By Shona Sabah
Senior Manager - Strategic Growth Lead
AI continues to dominate headlines and industry discussions, creating an arms race - both among governments and within businesses - looking to harness its potential for competitive advantage.
In the payments industry, I’m seeing AI drive innovation in areas like security and authentication, payments orchestration and optimisation, personalisation, customer servicing, underwriting and risk management, as well as dispute resolution and chargeback handling.
In the B2B SaaS space, including AP/AR automation and ERP/accounting software, AI is powering chatbots and virtual assistants, intelligent invoice processing, smarter approval workflows, automated reconciliation, predictive analytics, and optimised expense management.
But AI doesn’t come cheap, and I see too many companies implementing AI for AI’s sake - often reacting to competitive pressure or investor expectations. When internal competition for resources is as fierce as external market dynamics, justifying investment in AI can be challenging. The real question to ask is:
Where can AI create the highest value, rather than being treated as an end in itself?
At KAE, I hear this concern more and more from our payments and SaaS clients. While it seems obvious on paper, many organisations lose sight of this in practice. Regardless of where you are on your AI journey, the key is making sure AI investments are commercially aligned and prioritised effectively.
It all starts with understanding your customers and the problems you’re solving for them - recognising that these challenges vary across segments, verticals, and markets. But not all pain points are equal. Some have a much bigger impact on customer engagement, provider switching behaviour, and ultimately, conversion.
If you don’t prioritise AI initiatives based on real customer needs, you risk investing in solutions that don’t drive the commercial outcomes you’re aiming for.
If you want to make sure your AI strategy is solving the right problems and driving real differentiation, I'd love to chat. At KAE, I help payment and business technology companies uncover what truly matters to their customers and how AI can be a genuine enabler of value.