 "AI Momentum, Maturity and Model For Success")
Introduction
For decades now AI or Artificial Intelligence has been regarded as the ‘next big thing’ but beyond all the hype and jargons coined by the tech industry it meant little as far as real world applications were concerned. Beyond all the futuristic news of evil humanoid robots taking over the planet even the best of minds were finding it hard to define the technology. But now all this is changing at a rapid pace. For some time now enterprises have used AI in an isolated environment and in bits and pieces understanding it to be an alternative to human intellect. But contrary to the popular belief AI-based technological systems rely heavily on data input to provide the optimal output. Now experts have broadly agreed that Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be broadly categorized in to two categories namely Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and Applied Artificial Intelligence (AAI).
Artificial General Intelligence is that deals with building and working of intelligent thinking machines having human-like level of intelligence. On the other hand Applied Artificial Intelligence can be described as application of AI to enable working of processes and system that match or even surpasses those built by human intelligence. With maturing of Applied Artificial Intelligence now AI-based technologies are being deployed to work along-with human intellect instead of working alongside humans. As far as AI is concerned slowly but surely the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle are coming together, for the first time industry leaders are envisioning practical ways to leverage AI. There is no doubt that Applied Artificial Intelligence will not only play a pivotal role but in fact will be at the core of all operations in an organization in the near future.
Artificial General Intelligence is that deals with building and working of intelligent thinking machines having human-like level of intelligence. On the other hand Applied Artificial Intelligence can be described as application of AI to enable working of processes and system that match or even surpasses those built by human intelligence. With maturing of Applied Artificial Intelligence now AI-based technologies are being deployed to work along-with human intellect instead of working alongside humans. As far as AI is concerned slowly but surely the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle are coming together, for the first time industry leaders are envisioning practical ways to leverage AI. There is no doubt that Applied Artificial Intelligence will not only play a pivotal role but in fact will be at the core of all operations in an organization in the near future.
About the Survey
SAS, along with other industry leaders namely Accenture Applied Intelligence, Intel and Forbes Insights undertook an extensive Global Executive Survey with top executives across industries titled ‘AI Momentum, Maturity and Model For Success ’. The purpose behind undertaking the said survey was to uncover and understand current state of AI in industries and the journeys of various organizations in deployment and working with AI. The survey was carried out in July 2018 and had a total of 305 respondents.
Out of the respondents
- 36% were based in America
- 34% in EMEA region
- 30% in Asia Pacific region.
Out of all respondents
- 28% were Chief Information Officers (CIO)
- 21% were Chief Technology Officers (CTO)
- 21% were Chief Analytics Officer/EVP/SVP/VP, Data & Analytics/Director, BI/Head Of Analytics
- 16% were Chief Data Officer/Director, Data & Analytics
- 9% were EVP/SVP/VP, Data Science/Director, Data Science
- 5% were Others.
Survey Highlights:
Survey: AI Momentum, Maturity and Model For Success
Survey Conducted In: July 2018
Total Number of Respondents: 305
Regions Covered:
- Americas (36%)
- EMEA (34%)
- Asia Pacific (30%)
Sectors Covered:
- Financial Services (17%)
- Manufacturing (16%)
- Retail (11%)
- Government (10%)
- Communications (7%)
- Oil Gas and Energy (7%)
Size of Organizations:
- 5000+ Employees (78%)
- 1000 – 4999 Employees (19%)
- 500 – 999 Employees (2%)
- 500 Employees (1%)
Respondent’s Designations:
- Chief Information Officers (CIO) - 28%
- Chief Technology Officers (CTO) - 21%
- Chief Analytics Officer/EVP/SVP/VP, Data & Analytics/Director, Bi/Head of Analytics - 21%
- Chief Data Officer/Director, Data & Analytics - 16%
- EVP/SVP/VP, Data Science/Director, Data Science - 9%
- Others - 5%
Survey Responses
1. Impact of deployment of AI-based technologies on the operations:
In the survey, a very healthy 72% of respondents stated that they have either deployed AI based technology or are in the process with many of them being at the testing phase. Out of all respondents 51% stated that the deployment of AI based technology in their organisation has either been Successful or Highly Successful. The results were very encouraging, 29% of the other respondents stated their experience as Mixed Results, 13% as Slightly Successful and 8% as to Early to Tell.
