First AI Pulse Survey reveals that the
number of senior leaders investing $10
million or more is set to nearly double, but many are
failing to also invest in necessary infrastructure, jeopardizing
AI's impact
NEW
YORK, July 15, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- After
more than a year of hype around generative AI's potential, business
leaders report that they are already seeing a return on their
artificial intelligence (AI) investments and plan to increasingly
become more bullish, according to new data from Ernst & Young
LLP (EY US). Among the 95% of senior leaders who report that their
organizations are currently investing in AI, the number of
companies investing $10 million or
more in the technology is set to nearly double next year to 30%, up
from 16% currently investing at that level. However, despite the
forecasted investment boom, the survey also found that many leaders
are ignoring the foundational functions AI needs to thrive.
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The new EY AI Pulse Survey is the first in a series that
asked 500 US senior leaders across industries about their AI
technology investments, impacts and challenges. As leaders look to
create sustainable momentum toward full-scale AI adoption, the
study finds that senior leaders whose organizations are investing
in AI are seeing tangible impact across business functions,
including about three-quarters who are experiencing positive ROI
on:
- Operational efficiencies (77%)
- Employee productivity (74%)
- Customer satisfaction (72%)
"The world in which we do business has been forever altered by
the emergence of generative AI," said Dan Diasio, EY Global Artificial Intelligence
Consulting Leader. "Nearly all companies are investing in AI, but
we're seeing a divergence between companies experimenting in small
ways and those making larger investments, with the leaders who
continue prioritizing investments in AI increasingly ahead of the
pack and experiencing positive returns."
Investment matters – those committing 5% or more of budget
see outsized returns
Senior leaders whose organizations are investing in AI and whose
current budgets for AI investments are 5% or more of their total
budgets saw higher rates of positive return across dimensions
surveyed when compared with those who spend less than 5%, including
in employee productivity (76% vs. 62%, respectively), cybersecurity
(74% vs. 58%), product innovation (71% vs. 55%) and creating
competitive advantages (73% vs. 47%).
The positive impacts of AI are setting up an investment boom
cycle. Among senior leaders at organizations that invest in AI,
about half (51%) admit that three years ago, their organizations
spent less than 5% of their total budgets on AI investments. Today,
88% of those same leaders spend 5% or more of their total budgets
on AI, with the number set to grow even higher as half (50%) of
senior leaders said they will dedicate 25% or more of their total
budgets toward AI investments in the coming year.
"Business leaders are beginning to shape their future by raising
strategic AI investments," said Traci Gusher, EY Americas AI, Data
and Automation Leader. "But the survey uncovered significant risks
on the path to enterprise-wide AI adoption, including data
infrastructure, ethical frameworks and talent acquisition. These
are key to fully maximizing AI's abilities and will allow
organizations to differentiate themselves in the marketplace."
Without a strong infrastructure foundation, efforts to
maximize AI's full potential will fail
While its ability to revolutionize the workplace is without
question, AI is only as good as the underlying infrastructure, the
governance framework it operates within and the talent development
needed to properly use the technology. Without a strong foundation
from which to harness the power of AI, leaders risk their
investments cracking and crumbling beneath them. Yet few leaders
reported that their organizations were taking these steps:
- Data infrastructure: Only 36% of senior leaders say that
they're investing in data infrastructure (i.e., quality,
accessibility and governance of data) fully and at scale, meaning
AI is missing crucial information that would enable it to produce
better, more accurate results.
- Responsible AI: Senior leaders acknowledged the
importance of ethical AI use, but just about half (54%) of senior
leaders whose organizations are investing in AI said that
organizational focus on ensuring AI operates ethically will
increase over the next year, and only about a third said their
organizations are building an AI governance framework fully and at
scale (34%) or is addressing bias in AI models fully and at scale
(32%).
- Talent attraction and retention: 83% of senior leaders
prioritize attracting workers who are knowledgeable of AI, yet only
37% of senior leaders said that their organizations are
training/upskilling employees on AI fully and at scale, exposing a
gap for leaders to capitalize on by developing AI capabilities
internally, given the challenging state of the AI talent
market.
"AI is clearly moving out of the hype phase and firmly toward
being a viable means of productivity for organizations," added
Gusher. "As we move into the next phase of full-scale AI
integration, leaders will need to develop a holistic strategy that
completely reimagines the entire enterprise system to create an
AI-centric business that best harnesses the transformative power of
the technology."
Methodology
EY US commissioned a third party to
conduct the 2024 EY AI Pulse Survey. The online survey was
conducted among n=500 US-employed decision-makers (SVP+) in the
health; life sciences; energy; technology, media and
telecommunications (TMT); government and public sector; consumer
products and retail; advanced manufacturing and mobility (AMM);
financial services; private equity; and real estate, hospitality
and construction (RHC) industries (i.e., n=50 per industry). The
survey was fielded from April 29,
2024 through May 6, 2024. The
margin of error for the total sample is +/- 4 percentage
points.
About EY
EY exists to build a better working world,
helping create long-term value for clients, people and society and
build trust in the capital markets.
Enabled by data and technology, diverse EY teams in over 150
countries provide trust through assurance and help clients grow,
transform and operate.
Working across assurance, consulting, law, strategy, tax and
transactions, EY teams ask better questions to find new answers for
the complex issues facing our world today.
EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or
more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each
of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global
Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide
services to clients. Information about how EY collects and uses
personal data and a description of the rights individuals have
under data protection legislation are available via ey.com/privacy.
EY member firms do not practice law where prohibited by local laws.
For more information about our organization, please visit
ey.com.
Ernst & Young LLP is a client-serving member firm of Ernst
& Young Global Limited operating in the US.
CONTACT: Lizzie McWilliams,
lizzie.mcwilliams@ey.com
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