Despite apparent and non-so-obvious long-term risks, generative AI is the new boardroom buzzword in 1,000 billion-dollar organizations surveyed.

In a recent survey of 1,000 organizations (annual revenue of over US$1bn to US$5bn) in 13 countries* interested in exploring generative AI, several findings were reported from the data.

Of the respondents, 70% cited their belief that generative AI will enable organizations to widen the scope of the roles of knowledge workers. Some 96% cited that generative AI was a key topic in the boardroom.

Despite generate AI tools coming with apparent risks such as copyright infringement or cybersecurity, 74% of respondents cited that the benefits would outweigh the concerns.

Other findings

The data from the survey also yielded the following:

    • 21% of respondents anticipated a disruption in their industries from generative AI.
    • 40% of respondents cited having already established teams and budget for the technology, with a further 49% contemplating doing so within 12 months.
    • The respondents’ organizations cited the most relevant generative AI based platforms or tools for their industries: chatbots for automating customer service and improving knowledge management (83%); and designing, collecting, or summarizing data (75%).
    • 78% of respondents cited that generative AI will make product and service design more efficient (78%); 76% cited improvements in product and service design accessibility; 71% cited improvements in interactive and engaging customer experiences; 67% cited improvements in automated and personalized customer service support.
    • Respondents cited estimates that within three years, generative AI could produce an 8% increase in sales; a 7% decrease in costs; and a 9% improvement in both customer engagement and satisfaction, and operational efficiency.
    • Executives in the high-tech industry are the ones most convinced (84%) that the overall impact of generative AI will be positive. Nearly 70% of executives in that industry said their organizations have generative AI pilots underway, and 18% state that they have already implemented generative AI across some locations or business functions. The top two use cases are 3D modelling for detailed shapes and predictive maintenance.
    • 67% of respondents cited seeing the most potential for generative AI in the IT function. In the high-tech sector, 86% of respondents cited that their organization was using or planning to use generative AI in IT. Other areas where respondents saw generative AI driving value were sales (54%), and marketing and communications (48%).
    • 69% of respondents cited their belief that generative AI will begin to provide concepts and initial designs for projects and, as such, employees’ roles will shift away from ideation and creation, to review and refinement. This sentiment was also echoed by respondents as consumers, with 70% citing their believe that 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.
    • 69% of respondents cited believing that generative AI will lead to the emergence of new roles such as AI auditors and AI ethicists. Also, 68% of executives cited believing that, with the introduction of new generative AI-based roles, integration of the technology into the workforce will require significant investment in upskilling and cross-skilling of talent.
    • Nearly 80% of respondents cited understanding the criticality of implementing and scaling generative AI sustainably; 78% cited understanding that generative AI can have a larger carbon footprint than traditional IT programs. Out of the organizations that cited plans to train their own models (8%), roughly half had taken steps to mitigate the environmental impact

According to Franck Greverie, Chief Portfolio Officer and Group Executive Board Member, Capgemini, which commissioned the survey: “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 prioritize implementing it sustainably across the organization.”

*Across the US, Europe, and the Asia Pacific region; the UK, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Spain, and Sweden