AI use cases by industry

Most AI use cases break down the same way. There is the data it learns from or works on, and whether that data is right for the job. There is the model or method that fits the task, which is often simpler than the hype suggests. There is the task itself, what it actually does, and whether it supports a person or acts on its own. And there is evaluation and testing, how you know it works and where the weak point is. Run any use case through those four lenses and it stops being a vague "AI project" and becomes something you can size, test and govern.

This catalogue does not sort use cases into risk tiers, on purpose. How material a use case is depends on how you deploy it: who it affects and how many, whether a person genuinely re-decides or only approves, whether the action can be reversed, and your own regulatory and fairness exposure. The same use case can be high materiality in one organisation and lower in another. So judge the materiality against your own deployment. For how that rating is done, see use-case risk and materiality.

Finance has its own fuller treatment: see AI use cases in finance. Or try the interactive AI use-case explorer to see how a use case breaks into tasks. The full catalogue is below, by area; each use case links to its own page. Last reviewed 24 October 2026; to add or correct one, write to gary@quaintitative.com.

Cross-cutting (any organisation)

• Internal knowledge assistant / policy Q&A. Answers a question from that material.
• Document processing (invoices, forms, contracts). Pulls structured fields out of the text.
• Meeting transcription and notes. Pulls structured fields out of the text.
• Email drafting / inbox triage. Sorts each case into a category.
• Code assistant. Generates new text.
• Talk-to-your-data analysis. Translates it.
• Customer-service copilot. Summarises it.
• Enterprise search. Recommends the best matches.
• Ticket classification and routing. Sorts each case into a category.
• IT ops anomaly / incident triage. Flags what does not fit the usual pattern.
• HR resume screening. Pulls structured fields out of the text.
• Report / spreadsheet generation. Summarises it.
• Grounded support assistant. Answers a question from that material.
• Phishing / malware classification. Sorts each case into a category.
• Security log anomaly / intrusion detection. Flags what does not fit the usual pattern.
• SOC alert triage copilot. Summarises it.
• Voice transcription / QA scoring. Pulls structured fields out of the text.

Banking

• Credit and loan default scoring. Sorts each case into a category.
• Transaction fraud detection. Flags what does not fit the usual pattern.
• AML alert triage and sanctions screening. Groups similar cases with no labels.
• KYC / onboarding due diligence. Pulls structured fields out of the text.
• Customer churn and next-best-action. Sorts each case into a category.
• Branch / call-centre service assistant. Answers a question from that material.
• Collections prioritisation. Sorts each case into a category.
• Statement and dispute document processing. Pulls structured fields out of the text.

Insurance

• Claims triage / straight-through processing. Pulls structured fields out of the text.
• Underwriting risk assessment and pricing. Pulls structured fields out of the text.
• Claims fraud detection. Flags what does not fit the usual pattern.
• Damage assessment from photos. Sorts each case into a category.
• Policy and claims letter drafting. Generates new text.
• Document intake and extraction. Pulls structured fields out of the text.
• Catastrophe / loss forecasting. Forecasts what comes next.

Capital markets / investment

• Price, demand, volatility forecasting. Forecasts what comes next.
• Trade and comms surveillance. Flags what does not fit the usual pattern.
• Algorithmic / execution strategy. Forecasts what comes next.
• Position and exposure monitoring. Flags what does not fit the usual pattern.
• Research and earnings-call summarisation. Summarises it.
• ESG / news signal extraction. Pulls structured fields out of the text.
• Portfolio construction and rebalancing. Forecasts what comes next.

Fintech

• Alternative-data credit scoring. Sorts each case into a category.
• Real-time payment fraud scoring. Flags what does not fit the usual pattern.
• Onboarding identity verification. Pulls structured fields out of the text.
• Personal-finance insights assistant. Answers a question from that material.
• Spend categorisation. Sorts each case into a category.
• Chargeback / dispute automation. Pulls structured fields out of the text.
• Robo-advisory recommendations. Sorts each case into a category.

