In our 2018 study, Maximising the AI Opportunity, we took a detailed look at the potential growth and performance benefits presented by Artificial Intelligence (AI) for UK organisations. Using a mixture of research among leaders and employees, along with the insights of experts across the worlds of academia, business and government, we set out a clear roadmap to guide companies of all shapes, sizes and sectors in beginning their own AI journeys.
We also revealed a worrying gap between intent and action, with many organisations at risk of falling into a cycle of conversation and risk assessment rather than taking practical steps to actually introduce the technology into their operating model and culture.
Twelve months on, we find a muchevolved story. Through an extensive literature review and by once again taking the views of policymakers, business leaders, industry experts and employees, we discover that the need to not only close that gap, but progress beyond it, has become supercharged.
Against a backdrop of fluctuating growth forecasts, ongoing political uncertainty and ever more rapid digital disruption, we reveal AI-led digital transformation increasingly holds the key to gaining and retaining a competitive edge – for individual organisations and for the UK itself.
Put another way, it is clear that simply getting started is no longer enough. Rather than experimenting with AI for individual projects or business areas, organisations that can move to full-scale implementation have an opportunity to unlock unprecedented performance benefits. Meanwhile, on the flipside, those who do not are in real danger of falling further behind their more progressive counterparts.
As Mitra Azizirad, Corporate Vice President for Microsoft AI, explains: “In the next five years, every successful company will become an AI-company. It is now the next level of competitive differentiation.”
Perhaps most importantly of all, we find those organisations already using AI at scale are performing an average of 11.5% better than those who are not – up from 5% just one year ago. This is an extraordinary increase and clear evidence of the significant benefits awaiting companies who act now to embed AI across their business.
This heightened performance includes forging ahead on vital areas like productivity and business outcomes as well as on more culturally-led (but no less important) aspects such as fostering an ethos of active participation and continuous learning among employees, and establishing clear usage principles to ensure the technology’s benefits are experienced in their entirety, without bias and inclusively by all.
The anatomy of an AI-enabled organisation
So how exactly can UK organisations scale their use of AI and secure a competitive edge while, at the same time, doing so in a way that is ethical, responsible and in line with the needs of their employees, partners and customers?
Along with a detailed look at the current state of AI in the UK, this is the question at the heart of the pages that follow. In particular, we view it through the lens of what we call the ‘Anatomy of an AI-enabled organisation’. (See Figure 1.) This reveals how the organisations best placed for success are those in which three core dimensions of AI usage – strategy, performance and democratisation – are all present and symbiotic.
This model also takes into account the fact that as an organisation progresses its AI journey, it naturally comes up against fresh challenges and complexities – both operationally and culturally. Following the model’s key tenets can therefore help answer these new questions and ensure the organisation continues to move forwards, without jeopardising either business outcomes or ethical performance.
Figure 1. The anatomy of an AI enabled organisation
Strategy
Performance
Democratisation
Positive progress
Amidst this pressing and holistic need for progress, there is much cause for positivity. Despite the level of political and economic turbulence in the UK and the impact this is having on organisations across sectors (something we consider further in later chapters of this report), our research uncovers compelling evidence that UK organisations are recognising – and acting upon – the value of AI. More than half (56%) are now using it to some degree while the number of companies with an AI strategy has more than doubled – from 11% in 2018 to 24% today.
In short, while there is much work to be done, the building blocks are increasingly in place. Yes, progress may be slower in some sectors than others – as we see in the Industry Spotlights section later on – but across the board there is a growing acceptance of the need to change as well as an active determination to do so.
The key now is to boost the power of that forward momentum. To accept that getting started with AI is just that: the beginning. To truly gain a competitive advantage, organisations of all types should swap exploration for true AI implementation at scale.
They must consider not just the technical aspects of deploying the technology effectively, but the cultural ones too. And of course, its benefits should be felt fairly and inclusively by everyone.
That is the path to becoming a truly AI-enabled organisation. And it is the only one that leads to lasting business success in the future.
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