PARIS —With generative artificial intelligence (AI), there has been a lot of talk about AI in 2023. But what about the adoption of this new technology within companies? What are the obstacles and challenges facing leaders in the coming months? On the eve of the World Economic Forum in Davos, BCG and its Tech division, BCG X, are publishing an unprecedented report on this subject which will be at the heart of discussions throughout next week.
If managers are slow to concretely implement AI in their organization – 90% of them adopt a wait-and-see position or only experiment with AI on a small scale – the investment forecasts should allow for a acceleration of its implementation in 2024. This is what reveals our study “ BCG AI Radar: From Potential to Profit with GenAI” conducted among 1,406 business leaders in 50 countries (including France).
A still very timid implementation…
Although they widely authorize the use of generative AI within their company (95% compared to 52% six months ago), two thirds of managers (66%) say they are divided or dissatisfied with the development of it. AI within their society. They identify three main reasons: lack of talent and skills (62%), unclear roadmap and investment priorities (47%), and lack of responsible AI strategy (42%).
“ In 2024, pioneering companies will experience their first successes thanks to generative AI. Every CEO I meet, myself included, is training in technology. When a new technology emerges it is often tempting to wait until it matures. With generative AI, changes are so rapid that tomorrow’s winners are experimenting and building at scale today .. explains Christoph Schweizer, CEO of the Boston Consulting Group.
“ Generative AI is a revolution that will enable substantial productivity gains in organizations. For companies, it is first of all a question of using the different tools which are multiplying on the market. Generative AI will also allow them to transform some of their functions (customer relations, finance, marketing, etc.). It will also accelerate the launch of new businesses in the medium term,” explains Sylvain Duranton, global director of BCG X, BCG’s Tech entity, and co-author of the study.
…but investments on the rise in 2024
Internationally, leaders are planning a significant increase in their investments in tech in 2024 (71% of leaders compared to 60% in 2023). AI is part of one of the three main tech priorities for 89% of them (cloud and cybersecurity being the other two priorities).
Concerning AI more specifically, French managers are the most likely to plan to increase their investments in 2024 (92% of managers compared to 85% globally).
The majority of French managers (51%) expect productivity gains of at least 10% thanks to these investments in AI (i.e. 5 points more than the global average). “Pioneer companies plan to achieve up to $1 billion in productivity gains, an amount that they will be able to reinvest in new projects ,” explains Sylvain Duranton. “ It is not too late, companies that missed the first wave of AI now have a second chance, ” he explains.
The five recipes of AI pioneers
The report identifies five characteristics that differentiate “winning” companies in AI and generative AI:
- They invest with both productivity and turnover growth in their sights. Thus, those that plan to invest more than $50 million in AI in 2024 will be 1.5 times more likely to reduce their costs by more than 10% in 2024 (vs. all companies).
- They are training their teams: 21% of organizations spending more than $50 million on AI this year have already trained more than a quarter of their workforce, compared to 6% overall.
- They are more vigilant than others in terms of financial monitoring of the deployment of AI and generative AI solutions.
- They are part of an ecosystem of partners that allows them to meet the challenges of this transformation.
- They implemented a responsible AI strategy and entrusted it to their CEO.
