Seize the data to deliver on AI promise
This report clearly identifies that the hot topic for most respondents is generative AI (genAI), and that this will continue into 2024 — and probably beyond. Unsurprisingly, firms are seeking an opportunity to adopt genAI across all key business functions. The eagerness for this technology adoption is reflected throughout the report, with the data explicitly highlighting that although change is not a straightforward path, people are prepared to tread it.
Rising interest in investing in tech is perhaps coupled with an expectation of appropriate savings, with the report finding a decreasing appetite, from some respondents, for hiring additional business personnel. That said, there will also be client expectation of benefit from these advances while receiving quality customer experience at a better price point. For this to become a reality, and with a planned decline in human resource, the technology pursued by each firm needs to provide a strong foundation of process automation and flexibility, enabled via self-service tools, to ensure the chosen solutions deliver, and meet market expectations.
We know reliable data sources are key to successful AI programmes. If there’s no local data for AI to train on, there can be no firm-specific knowledge to exploit. A robust data strategy needs to be in place. Yet the report suggests misunderstanding of its importance. While over three-quarters of respondents have a plan for genAI, only 70% of those without a business-wide data strategy believe they need one. When it comes to data lakes, only 30% either have, or are building one, and 39% have no plans here at all (or just don’t know!). This apparent separation of AI adoption and data strategy is puzzling to me unless firms are choosing to ignore their own corpus of data and knowledge, only intending to invest in off-the-shelf AI solutions with externally fed data? In today’s world, a firm’s data is considered its most valuable asset (alongside its people). Management of that asset should be prioritised.
Read more on Briefing: https://mag.briefing.co.uk/2024/02/27/sponed-frontiers24-lexisnexis/content.html
