Technology Record - Issue 35: Winter 2024

50 VIEWPOINT Delivering what customers need ROWAN FULLER: ZEBRA TECHNOLOGIES On-device generative AI solutions are boosting efficiency and security for frontline workers across multiple industries, especially in retail and healthcare “Early adopters who are already evaluating and implementing generative AI solutions will have a huge advantage over their competitors” For more than 50 years, Zebra Technologies’ mission has been to provide our customers across all industries with the technology to unlock productivity gains within their organisation – whether that be by optimising assets, improving worker efficiencies or gaining real-time insight into their operations. In 2024, our innovations continued to align with this mission. We’ve partnered with the world’s leading companies, including fellow Microsoft partner Qualcomm Technologies, to develop a first for the enterprise market: an on-device generative artificial intelligence, large language model solution. Zebra is taking generative AI capabilities to the edge for frontline workers and removing the requirement for cloud connectivity. There are several reasons we have taken this strategic approach and many key benefits our customers and partners can gain from AI. The central pillar of our mission at Zebra is to put our customers first. We are seeing an ever-growing demand to capture and deliver on the potential of generative AI in an industry-specific manner. We continually hear from clients who are looking to use generative AI to address today’s business challenges and boost revenues. One of our key joint venture partners, SAP, recently identified in its AI: State of Adoption 2024 report that 67 per cent of companies have partially defined AI objectives, with 79 per cent of companies overall implementing or evaluating AI solutions. This research aligns with Zebra’s generative AI strategy, as we are building generative AI tools to deliver industryspecific use cases. Each industry has its own unique set of challenges and opportunities, which our generative AI on-device solution can help to address. For example, Zebra’s Global Shopper Study found that 60 per cent of employees express frustration over having to perform lowlevel tasks rather than helping customers. We can see a future for our retail customers where generative AI tools go beyond helping employees to complete tasks such as restocking shelves more quickly, to reach a point where an enterprise tool can anticipate workers’ needs and function as an enabler. For example, the right enterprise mobile computer solution could provide an employee with real-time answers to any shop floor questions and queries about store policies – improving the customer experience. In addition to being beneficial for retail use cases, generative AI is also helpful in a healthcare environment where clinicians, consultants and nurses can access the technology on their mobile device. For instance, healthcare professionals can access real-time

RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NzQ1NTk=