How Big Data and AI Help Drive The Cannabis Industry – Forbes

Cannabis industry

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Data helps to drive every industry now. When used effectively, it can lower operational costs and utilize resources in a more effective manner. The U.S. legal cannabis market was valued at $11.9 billion in 2018 and is expected to be worth $66.3 billion by the end of 2025. With this kind of growth, data collection and use are essential to the Cannabis industry in many ways.

The Product

The access to a vast amount of data, allows growers to optimize for environmental changes and variables and can even change the strain of the product. Growers can even adapt to what CBD level that they want and change the genetic makeup to consistently produce the types of strains that sell best.

Artificial intelligence has also started to make a big splash in the industry with machine learning taking in all of the data and giving suggestions of what to change in the growing process, even hour to hour. It then has the ability to automatically change the temperature, light and other aspects that help crops thrive. As the algorithm advances, there will be less need for high-maintenance manual labor when producing marijuana plants and will increase crop production. With the right data-driven system, along with AI companies can lower energy cost, have less waste, and yield a higher ROI.

Delivery

Growing the product isn’t the only thing that AI is having major effects on in the cannabis industry. Just as important as producing the crops is the ability to deliver it efficiently and quickly. Many startups have begun to look at ways to use technology to improve the ability to move product across the nation.

One in particular, Eaze, located in California uses technology to provide marijuana deliveries through an app they developed. They currently use data to help medical marijuana retailers predict the supply and demand and change inventory and delivery based on the information.

Sales

As marijuana legalization spreads across the U.S., in more than just medical fields, there will be rapid growth in companies wanting a piece of the multibillion-dollar pie. However, with this will come price competition and the prices will decline as competition grows while the demand for the product will grow. This gives a major opportunity for the utilization of big data in order to gain insight into competitors and help assist in marketing, branding and sales tactics.

Data will allow businesses to make informed decisions, track trends and target the right markets.

Analytics companies like Cannabase are using analytics to help inform these companies of the right decisions to make in these aspects. They provide real-time market insight to wholesale growers and retailers, helping them anticipate market trends, price changes and volume fluctuations in both the medical and recreational markets. Cannabase also provides analytics to advertisers looking to market to growers and dispensaries. “Data-driven operations are the ones most likely to survive,” says Jennifer Beck, Cannabase cofounder.

Regulation

One of the biggest struggles that come with running a cannabis company is the heavy regulation that follows. Mundane tasks like regulatory compliance, insurance, payment security, transportation logistics and others can take away from the ability to concentrate on the marketing and sales of the product.

MJ Freeway offers an agricultural tracking product that helps marijuana license holders manage their businesses and comply with regulations in Colorado. Companies like this can help to eliminate the mundane tasks from the company so they can concentrate on the product.

Cannabis is definitely here to stay and will see significant growth in the next few years so it is important to keep data and AI top of mind for companies in the business.