Innovation and revenue growth should be the focus of AI use rather than reducing costs and optimization according to business leaders (but they’re not sure how)
TCS shows that 69% of companies see AI as a tool to drive innovation and increase revenue, rather than being used to reduce costs and optimize processes, and eight out of ten senior business leaders already have AI used to improve or create new revenue streams.
The study, one of the largest of its kind, asked 1,300 senior leaders from 24 countries how companies plan to become AI-ready, including strategy, operations and implementation plans. This showed that while the emphasis is on innovation rather than optimization, the only real consensus is that companies need better metrics to measure the success of AI use.
Dr. Commenting on the study, Harrick Vin, Chief Technology Officer at TCS, said: “2023 was a year of exuberance, with every company experimenting with AI/GenAI use cases. We are now entering an era of broad and deep adoption of AI in enterprises. However, companies are realizing that the path to manufacturing AI solutions is not easy, and that building an AI-mature business is a marathon, not a sprint. Our AI research has confirmed this sentiment; It has also highlighted that companies feel underprepared to deploy AI solutions at scale and to manage the profound shifts in people’s roles and ways of working that such applications will bring.”
According to the survey, 77% of leaders do not want to wait and see how AI is implemented in their industry, but only 23% want to experiment and take risks with AI. Additionally, 72% of executives are currently reworking their business strategy, but only 28% want to build an enterprise-wide AI strategy. This is despite 45% of respondents believing that half of their employees will need to use AI in their work within three years.
While business leaders may be unsure how to implement AI, with only 20% of business leaders saying they are well positioned to use AI to their strategic advantage, 59% of business functions already have AI implementations in progress or have AI projects completed.
There are more contradictions when it comes to regulations. Most senior managers believe that leaving ethical AI decisions to them may not benefit the majority and that global standards are needed; However, fewer people believe that both government and industry should have an equal say in how AI should be regulated.
While the direction of AI adoption in business is unclear, predictions are positive as executives are generally enthusiastic about AI’s impact. 57% are optimistic about AI and believe it will allow people to focus on higher-value activities that require creativity and strategic thinking. .