Artificial intelligence has the potential to revolutionize businesses with its automated problem-solving capabilities. However, the journey from concept to production deployment of AI models can be a complex one. With only 47% of AI projects making it out of the experimentation phase to be operationalized in production, it's crucial for organizations to focus on maximizing their Return on Investment. In this blog, we'll explore the role of machine learning operations in achieving ROI from AI projects by addressing the common challenges faced during the deployment process. From custom development processes to inadequate data infrastructure, MLOps offers a solution that can help businesses overcome these roadblocks and deliver value from their AI models in a timely and efficient manner.
With only a limited number of AI projects making it out of the experimentation phase, some leaders have expressed their frustration with not seeing the level of returns from AI investments as expected. On the other hand, a number of leading companies are realizing significant returns from AI and have continued to embed it in all aspects of their business. So what sets these companies apart?
The Impact of AI Scalability on Return on Investment
These successful companies are making a significant investment in building a scalable AI infrastructure, an “AI factory” if you will, which enables them to rapidly and efficiently incorporate machine learning into their operations and stay ahead of competitors. The initial success of AI initiatives through scattered pilots and one-off use cases can lead some other organizations to continue the same approach. However, relying solely on this method can result in complex and costly development efforts, hindering the ability to scale AI and achieve maximum Return on Investment. To achieve scalable AI, it is crucial to move towards a “factory approach” by creating reusable assets, platforms, and repeatable processes.
In the past, software development faced similar challenges and the solution was DevOps, which combined development and operations to standardize and automate the process for more efficient software delivery and management. Today, the field of AI presents a similar opportunity with the advent of Machine Learning Operations. MLOps platforms like navio, streamline AI experimentation, development, and deployment by accelerating and organizing workflows and production on a larger scale. For its customers, navio helps to ensure the quality of AI models and meet regulatory requirements through continuous monitoring and improvement processes. By leveraging MLOps, organizations can quickly unlock the business value of AI and increase the ROI of their AI initiatives.
AI factory vs MLOps: Differences and Impact on ROI
An AI factory and MLOps are related but distinct concepts. AI factory refers to a framework for developing and producing AI-powered products and solutions in less time, with less resources. It leverages standardizing development and deployment practices, providing easy access to the tools and technologies needed, and creating reusable assets to reduce time-consuming steps.
MLOps, on the other hand, is the practice of applying DevOps principles to the development, deployment, and management of machine learning models. It focuses on improving the collaboration between data scientists, software engineers, and operations teams to accelerate the deployment of machine learning models in production. MLOps helps organizations to manage the entire machine learning lifecycle, from model development to deployment and monitoring. It aims to bridge the gap between the development of machine learning models and their operationalization, ensuring that models maintained effectively at scale.
In terms of ROI, AI factories have a direct impact by providing organizations with AI-powered products and solutions that can solve business problems, automate processes, and improve decision-making. AI factories can also help organizations reduce costs and increase efficiency, leading to an improved ROI. MLOps, on the other hand, has an indirect impact on Return on Investment. By improving the collaboration between different teams and automating the deployment and management of machine learning models, MLOps helps organizations to reduce the time and effort required to deploy models in production. This increased efficiency can lead to a faster time-to-market and improved model performance, which can ultimately result in a better ROI. Additionally, MLOps can assist companies in mitigating the risk of costly errors and downtime by detecting and resolving issues in advance.
With navio, the capabilities of both these frameworks are combined in one machine learning platform. It offers an environment for hosting, monitoring, and deploying AI models, while enabling the user to automate the end-to-end machine learning pipeline, including model version control, monitoring, and continuous integration and delivery. As a result, navio helps organizations maximize their ROI by streamlining their AI development process, enabling faster and more reliable AI deployment.
Infrastructure Matters: Navigating AI Production
While navio can drive maximum ROI by industrializing AI production, the infrastructure of the technology ecosystem is crucial to ensure seamless and secure operations. A solid infrastructure foundation for AI has to have these capabilities- to collect and integrate data from various sources, and then to enable business users to access the analyzed data in real-time.
Potential issues to consider when evaluating your infrastructure include latency in processing, insufficient data storage capabilities, and cybersecurity gaps. Fortunately, there are a variety of software solutions and open-source tools available, such as MLflow, which offer low-code options and efficient data workflows. navio offers model interoperability by leveraging MLflow. Being vendor-agnostic, navio ensures flexibility in model packaging, allowing you to utilize any preferred deep learning framework, including Scikit-learn, TensorFlow, Apache MXNet, PyTorch, XGBoost, and others, without any restrictions. This affords the ability to select the framework that best aligns with your organization's needs and objectives, without the limitations imposed by vendor-specific products.
Furthermore, navio can be deployed on-premise, in the cloud or on the edge to ensure maximum flexibility and adaptability to meet the specific requirements and infrastructure needs of your organization. This feature enables you to make the most of your existing IT investments, while also allowing your team to take advantage of the scalability and cost benefits of the cloud or edge computing as needed.
For experiencing high Return on Investment with any AI projects, try out navio!