Experience with Deployment of AI-based Technologies:
- Highly Successful – 21%
- Successful – 30%
- Mixed Results – 29%
- Slightly Successful – 13%
- Too Early to Tell – 8%
2. Benefits of deploying AI-based technologies’:
On the survey question about current and expected benefits, the top benefit mentioned was ‘More accurate forecasting & decision-making with 85% responding positively. Other current and future benefits being:
- More Accurate Forecasting & Decision-Making – Current Benefits (60%), Expected Benefits in Future (25%)
- Improved Customer Acquisition – Current Benefits (52%), Expected Benefits in Future (29%)
- Higher Organizational Productivity – Current Benefits (48%), Expected Benefits in Future (30%)
- Reduction or Elimination of Manual Tasks – Current Benefits (48%), Expected Benefits in Future (31%)
- Better Resource Utilization – Current Benefits (47%), Expected Benefits in Future (32%)
- Reduced Operating Costs – Current Benefits (47%), Expected Benefits in Future (31%)
- Faster Response Times To Customers – Current Benefits (46%), Expected Benefits in Future (35%)
- Increased Innovation – Current Benefits (45%), Expected Benefits in Future (34%)
- Improved Customer Satisfaction/Retention – Current Benefits (43%), Expected Benefits in Future (32%)
- Improved Product Quality – Current Benefits (42%), Expected Benefits in Future (36%)
- Better Anomaly Detection – Current Benefits (41%), Expected Benefits in Future (33%)
- Faster Time to Insights from Data – Current Benefits (41%), Expected Benefits in Future (38%)
- Greater Employee Efficiency – Current Benefits (29%), Expected Benefits in Future (47%)
- Greater Real-Time Personalization – Current Benefits (4%), Expected Benefits in Future (10%)
3. Domains where AI is being deployed
Top functional area where respondents have either deployed or are considering deploying AI-based technologies was External Communication (Marketing, Social Media, PR) with 81% respondents responding positively. Other functional areas where respondents have either deployed or are considering deploying AI-based technologies were:
- External Communication (Marketing, Social Media, PR) – Deployed (71%), Considering Deploying (10%)
- Marketing/Sales - Deployed (66%), Considering Deploying (16%)
- Customer Relations/Interactions (i.e. Chat bots) - Deployed (61%), Considering Deploying (20%)
- HR/Workforce Management - Deployed (60%), Considering Deploying (19%)
- Security/Fraud Detection - Deployed (51%), Considering Deploying (26%)
- Operational Improvement - Deployed (47%), Considering Deploying (25%)
- Monitoring Through External Devices/Systems - Deployed (37), Considering Deploying (26)
- Logistics and Supply Chain - Deployed (36%), Considering Deploying (28%)
- Production-Floor Systems - Deployed (27%), Considering Deploying (34%)
- Expediting Transactions - Deployed (24%), Considering Deploying (39%)
- Fleet/Mobile Facilities - Deployed (22%), Considering Deploying (31%)
4. Connection between AI and Analytics
In the survey although in varied degree a strong connection came out between AI and Analytics. For the question - To what extent do you expect to see analytics having a role in your organization’s artificial intelligence? Below were the responses:
- Full and Central Role - 16%
- Major Role - 22%
- Moderate Role - 33%
- Minor Role - 22%
- No Role at All - 6%
5. Deployment of AI at your organization
On the question about deployment of AI-based technologies, surprisingly most respondents (32%) stated that AI-based technologies have been fully deployed in multiple cases. For the question - How would you characterize the status of your organization’s deployment of AI? Below were the responses:
- Fully Deployed: Multiple Use Cases/Lines of Business - 32%
- As An Experiment Partially Deployed - 28%
- Deployed As a Prototype or Sandbox - 14%
- Not Yet Deployed Anywhere, But It Is Close -13%
- No Role at All - 6%
6. Review of output from AI-based technologies
Contrary to the popular belief that AI-based technologies work independently and require little or no supervision, in reality organization prefer rigorous oversights and reviews. For the question - How often are outputs from AI reviewed or evaluated? Below were the responses:
- Weekly - 31%