Healthcare

• Medical image diagnosis support. Sorts each case into a category.
• Clinical documentation / ambient scribe. Pulls structured fields out of the text.
• Patient risk stratification. Sorts each case into a category.
• Clinical coding / prior-auth extraction. Pulls structured fields out of the text.
• Patient triage chat. Answers a question from that material.
• Remote-monitoring anomaly detection. Flags what does not fit the usual pattern.
• Appointment no-show prediction. Sorts each case into a category.

Pharmaceuticals / life sciences

• Drug and molecule discovery. Sorts each case into a category.
• Literature review and evidence synthesis. Summarises it.
• Clinical-trial patient matching. Sorts each case into a category.
• Pharmacovigilance / adverse-event extraction. Pulls structured fields out of the text.
• Regulatory submission drafting. Generates new text.
• Manufacturing batch anomaly detection. Flags what does not fit the usual pattern.
• Medical-affairs Q&A assistant. Answers a question from that material.

Biotech

• Protein / sequence property prediction. Sorts each case into a category.
• Generative molecule / sequence design. Sorts each case into a category.
• Genomic variant classification. Sorts each case into a category.
• Lab-automation / experiment agent. Generates new text.
• Assay image analysis. Sorts each case into a category.
• Literature and patent mining. Pulls structured fields out of the text.

Legal

• Contract review and clause extraction. Pulls structured fields out of the text.
• Contract and policy drafting. Generates new text.
• E-discovery and document classification. Sorts each case into a category.
• Legal research and case summarisation. Summarises it.
• Regulatory-change monitoring. Pulls structured fields out of the text.
• Due-diligence data-room review. Pulls structured fields out of the text.

Professional services / consulting

• Proposal and deck drafting. Generates new text.
• Research and market synthesis. Summarises it.
• Knowledge-base / expertise search. Recommends the best matches.
• Meeting capture and action items. Pulls structured fields out of the text.
• Time / expense categorisation. Sorts each case into a category.
• Engagement risk scoring. Sorts each case into a category.

Accounting / audit

• Invoice and receipt extraction. Pulls structured fields out of the text.
• Anomaly detection in ledgers / journals. Flags what does not fit the usual pattern.
• Expense-policy compliance checking. Sorts each case into a category.
• Audit sampling and risk scoring. Sorts each case into a category.
• Financial-report drafting and commentary. Summarises it.
• Account reconciliation matching. Sorts each case into a category.

Manufacturing

• Predictive maintenance. Forecasts what comes next.
• Visual defect inspection. Sorts each case into a category.
• Process optimisation / yield. Forecasts what comes next.
• Sensor anomaly detection. Flags what does not fit the usual pattern.
• Generative part design. Sorts each case into a category.
• Shop-floor SOP assistant. Answers a question from that material.
• Demand and production planning. Forecasts what comes next.

Automotive

• Perception for ADAS / autonomy. Sorts each case into a category.
• Predictive maintenance / warranty analytics. Forecasts what comes next.
• Manufacturing defect inspection. Sorts each case into a category.
• Connected-vehicle anomaly detection. Flags what does not fit the usual pattern.
• In-car voice assistant. Answers a question from that material.
• Generative styling / design concepts. Generates images.
• Dealer / supply demand forecasting. Forecasts what comes next.

Aerospace & defence

• Predictive maintenance for fleets. Forecasts what comes next.
• Satellite / aerial image analysis. Sorts each case into a category.
• Anomaly detection in telemetry. Flags what does not fit the usual pattern.
• Generative structural / part design. Sorts each case into a category.
• Mission / logistics planning support. Forecasts what comes next.
• Technical-manual assistant. Answers a question from that material.

Electronics / semiconductors

• Wafer / die defect classification. Sorts each case into a category.
• Yield prediction and optimisation. Forecasts what comes next.
• Equipment predictive maintenance. Forecasts what comes next.
• Test-log anomaly detection. Flags what does not fit the usual pattern.
• Chip layout / design assist. Sorts each case into a category.
• Datasheet / spec extraction. Pulls structured fields out of the text.

Supply chain & logistics

• Demand and inventory forecasting. Forecasts what comes next.
• Route and network optimisation. Recommends the best matches.
• Supplier-network / concentration mapping. Groups similar cases with no labels.
• Trade-document processing. Pulls structured fields out of the text.
• ETA / disruption early-warning. Forecasts what comes next.
• Warehouse vision and robotics. Sorts each case into a category.
• Procurement / vendor agent. Summarises it.

