Keeping AI From Losing Its Way: Global AI Survey Findings

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We’ve all used GPS to navigate our way through unfamiliar towns and cities. Long gone are the days of aimlessly wandering, trying to find your way to the next museum before they close. In fact, we’ve become so reliant on GPS technology, there are now numerous tales of people mindlessly following GPS directions straight into lakes, walls, and trees.

While you’re likely not walking into a wall anytime soon, imagine your experience in an unfamiliar city if the only data available were street names, building addresses, and the occasional bridge. If you and the GPS you’re using lack the context of how any of it relates, you’re not going to get to where you want to be.

We trust GPS because it does give us context about how everything is connected. With the right context, GPS navigates us to a new place with ease, experiencing the fullness it offers – all while making it to the museum on time.

Read on to find out why context matters so much to AI and how 1,620 leaders are planning to make AI work for them.

ROI Expectations: Better Processes, Better AI

It’s safe to say that AI is already in (almost) every enterprise. Some 99% of business leaders say they’ve deployed at least one AI use case, with 73% of them saying they’re already seeing expected ROI.

But use cases like chatbots for users or knowledge management assistants barely scratch the surface of the ROI AI is capable of producing.

So is the bar for AI ROI low or are enterprise leaders just getting started?

Turns out, it’s the latter. Expectations for what AI is capable of — and the returns it will produce — are growing. Some 86% of leaders say they know what they need to do to get more value, with 74% of them expecting AI budgets to grow this year.

As AI budgets grow, so too will ROI expectations as 73% of them seek to establish department-specific use cases. Let’s take a look at where leaders’ attention, and investments, are going.

AI Departmental Perspectives

Ask yourself this tough question: are you getting the most ROI from your AI initiatives right now? Or are you too simply scratching the surface with chatbots and document retrievals?

Whether future you choose to use AI for finding and shipping substitute products or keeping your master data accurate and up-to-date, AI-powered automations hold the greatest power to transform enterprises at levels few have yet explored.

Let’s take a look at what leaders want from AI:

  • 89% of Process Improvement and Operations leaders say intelligent automation will unlock more value than anything else in the next five years.
  • 96% of Supply Chain leaders say they plan to use AI for their transport network and route planning in the next 12 months (despite just 40% of them currently using AI for those purposes).
  • 87% of IT leaders expect the technology platforms they use to leverage the latest AI developments.
  • 90% of Finance and Shared Services departments are planning to invest in AI for everything from fraud detection to regulatory compliance.

Will AI Live Up To Its Potential?

Some 89% of business leaders told us it's crucial that AI has the context of how their business processes run. Much like the example of navigating a new city with ease, AI’s usefulness is dependent upon it connecting with your process data.

Here’s the challenge:, the majority (58%) of business leaders are concerned that the current state of their processes will hinder AI deployment within their organization.

So what are they doing about it? First, they’re noting the warning signs of bad processes. Things like increasing operational costs or difficulty adopting new technologies are major red flags that require attention.

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Second, they’re working to increase process visibility so they can begin to analyze and optimize the processes that will power AI. Improving specific business processes is a critical first step in giving AI the business context it needs for more advanced, strategic use cases.