Executives Embrace AI Under Media Pressure, But Organizational Readiness Remains a Major Challenge

IFS, a global specialist in enterprise cloud solutions, publishes a new study which reveals that executives and boards of directors have given in to the craze for AI, but companies are not able to meet the operational expectations. This new global study carried out among 1.700 decision-makers from mid-sized companies and large companies, entitled Industrial AI: the new frontier for productivity, innovation and competition (Industrial AI: The New Frontier for Productivity, Innovation and Competition), reveals that the promise of AI is held back by technology, processes and skills. Half of respondents remain optimistic that with the right AI strategy, value can be realized over the next two years, and a quarter believe it will be realized over the next two years. next year.

Expectations that do not correspond to reality

84% of leaders anticipate massive organizational benefits from AI. For them, the three main high-impact areas where AI is expected to deliver value are product and service innovation, improving the availability of internal and external data, and reducing costs and increased margins. The enthusiasm is such that 90% (82% overall) of decision-makers in France recognize that there is strong pressure to quickly adopt AI. However, decision-makers express concern that AI projects stop at the pilot stage either due to lack of planning, implementation or communication.

Many companies have not prioritized development activities, lack the infrastructure to reap the rewards, and lack the skills to deliver on that promise. The study found that more than a third (34% overall and 36% in France) of companies had not moved to the cloud. While this is not essential to AI adoption, it indicates that the company is not prepared and is unlikely to be able to scale AI across the board. of its activities. According to IFS, a robust AI industry strategy requires a powerful combination of cloud, data, processes and skills. 90% of respondents in France (80% overall) recognize that the lack of a strategic approach means they do not have enough internal skills to successfully adopt AI. This feeling is found elsewhere in the study: 43% of French respondents (also 43% overall) believe that the quality of AI resources in their company, in terms of human skills, is fair and therefore not at the level of what 'they should be.

For Christian Pedersen, Chief Product Officer of IFS:“AI is poised to become the most innovative business tool available, but our research reveals that there are still deep misunderstandings about how to harness its power in an industrial setting. Tellingly, AI is expected to significantly reduce costs and increase margins, but the lack of a solid strategy means most businesses are not sufficiently skilled and prepared to realize these ambitions. We built IFS.ai specifically with these issues in mind. The value of AI is not found in a single AI capability, but rather in the application of AI across all business products and processes. This helps support customer decision cycles and provides the data and AI services needed to create value faster. Achieving this at scale requires a clear strategic direction, including high-impact use cases specific to their industry. It is also necessary to have a cloud-based infrastructure integrating industrial AI and to invest as quickly as possible in the development of the necessary skills. Adopting this approach will reverse the trend of disillusionment and deliver the benefits that boards and executives demand. »

Optimistic outlook, but planning needed

The unfortunate reality of the skills gap means that in terms of AI readiness, many companies are lagging behind. IFS found that almost half of respondents (48% overall and 49% in France) tend to say they collect proposals and are much less likely to have a clear strategy and noticeable results (36% in France and 27% overall). A fifth of respondents and 13% in France are in the research phase, with uncontrolled tests, and 5% (3% in France) do not have a coordinated approach and have not yet undertaken anything. Despite the initial difficulties, optimism remains: the majority of respondents think that AI could make a significant difference for their company within one to two years (55% in France and 47% overall) , and a quarter of them (24% and 30% in France) believe that this could be the case within a year.

In particular, French respondents are the most optimistic about the impact of AI in smart production and/or service delivery on efficiency and commercial and operational management (19%) in the future. Some of them believe that the biggest impact will be on innovation with new products and services (16%), growth and business model decision-making (24%), empowerment people and talent retention (22%), as well as customer experience and service (20%).

Take action to prepare the data

To realize these benefits, businesses must leverage the most strategic asset they have: their data. Data volume and quality are critical to the success of AI applications. Respondents recognize the importance of real-time data for the success of AI projects, as stated by more than 4 out of 5 (86% overall and 95% in France). Yet, despite this recognition, less than a quarter (23% overall and 26% in France) of those surveyed have completed the implementation of their data infrastructure, which enables both business decisions based on data and react to changes in real time, suggesting that more work needs to be done to make the data AI-ready. In addition, less than half (43% and 41% in France) of those surveyed have mostly structured data, and some unstructured data.

For Mr. Pedersen:“The lack of maturity at the data infrastructure layer must be addressed as part of an overall AI strategy, otherwise AI will never be the silver bullet that will drive business. It’s clear that businesses need help with data management and migration. Although AI is seen as a shiny new tool that will revolutionize business, like any technology, it's never that simple. The power of industrial AI is that it can touch every facet of a business, from product innovation to customer experience, productivity and ESG. Its potential is enormous if leaders and businesses can combine vision, strategy, technology and skills. Now is the time to step back, take stock, and develop a real industrial AI plan to turn hype into reality. »

Methodology :

Censuswide surveyed 1.709 decision-makers/Presidents/SVPs/Directors working in the manufacturing, telecommunications, aerospace and defense, services, construction and engineering, or energy and resources sectors in companies with annual revenue of $50 million or more (aged 18 or over) in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Germany, France, United Arab Emirates, Norway, Japan, Australia, Sweden, Denmark and Finland between 06.03.2024/27.03.2024/XNUMX and XNUMX/XNUMX/XNUMX.