Transportation

• Demand / ridership forecasting. Forecasts what comes next.
• Traffic / network optimisation. Recommends the best matches.
• Predictive maintenance for vehicles. Forecasts what comes next.
• Incident / anomaly detection from sensors. Flags what does not fit the usual pattern.
• Trip / dispatch assistant. Answers a question from that material.
• Dynamic pricing / scheduling. Forecasts what comes next.

Shipping & maritime

• Vessel ETA and route optimisation. Forecasts what comes next.
• Fuel / emissions optimisation. Forecasts what comes next.
• Port-congestion forecasting. Forecasts what comes next.
• Cargo-document (bill of lading) extraction. Pulls structured fields out of the text.
• AIS anomaly / dark-vessel detection. Flags what does not fit the usual pattern.
• Hull / equipment predictive maintenance. Forecasts what comes next.

Retail & e-commerce

• Product recommendation. Recommends the best matches.
• Demand forecasting / markdown. Forecasts what comes next.
• Dynamic pricing. Forecasts what comes next.
• Visual search / product tagging. Sorts each case into a category.
• Conversational shopping assistant. Recommends the best matches.
• Product-description generation. Generates new text.
• Review summarisation / sentiment. Reads the sentiment.
• Churn prediction. Sorts each case into a category.

Consumer goods (FMCG)

• Demand / trade-promotion forecasting. Forecasts what comes next.
• Shelf / planogram image analysis. Sorts each case into a category.
• Marketing content generation. Generates new text.
• Social listening and sentiment. Reads the sentiment.
• New-product concept generation. Generates new text.
• Distributor / sales anomaly detection. Flags what does not fit the usual pattern.

Hospitality & travel

• Demand forecasting and revenue management. Forecasts what comes next.
• Dynamic room / fare pricing. Forecasts what comes next.
• Personalised recommendations and upsell. Recommends the best matches.
• Guest-service assistant. Answers a question from that material.
• Review summarisation and sentiment. Reads the sentiment.
• Itinerary / booking agent. Generates new text.

Food & beverage

• Demand and freshness forecasting. Forecasts what comes next.
• Quality / contamination image inspection. Sorts each case into a category.
• Recipe / product formulation generation. Generates new text.
• Menu and review sentiment analysis. Reads the sentiment.
• Cold-chain anomaly detection. Flags what does not fit the usual pattern.
• Food-safety document extraction. Pulls structured fields out of the text.

Real estate & construction

• Property valuation (AVM). Sorts each case into a category.
• Listing-description generation. Generates new text.
• Site-safety vision monitoring. Flags what does not fit the usual pattern.
• Construction-progress tracking. Sorts each case into a category.
• Demand / price forecasting. Forecasts what comes next.
• Lease / contract extraction. Pulls structured fields out of the text.

Energy & utilities

• Load / generation forecasting. Forecasts what comes next.
• Grid-anomaly / outage detection. Flags what does not fit the usual pattern.
• Asset inspection from drone imagery. Sorts each case into a category.
• Predictive maintenance. Forecasts what comes next.
• Energy-trading forecasting. Forecasts what comes next.
• Field-technician assistant. Answers a question from that material.

Oil & gas

• Production / reservoir forecasting. Forecasts what comes next.
• Seismic / subsurface image interpretation. Sorts each case into a category.
• Equipment predictive maintenance. Forecasts what comes next.
• Pipeline leak / anomaly detection. Flags what does not fit the usual pattern.
• HSE incident document analysis. Pulls structured fields out of the text.
• Well / operations assistant. Answers a question from that material.

Mining & metals

• Ore-grade / yield prediction. Forecasts what comes next.
• Equipment predictive maintenance. Forecasts what comes next.
• Drone / pit image analysis. Sorts each case into a category.
• Safety anomaly monitoring. Flags what does not fit the usual pattern.
• Commodity price forecasting. Forecasts what comes next.
• Exploration data synthesis. Summarises it.

