AI can boost revenues by 38%, employment by 10%: Accenture

If businesses invest in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and human-machine collaboration at the same rate as top-notch companies, they could boost revenues by 38 per cent by 2022 and raise employment levels by 10 per cent, a new report said on Tuesday.

Collectively, this would lift profits by $4.8 trillion globally over the same period, said the Accenture Strategy report released here during the world Economic Forum (WEF).

"For the average S&P500 company, this equates to $7.5 billion of revenues and a $880 million lift to profitability," the report noted.

Seventy two percent of the 1,200 senior executives surveyed said intelligent technology will be critical to their organisation's market differentiation and 61 per cent noted that the share of roles requiring collaboration with AI will rise in the next three years.

"To achieve higher rates of growth in the age of AI, companies need to invest more in equipping their people to work with machines in new ways," said Mark Knickrehm, Group Chief Executive, Accenture Strategy.

More than two thirds (69 per cent) of the 14,000 workers surveyed said it is important to develop skills to work with intelligent machines.

Yet, a disconnect between workers' embracing AI and their employers' efforts to prepare workers puts potential growth at risk.

While a majority (54 per cent) of business leaders say that human-machine collaboration is important to their strategic priorities, only three percent noted that their organisation plans to significantly increase its investment in reskilling their workers in the next three years.

Sixty three percent of senior executives think that their company will create net job gains in the next three years through AI.

Meanwhile, the majority of workers (62 per cent) believe AI will have a positive impact on their work.

"Business leaders must take immediate steps to pivot their workforce to enter an entirely new world where human ingenuity meets intelligent technology to unlock new forms of growth," said Ellyn Shook, Chief Leadership and Human Resources Officer, Accenture.

--IANS

na/bg