Alice Chambers |
China is currently leading the way with generative AI investments, according to research by Microsoft partner SAS.
The Global Research Report: Strategies for a Competitive Advantage, where market research firm Coleman Parkes surveyed 1,600 decision makers, found that 83 per cent of organisations in China are using the technology, compared to 70 per cent in the UK, 65 per cent in USA and 63 per cent in Australia.
But US organisations are ahead in terms of having fully implemented generative AI across operations.
“While China may lead in generative AI adoption rates, higher adoption doesn’t necessarily equate to effective implementation or better returns,” said Stephen Saw, managing director at Coleman Parkes. “In fact, the US nudges ahead in the race with 24 per cent of organisations having fully implemented generative AI compared to 19 per cent in China.”
The survey also found that banking, insurance and telecommunications are the leading industries in terms of incorporating generative AI into daily business operations. Plus, some departments are using or planning to use generative AI more than others: 86 per cent of sales teams are using it, closely followed by 85 per cent of marketing and 81 per cent of IT teams.
In addition, 90 per cent of senior technology decision makers admit that they don’t fully understand generative AI and its potential for business processes. Yet despite this understanding gap, 75 per cent of organisations say they have set aside budgets to invest in generative AI in the next financial year.
“With any new technology, organisations must navigate a discovery phase, separating hype from reality, to understand the complexity of real-world implementations in the enterprise,” said Bryan Harris, executive vice president and chief technology officer at SAS. “We have reached this moment with generative AI. As we exit the hype cycle, it is now about purposefully implementing and delivering repeatable and trusted business results from generative AI.”