Commodities & trading

• Price and volatility forecasting. Forecasts what comes next.
• Supply / demand signal extraction from news. Pulls structured fields out of the text.
• Trade surveillance and anomaly detection. Flags what does not fit the usual pattern.
• Position and exposure monitoring. Flags what does not fit the usual pattern.
• Weather / satellite-driven supply forecasting. Forecasts what comes next.
• Research and market-brief generation. Summarises it.

Agriculture

• Crop / yield prediction. Forecasts what comes next.
• Pest / disease detection. Sorts each case into a category.
• Soil / weather forecasting. Forecasts what comes next.
• Precision-spraying vision. Sorts each case into a category.
• Commodity price forecasting. Forecasts what comes next.
• Agronomy advisory assistant. Answers a question from that material.

Telecommunications

• Network anomaly / fault detection. Flags what does not fit the usual pattern.
• Churn prediction / retention. Sorts each case into a category.
• Capacity / traffic forecasting. Forecasts what comes next.
• Service assistant / self-care. Answers a question from that material.
• Network-optimisation agent. Flags what does not fit the usual pattern.
• Field-dispatch optimisation. Forecasts what comes next.

Media & entertainment

• Content recommendation. Recommends the best matches.
• Captioning / dubbing / translation. Translates it.
• Content generation and editing. Generates new text.
• Moderation / safety classification. Sorts each case into a category.
• Audience / churn analytics. Sorts each case into a category.
• Highlight / clip generation. Summarises it.

Gaming

• Procedural content / asset generation. Generates images.
• NPC / dialogue generation. Generates new text.
• Player churn and LTV prediction. Sorts each case into a category.
• Matchmaking and recommendation. Recommends the best matches.
• Cheat / fraud anomaly detection. Flags what does not fit the usual pattern.
• Toxicity / chat moderation. Sorts each case into a category.
• Playtest / balance simulation. Forecasts what comes next.

Education

• Tutoring / adaptive-learning assistant. Answers a question from that material.
• Automated grading and feedback. Sorts each case into a category.
• Content and lesson generation. Generates new text.
• Plagiarism / integrity detection. Sorts each case into a category.
• Student at-risk / dropout prediction. Sorts each case into a category.
• Course / resource recommendation. Recommends the best matches.

Technology / software

• Code generation / review / migration. Generates new text.
• Vulnerability detection in code. Sorts each case into a category.
• Log summarisation / root cause. Summarises it.
• Product / support assistant (RAG). Answers a question from that material.
• Usage anomaly / incident detection. Flags what does not fit the usual pattern.
• DevOps / incident-response agent. Flags what does not fit the usual pattern.
• Churn / expansion prediction. Sorts each case into a category.

Marketing & advertising

• Lead scoring and qualification. Sorts each case into a category.
• Next-best-action / offer targeting. Sorts each case into a category.
• Content and campaign generation. Generates new text.
• Audience segmentation. Groups similar cases with no labels.
• SEO / ad-copy generation. Generates new text.
• Sales-call analysis and coaching. Pulls structured fields out of the text.
• Social listening and sentiment. Reads the sentiment.
• Sales-development agent. Generates new text.

Human resources

• Resume screening / ranking. Pulls structured fields out of the text.
• Attrition / flight-risk prediction. Sorts each case into a category.
• Interview-scheduling agent. Generates new text.
• Internal mobility / skills matching. Pulls structured fields out of the text.
• Policy / benefits Q&A. Answers a question from that material.
• JD and feedback drafting. Generates new text.

Government & public sector

• Benefits / permit processing. Pulls structured fields out of the text.
• Citizen-service assistant. Answers a question from that material.
• Fraud / improper-payment detection. Flags what does not fit the usual pattern.
• Case triage and prioritisation. Sorts each case into a category.
• Consultation / policy summarisation. Summarises it.
• Tax / customs risk scoring. Sorts each case into a category.
• Infrastructure inspection from imagery. Sorts each case into a category.

Non-profit / NGO

• Donor segmentation and targeting. Groups similar cases with no labels.
• Grant / proposal drafting. Generates new text.
• Program-impact forecasting. Forecasts what comes next.
• Beneficiary-service assistant. Answers a question from that material.
• Document / report summarisation. Summarises it.
• Needs / crisis anomaly detection. Flags what does not fit the usual pattern.