What Does AI Mean to a Board Customer?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of the most transformative forces in business today. But for many of our customers at Board which span an eclectic mix of finance, supply chain, retail, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and beyond—the real question isn’t “What is AI?” It’s “What does AI mean to me, in my role, in my industry, right now?” 

As VP of Customer Success, I’ve partnered closely with hundreds of global organizations across geographies and verticals. What I’ve learned is that while every company’s journey is unique, the common thread is this: AI is only valuable when it fuels accurate forecasting, drives confident and aligned decisions, and delivers measurable outcomes. 

AI Through the Lens of Different Personas 

At Board, our customers represent a wide range of personas. Each has a different relationship with data, leading to different expectations of AI: 

• For the CFO: AI means accurate forecasting, anomaly detection, and predictive scenario modelling that removes uncertainty from static planning cycles. Instead of asking “What happened?” the CFO can ask, “What will happen—and how should we respond today?” 

• For the Supply Chain Leader: AI unlocks resilience. By leveraging advanced analytics, they can anticipate disruptions, optimise inventory, and rebalance complex logistics strategies in real time—transforming the supply chain from reactive to proactive which in today’s fast-moving world is a competitive advantage. 

• For the Retail Planner or Merchandiser: AI personalizes planning at scale. It analyses customer demand patterns, seasonality, and real time external macroeconomic signals to recommend the right product, in the right place, at the right time—helping them delight customers while maximizing sales. 

• For the Executive: AI provides operationally and financially aligned continuous planning to enable faster, confident decisions across business units. No more waiting weeks for reports—answers are predictive, accurate, immediate, and actionable. 

AI Across Industries and Markets 

While personas provide one perspective, industries add another layer of nuance. From manufacturing to financial services, AI within Board supports outcomes like predictive maintenance, demand sensing, and portfolio testing—always grounded in forecast accuracy and business alignment. 

• In Manufacturing, AI optimizes production scheduling, reduces downtime through predictive maintenance, and aligns operations with financial plans. 

• In Retail, it supports assortment optimization, price elasticity modelling, demand forecasting, and inventory optimization. 

• In Financial Services, it enables risk modelling, portfolio scenario testing, and resource allocation with greater precision. 

• In CPG, AI brings new levels of precision to demand planning, streamlines trade promotion optimization, and ensures supply aligns seamlessly with both B2B and B2C objectives 

• The beauty of the Board platform is that augments planning decisions with AI, analysis, and forecasting across all these verticals, without forcing customers to become data scientists or involving IT support. 

The Human Element: Collaborative Intelligence 

It’s important to recognize that AI doesn’t replace the expertise of our customers—it augments it. A supply chain manager knows the nuances of vendor relationships while a CFO knows the story behind the numbers. AI provides fast insights and pattern recognition that humans alone could not achieve at scale. The result is a powerful collaborative partnership: the speed and scale of AI, guided by human intuition and business acumen. 

What Success Looks Like 

For Board customers, success with AI isn’t defined by adopting the latest algorithm. It’s measured in real-world outcomes: 

• Faster planning cycles 

• More resilient operations 

• Smarter resource allocation 

• Better alignment between strategic goals and day-to-day execution 

In short: AI with Board unravels root causes, identifies headwinds and tailwinds, recommends corrective actions, and evaluates multiple scenarios for the best action-oriented path for success. This could be the difference in missing a forecast, experiencing a stockout, making real-time changes to resource allocations, or even mitigating disruptions from impending events including unexpected weather patterns or tariff volatility.  

Looking Ahead 

As AI continues to evolve, so too will its applications across the Board ecosystem. But one thing is clear: for our customers, AI is not a distant, complicated promise—it’s already here, embedded in their decision-making processes, easily helping them navigate uncertainty and unlock new opportunities. 

Board Customer Success team’s mission is to ensure every customer—no matter their role, industry, or maturity level—can harness the transformative power of AI in ways that are beneficial to them. 

Because ultimately, AI is not about technology. It’s about empowering people to make confident and aligned decisions, faster.