Key performance indicators (KPIs) have been a useful business tool for a long time, but today they have an even more powerful, strategic lever: AI.
KPIs have traditionally been used to track and measure progress towards specific objectives and it’s not uncommon for such KPIs to only be reviewed at the end of a particular business cycle.
While that kind of cadence for KPI reviews can provide the information needed for a business to track long-term progress and performance, it doesn’t help make immediate business decisions or incremental improvements to realign business objectives in real-time. Rather, it merely offers businesses a rear-view mirror view of what’s behind them.
Looking ahead, not behind
Many business leaders are looking to KPIs to measure the impact of a specific campaign or event that has happened. However, the greater value comes from the ability to look at the impact in the past and have insight into what’s to come.
Rather than putting traditional output metrics, such as sales revenue in a given period, at the centre of business KPI measurements, innovative leaders are making a point of weaving in indicators linked to meaningful outcomes that may not be based on hard data. Think of factors such as customer satisfaction or employee engagement.
Outcome-oriented indicators can help business leaders across the organisation better understand the drivers behind impact. When taken as a dynamic, on-going measurement, rather than a periodical glance in the rear-view mirror, KPIs can offer both short-term and long-term insight, helping businesses correct course in real-time.
Adding AI to the mix
With the increasing availability of AI-powered business analytics tools, outcome-oriented KPIs are poised to take on a new dynamic role that may previously have been difficult to enable with existing tools.
Specifically, AI-embedded business analytics platforms have the power to transform KPIs of any kind from static figures on a spreadsheet into constantly refreshed, context-aware, predictive insights. With the right data and the right solution, AI models have the potential to flag anomalies in real-time, correlate otherwise hidden data and even suggest corrective actions.
Globally, just over a third (34%) of managers are using AI to create new KPIs, according to research by Boston Consulting Group and MIT Sloan Management Review. Of those surveyed who use AI to create new KPIs, 90% see improvements. Moreover, companies that use AI for KPIs are three times more likely to see greater financial benefit, the research found.
Partnering AI-powered analytics platforms with outcome-oriented KPI metrics enables businesses to do much more than just monitor new data patterns; they can now anticipate them and react as they emerge. For example, if the current metrics suggest customer satisfaction is declining, AI-enabled analytics can help to pinpoint the cause and suggest a plan to reverse the decline.
Instant decision-making
The speed with which AI-powered business analytics platforms can ingest current data and work with it to formulate insights and opinions is giving rise to the possibility of real-time decision-making. This is the key to using KPIs for real-time optimisation.
AI’s predictive power can give executives the ability to make smarter, data-informed decisions, adjusting strategies based on likely future outcomes instead of past performance alone. Likewise, AI is able to continuously monitor KPIs through business platforms, detecting patterns and anomalies that might otherwise go unnoticed.
The constant, rolling insights provided by AI-enabled analytics tools empower executives with timely insights that give them the ability to make proactive, highly-informed adjustments or changes before potential issues escalate, only to be discovered upon review of the previous month’s or quarter’s KPIs and business results.
Driving with digital twins
AI systems designed to analyse business information such as KPIs also give leaders the ability to create what’s called a ‘digital twin’ for the team to better understand the business outcomes and decision-making frameworks used throughout the business. This can then be refined as the AI model is further trained.
A digital twin is simply a digital version of a real-world thing. In this case, we’re talking about a digital version of the business, born out of the data it produces. AI-powered models trained on a company’s operational data and decision-making logic can be used to simulate strategy decisions based on KPIs and assess their outcomes before being executed in the real world.
The AI-enabled digital twin approach gives business leaders the ability to test assumptions, mitigate risk and fine-tune their approach in a streamlined and continuous way that can drive proactive change and a dynamic strategic approach. This is an emerging capability that turns KPIs into not just feedback loops, but also sources of foresight for organisations.
In today’s increasingly AI-enabled business landscape, businesses need to move faster and with greater confidence to be competitive. By strategically positioning KPIs and leveraging AI for automation and prediction, business leaders can unlock a cycle of continuous improvement and ongoing agility for long-term success.
- About Amplitude
Mark Drasutis is the Head of Value, APJ at the leading digital analytics platform Amplitude. In this role, Mark leverages his deep expertise in digital strategy, product management & development, customer experience, data and technology to help teams navigate today’s rapidly evolving business landscape.
With more than 25 years of experience leading digital products, transformation and driving innovation, Mark Drasutis is passionate about turning complex challenges into opportunities for growth. Known for his storytelling, coaching, and strategic thinking, Mark has a natural ability to bridge the gap between technical depth and strategic thinking.
Prior to joining Amplitude, Mark was the GM of Digital and Customer Platforms at ASX, where he oversaw all digital products, experiences, platforms, and processes across the exchange’s Customer & Digital ecosystem. While at IAG, he spearheaded the company’s move to a digital-first mindset, leveraging data, AI, and machine learning to reimagine insurance for the modern age. He has also held key roles at the likes of News Corp Australia, Yahoo!, and AOL. As Chief Product Officer – Digital at News Corp, he revolutionised how the company approached innovation, with groundbreaking projects like mobile digital subscriptions, NewsXtend, and the ScaleUp MediaFund.
Amplitude is the leading digital analytics platform that helps companies unlock the power of their products. Over 4,000 customers, including Atlassian, NBCUniversal, Under Armour, Shopify, and Jersey Mike’s, rely on Amplitude to gain self-service visibility into the entire customer journey. Amplitude guides companies every step of the way as they capture data they can trust, uncover clear insights about customer behaviour, and take faster action. When teams understand how people are using their products, they can deliver better product experiences that drive growth. Amplitude is the best-in-class analytics solution for product, data, and marketing teams, ranked #1 in multiple categories in G2’s Spring 2025 Report.
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