, leader of the Data Science team at Telefonica Tech. “Implementation is not as straightforward as sometimes thought. It is not just about taking the trendy solution and launch requests. This will respond acceptably well in general, but for a GenAI solution to work in a specialized domain and for a specific task, it will be necessary to adjust and adapt it to the client’s needs to obtain the best possible results.”

Integrating GenAI 

Implementing GenAI solutions into enterprise document analytics frameworks is a complex process and, for some companies, the implementation process takes more time and effort than they initially expected.The first obstacle that a company usually encounters is uncertainty about which large language models (LLMs) to use, a step that can hinder the decision-making process and delay implementation. There are major differences between generative models on the market, and it is necessary to understand them and choose the most suitable one for each type of use case based on the objectives pursued.

Working with open-source models can lower costs, but data security must be taken into account, and applications to specific use cases limited. A lack of internal expertise in deploying these types of models can also lead to mismatches, longer-than-expected implementation times, and unforeseen costs.

For any AI and GenAI initiative to be successful, it must be closely aligned with the organization’s strategic goals. Organizations can become overly focused on the technology itself, losing sight of the added value they aim to create.

GenAI projects span from proof of concept to deployment, and organizations must plan accordingly when developing their short- and long-term AI roadmaps. There are several aspects to consider that should be integrated into the early stages of any AI project to mitigate any potential risk. For example:

  • Data quality and efficient management are critical, as they directly influence model outcomes.
  • Good data governance should be prioritized to ensure AI initiatives produce positive outcomes.
  • Processes that ensure data privacy should be implemented.
  • Current legislation should be taken into account and internal policies defined to ensure companies respect ethics in the application of AI (for example, mitigating bias in data and algorithms).

From conceptualization to productization 

A pioneer in GenAI experimentation and implementation is Telefónica Tech, Telefónica’s digital business unit, which offers a variety of services and technological solutions such as AI, big data, IoT, cloud computing, and cybersecurity. The company works with numerous public and private clients on advanced analytics projects based on AI across sectors including finance, law, and healthcare. It uses digital technological solutions to address market challenges and allow organizations to take advantage of the opportunities available.

Telefónica Tech has carried out many AI projects, from conceptualization to productization in the corporate systems of its clients. One example is its assistant projects; these allow an employee to find relevant and accurate information in the corporate document repository using GenAI, helping to improve the company’s overall productivity. Models are trained on vast amounts of corporate data and GenAI extracts the most relevant information to provide a response based on history, allowing employees to spend more time on other, higher-value tasks.

Rubén Granados emphasizes that “when we meet with a client interested in a GenAI solution, our primary goal is to understand their needs, just as we used to do when defining more traditional AI projects, in order to offer them our best proposals based on our experience in different clients and sectors. But currently, with GenAI , this initial conceptualization phase takes on vital importance, given the high expectations placed on this type of technology. For example, we have had clients who want to provide their employees with answers to all their questions about their processes, both technical and administrative. The solution can be straightforward thanks to GenAI, but a deeper analysis and understanding of the real use that such a textual assistant would have, could substantially improve results. This could be achieved with a ‘simple’ separation of informational repositories based on employee roles, allowing the implemented GenAI solution in productization to be even more precise.”

Telefónica Tech already has a reputation for partnering with vendors to bring emerging solutions to customers. Expanding its portfolio to include access to GenAI platforms, and augmenting them with training and professional services, solidifies its position as a trusted technology partner for organizations across multiple industries. When businesses are ready to implement and integrate the latest AI innovations, streamline processes, and create new efficiencies, Telefonica Tech is well-placed to provide cutting-edge solutions and essential support.

For more on how Telefónica Tech offers AI-powered document management solutions that enhance efficiency, download the paper below.