Survey: Execs eager to implement generative AI, but few know how

Overwhelming majorities of executives around the world are planning to spend money on generative AI this year, but very few are truly ready for the technology, according to a survey released today by the Boston Consulting Group.

Fully 85% of the more than 1,400 executives surveyed for BCG’s AI Radar report said that they were planning to invest in generative AI, but the report found that the technology faces a wide array of stumbling blocks at most organizations.

Nearly two-thirds (62%) said their firms were waiting to see how new regulations around AI use develop, while 74% said that substantive change management would be needed to help cope with the advent of generative AI. An average of 46% of the survey respondents’ workforces will need additional training, while almost 60% said that their C-suite had limited or no expertise with the technology.

According to BCG’s report, comparatively few, just 19%, of executives are focusing on costs of use, which the researchers said “has serious long-term implications,” while most respondents said they were more focused on performance, quality, and data protection issues.

Vladimir Lukic, head of BCG’s tech and digital advantage practice, said that, despite these clear stumbling blocks, the headlong rush to adopt generative AI is likely a good thing for a lot of businesses. In essence, he said, the headline-grabbing nature of the technology looks to be an effective catalyst, forcing organizations to confront and address technical and ethical issues around AI adoption.

“It’s just a wonderful catalyst to put the AI topics on the table,” he said. “It forces conversations like ‘what kind of data stores do we have,’ and ‘what can we really do with them?’”

In terms of the workforce required, Lukic said companies should be looking to hire data managers, data engineers, and legal and risk management staff with specific knowledge of generative AI, though this can be easier said than done.

“There’s very few legal folks who have expertise in this area,” he noted.

Nevertheless, generative AI is an area where C-suites can effectively lead from the front, Lukic said. The companies experiencing the most early progress with generative AI are the ones where executives clearly have the technology as a major item on the agenda.

“It comes down to whether it’s top of mind and whether it’s an agenda item for the CEO and leadership,” he said.