How Generative AI Will Transform Digital Product Development Specialists

I'm Kunihiko Monbun, CEO of GNUS Inc.

This series, titled "What You Need to Know About Digital Products Today," focuses on DX and digital products to help Japanese companies advance their DX efforts.
This third installment focuses on the much-discussed generative AI.

GNUS Inc.: Established within the Dentsu Group in 2019 as a partner for business growth and transformation through digital products. We support clients from planning and PoC through development, operation, and growth of digital products—key to DX for new and existing businesses—by assembling optimal teams from our network of over 600 members globally and applying agile project management.

Is Generative AI Just a Buzzword?

There's no doubt that "generative AI" was the buzzword of 2023, not just in the IT industry but across the business world. But now, in 2024, has its impact moved beyond the buzzword stage, or is it still progressing toward full-scale adoption?

 
According to Gartner's "Hype Cycle for Generative AI, 2023," 2023 marked the peak of the "Peak of Inflated Expectations," with 2024 entering the "Trough of Disillusionment." However, at GNUS Inc., we feel we've moved beyond the "Trough of Disillusionment" and entered the "Plateau of Productivity."
 
In other words, generative AI technology has matured to a certain extent, becoming a practical solution, and we see tangible results emerging through Proof of Concept (PoC) and similar initiatives.

Based on Gartner's "Hype Cycle for Generative AI, 2023," GNUS Inc. created the diagram.

Generative AI and Digital Product Development Specialists: A Perfect Match

Currently, GNUS Inc. approaches generative AI through two main methods.

The first is undertaking Proof of Concept (PoC) projects for generative AI products. This approach involves solving client-commissioned digital product challenges using generative AI. Consultants, project managers, and engineers collaborate on these projects, accumulating daily insights on how generative AI can solve problems.

The second is utilizing generative AI to optimize GNUS Inc.'s internal operations. Here, primarily back-office and business operations members use generative AI to enhance efficiency and improve quality.

GNUS Inc. is mindful that precisely because we solve our own challenges using generative AI, we can also solve our clients' challenges. The most important thing in solving problems using new technology is to first use it thoroughly and practice it within our own company.

Why can GNUS Inc., not an AI specialist company, effectively utilize generative AI? One answer is that generative AI is a technology that is very easy to handle and utilize for digital product specialist organizations like ours.

With earlier AI and machine learning (ML), the focus was on algorithm accuracy—how to train models and create high-precision algorithms. With generative AI, the focus shifts away from algorithmic precision. Instead, the key lies in the overall design approach: determining what processing steps to implement before and after the algorithm (which is built using massive data and deep learning technology without direct modification, though fine-tuning may occur) to enable problem-solving.

In short, the emergence of generative AI has created an environment where digital product development specialists are increasingly able to excel more than pure AI companies. The growing number of "generative AI startups" we see today that prioritize digital product development expertise over pure AI expertise is, I believe, a significant change demonstrating this shift.

To put it bluntly, I firmly believe that the proliferation of generative AI is not only a significant opportunity for us digital product specialists but also expands the possibilities of product development.

In future posts, I plan to delve deeper into generative AI.

Contact us here:
https://www.gnus-inc.com/contact?utm_source=media&utm_medium=dentsu-ho&utm_campaign=blog01
 

Kunihiko Bunbun / Representative Director and CEO, GNUS Inc.
After joining Dentsu Inc., he was assigned to the Sales Division. He worked on marketing strategies for foreign consumer goods manufacturers and IT companies. In 2009, as part of Dentsu Inc.'s new business division, he launched the digital magazine sales app Magastore and served as its Product Manager. From 2011 onward, within Dentsu Inc.'s newly established New Business Development & Consulting division, he promoted digital transformation and new business consulting for the media, financial, automotive, and sports business industries. From 2017, seconded to Dentsu Holdings USA in New York, primarily responsible for digital marketing consulting and new business planning for major Japanese manufacturers, driving the development of software services utilizing AI. Returned to Japan in 2019, founded GNUS Inc., and assumed the role of CEO.