Nearly half of executives in piloting mode with generative AI

Executives are ramping up their generative AI implementation with a recent poll showing 45 percent of executive leaders are in piloting mode with generative AI, according to Gartner.

The same survey shows 10 percent of leaders have already put generative AI solutions into production.

Frances Karamouzis, distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner said organisations are not just talking about generative AI, they’re investing time, money and resources to move it forward and drive business outcomes.

“In fact, 55 percent of organisations reported increasing investment in generative AI since it surged into the public domain ten months ago,” she said.

“Generative AI is now on CEOs’ and boards’ agendas as they seek to take advantage of the transformative potential of this technology.”

Seventy-eight percent of respondents believe that the benefits of generative AI outweigh its risks. This is higher than the 68 percent who reported this sentiment in the earlier poll, according to Gartner.

Karamouzis said executives are taking a bolder stance on generative AI as they see the profound ways that it can drive innovation, optimisation and disruption.

“Business and IT leaders understand that the ‘wait and see’ approach is riskier than investing,” she noted.

The poll found that 45 percent of enterprises are scaling generative AI investments across multiple business functions, with 22 percent scaling across more than three different functions.

Software development is the function with the highest rate of adoption or investment in generative AI, followed closely by marketing and customer service.

Growth initiatives were cited as the primary business focus of generative AI investments by 30 percent of respondents, followed by cost optimisation (26 percent) and customer experience/retention (24 percent).

Karamouzis explained that many organisations began their AI journey with an overemphasis on cost optimisation and efficiency.

“Savvy enterprises have moved beyond this to focus initiatives on efficacy, quantifiable value and business agility in products and services,” she said.

“This ensures visibility, trust and synergy among stakeholders, and most importantly, alignment to business outcomes.”

The poll included 1,419 respondents who participated in a Gartner webinar in September 2023 discussing enterprise cost and risks of generative AI.