Amid fraught debates over whether AI might supplant workers, many business leaders seem eager to implement AI in ways that demonstrate the technology’s ability to augment—not replace—their people.
In fact, 80% of a group of leaders we’ve named “AI Pioneers” have successfully used AI and ML to streamline workflows and augment the capacity of their workforce. And, of all business leaders surveyed, nearly half (47%) believe AI will significantly amplify human potential.
“We believe in the power of AI to unlock human potential,” says Chandler Morse, vice president, corporate affairs at Workday. “We know how these technologies can benefit economic opportunities for people—that’s our business. But people won’t use technologies they don’t trust. Skills are the way [forward]—and not only skills, but also skills backed by a thoughtful, ethical, and responsible implementation of AI with regulatory safeguards that help facilitate trust. It’s incredibly exciting.”
What’s Holding Business Leaders Back?
Despite widespread fervor for AI, many organizations seem stuck at the starting gate. Of all organizations surveyed, only 16% of respondents say they are currently piloting the technology, while 2 in 5 (39%) are either still in the initial research stages or haven’t even started researching. Why? An all-too-common stumbling block, the report finds: bad data.
AI and ML depend on high-quality, reliable data. But data integrity is a weak spot for the many organizations that wrangle huge volumes of information across patchwork systems, static spreadsheets, and fragmented processes.