Three-quarters of bosses think AI benefits outweigh concerns

Despite well-documented risks relating to cybersecurity, privacy and data quality, just under three-quarters of business leaders believe the benefits posed by generative AI will ultimately outweigh the associated concerns. 

That’s according to Capgemini Research Institute’s latest report, which examines the transformative force of generative AI for innovation across enterprises. 

Capgemini’s researchers discovered 74% of executives were confident about the positives of AI overshadowing the negatives, while 70% said generative AI would enable organisations to widen the scope of the role of knowledge workers.

Almost all leaders (96%) recognised generative AI as a key topic in the boardroom, with the majority confirming their leadership team members were strong advocates of the emerging technology. 

“Generative AI is a transformational force for innovation in organisations, accelerating industry-specific use cases to create value,” says Franck Greverie, Chief Portfolio Officer and Group Executive Board Member at Capgemini. “It’s no surprise that it’s already at the top of the agenda of virtually every large organisation.

“While generative AI can enable numerous benefits for businesses and employees alike, adopting a human-centric approach while scaling the technology and implementing necessary guidelines will be key to fostering trust in the workplace. As businesses accelerate their generative AI journeys, they must prioritise implementing it sustainably across the organisation.”

Most organisations already dedicating resources to AI

In producing its report, ‘Harnessing the value of generative AI: Top use cases across industries’, the Capgemini Research Institute surveyed 1,000 executives from organisations across 13 countries including the US, Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Singapore and Australia. More than half (55%) had revenue of more than US$5 billion. 

Alongside the poll, Capgemini carried out in-depth interviews with 10 industry executives.

Additional key findings include:

• Two in five (40%) organisations have already established teams and financial resource dedicated to artificial intelligence; a further 49% are contemplating doing so in the near future
• Most executives believe generative AI will make product and service design more efficient (78%) and accessible (76%)
• A significant proportion of leaders think generative AI will make customer experiences more interactive and engaging (71%), or improve customer service with automated and personalised support (67%)
• One in five (21%) executives anticipate that AI will cause disruption in their industries

Rise of AI makes upskilling investment essential

Capgemini’s research uncovered an understanding of the extent to which AI is set to impact the workforce over the coming months. 

According to 69% of businesses, generative AI will begin to provide concepts and initial designs for projects, meaning employees’ roles will be less about creativity and will instead have more of a focus on review and refinement.

This sentiment has already been echoed by workers in a previous Capgemini report, ‘Why consumers love generative AI’, with 70% stating they believe generative AI will make them more efficient at work, free them from routine tasks and enable them to explore more strategic aspects of their job.

Meanwhile, a similar proportion (69%) of executives think generative AI will result in the emergence of new roles such as AI auditors and AI ethicists. 

There is recognition, however, from 68% of leaders that the integration of artificial intelligence into everyday business practices will require significant investment in the upskilling and cross-skilling of talent.

Read the full report: Harnessing the value of generative AI