Cindy Rose CEO, Microsoft UK
Artifical Intelligence is the engine of the 4th industrial revolution and is at the heart of the digital transformation currently reshaping business, government and society. Little surprise, then, that the global AI market is expected to be worth up to $15.7 trillion by 2030.1
For any organisation looking to get ahead in this AI-led future, the need to accelerate the adoption of new technology across their entire organisation is pressing. Indeed, if the message of our 2018 report, Maximising the AI Opportunity, was ‘get started’, 12 months later it’s ‘get serious’.
Experimenting with AI in pockets is a great way to build capability and prove the potential of AI, but to deliver its full benefits, organisations need to move beyond experimentation.
There is now a clear link between an organisation’s full deployment of AI technologies and its ability to accelerate growth, improve productivity and retain a competitive edge.
In this year’s report ‘Accelerating competitive advantage with AI’, it is encouraging to see so many UK organisations are doing just that while acknowledging the vital role AI will play in securing their future. Compared to last year, the number using AI solutions in their day-to-day operations has increased, while the number of UK business leaders aspiring to be pioneers in AI innovation has more than doubled. The challenge now is to move beyond tinkering, break out of the sandbox and harness the power of this technology at scale.
If the message of our 2018 report, Maximising the AI Opportunity, was ‘get started’, 12 months later it is ‘get serious’.
Those looking for a reason to accelerate their AI journey need look no further than perhaps the most important finding of this year’s report. Namely, that organisations already moving from experimentation to implementation are performing significantly better on productivity and business outcomes than those still caught in the early stages of exploration.
This gap is widening, with more advanced organisations realising the benefits on their bottom line, while also progressing more rapidly in other key areas of their AI-led digital transformation, such as fostering a culture of active participation among employees and establishing principles to ensure they are using technology in an ethical and responsible way.
This case for increased velocity around AI adoption is applicable beyond individual organisations too. Indeed, a key finding in this report is 44% of leaders recognise AI is a skill that will help secure their future prospects. Yet over a quarter believe the UK has the socio-economic structures in place to become a world leader in AI. Having been asked by the government to lead a study into the UK’s digital competitiveness, my colleagues and I understand the impact current political and economic turbulence is having on organisations across all sectors.
While uncertainty of this nature can often breed caution and risk-aversion we believe the better path lies in focusing on ways in which we can create and shape the future – a future in which the UK maintains its global leadership in AI and remains a competitive force. Given this moment in our history, where both leadership and competitiveness on the global stage is more vital than ever, there is no doubt that fully embracing AI-led digital transformation is a critical success factor for the country as a whole.
At Microsoft, our mission is to empower organisations to build on the positive steps they have already taken so they can achieve more. To help them move from small-scale AI experimentation to large-scale AI implementation in a way that drives value for their business, their employees, their customers and the UK as a whole.
How they do it – technically, culturally and ethically – is, above all, the story of this report. It is impossible to overstate how important this journey is for all of us and for generations to come.