- At Least Once a Month - 26%
- Daily - 18%
- Once/Twice A Year - 16%
- Almost Never - 4%
- Hourly - 5%
7. Requirement of course correction after deployment of an AI-based system
On the question about requirement of course correction after deployment of an AI-based system, a majority of respondents responded negatively. For the question - Have you ever had to rethink, redesign or override an entire AI-based system due to questionable or unsatisfactory results? Below were the responses:
- Yes - 24%
- No - 57%
- Unsure - 19%
8. AI and Ethics
Another major finding of the survey was that early adopter of AI-based technologies have a strong ethical process such as ethics committee to review AI-based operations in place. For the question - Do you have an ethics committee that reviews the use of AI? Below were the responses:
- Yes - 63%
- No - 17%
- Unsure - 7%
- Under Consideration - 13%
9. AI and Training
An overwhelming 70% respondent stated that they have ethics training in place to train their employees who work on AI-based technologies. For the question - Do you conduct ethics training for your technologists? Below were the responses:
Survey Findings
- AI is working - A majority of respondents report that they have encountered real success with deployment and usage of AI
- AI and Analytics - There is a strong connect between AI and Analytics
- Full Deployment Levels Signal Healthy Momentum - A majority of respondents report that they are beyond the testing phase and that AI has been deployed for multiple applications. Also one of the observations was that the respondents who have already deployed AI-based technologies in their organizations have more chances of responding positively to the fact that AI will play a Full and Central Role as far as analytics are concerned in their respective organizations.
- AI Reviews - Another take away from the survey was that AI oversight is not optional and that a majority of respondents report that they review their AI based systems periodically.
- AI and Ethics - A majority of respondents report that they have strong ethic-focused processes in place for AI-based technologies.
- AI and Employment - It was also understood from the survey that employers don't expect any major impact on jobs or job creation but employees may remain a bit wary.
Looking Ahead
By understanding the findings of the survey there is little doubt left that AI will transform businesses in the near future. AI-based technologies are being rapidly maturing and are being adopted like never before. Now the key focus area for enterprises is to evolve the 'best practices' so as to maximise the benefits from AI. Also combining AI with other leading-edge technologies can provide breakthroughs and evolve processes that will compliment both the technologies. As per the survey most employers trust AI, but employees may be understandably a little sceptical about them being replaced and job losses. But with impartment of required knowledge, training, guidelines, transparency and patience employees will understand that AI works best along with them and not alongside them.
Conclusion
For businesses that are still sitting on the sidelines of AI-based transformation and instead are adopting a wait and watch approach, the need for the plunge in the near future will become almost essential. There is strong evidence to suggest that organisations and industry leaders who have embraced AI will be having the first mover's advantage and will definitely reap the rewards in the near future. For organisations that are viewing AI with scepticism, the learnings and the findings from the survey and opinions of the industry leaders can act as a tool to move forward. The survey gives an in-depth insight about the potential of AI, AI-based technologies are a reality and already big strides are being taken by organisations to exploit full potential of AI. For a layman artificial intelligence mostly means technology or automation that can learn, evolve, communicate, think and make decisions either by overriding its programming or by working around it. But in reality the probability and the possibilities of a future with artificial intelligence is much more than that and is upon us.
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