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ZDNET Highlights
- Many studies show that most businesses do not see ROI with AI.
- Cisco says that those who prioritize long-term stability.
- “Pacesetters” emphasize trust and treat AI like an OS.
We are currently living through a contradictory moment. Businesses are adopting AI, yet very few of them seem to be getting the most out of the technology. What are those select few doing right?
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This is the question that telecommunications company Cisco aims to answer. The third annual “AI Ready Index,” Published on Tuesday. Following a survey of more than 8,000 business leaders, all of whom are charged with overseeing their organizations’ internal AI efforts in twenty-six countries, the Index sought to identify the factors that led to success in the early days of the AI boom – and, in turn, the factors that caused most businesses to remain stagnant.
roi battle
In recent years many businesses have had to learn that adopting AI to automate certain organizational tasks or employees’ day-to-day workflows will not yield financial benefits. Technology can make workers more productive in some cases, but it also presents many risks – some of them cybersecurity, some legal, some psychological. In some cases, AI actually creates more work for supervisors.
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There is now a growing body of evidence that most businesses – in fact, almost all of them – are struggling to achieve meaningful ROI through their internal AI efforts. Most notoriously, an MIT study published in August found that 95% of businesses’ AI initiatives have essentially gone nowhere, while a recent study from Atlassian showed that even more (96%) have not seen “dramatic improvements in organizational efficiency, innovation, or work quality” from AI, despite the fact that the technology is being used by more individual workers than ever before.
‘Pacesetters’ gap
The MIT and Atlassian studies offer some theories to explain why so few enterprises have successfully profited from their AI initiatives. Cisco does just that by highlighting a small minority of what it calls “pacesetters” who are using AI successfully and confidently. Pacesetters have consistently represented approximately 13% to 14% of businesses surveyed for each of the company’s indexes over the past three years.
Cisco’s description of the Pacesetter is reminiscent of a fast-paced investor, someone who is able to sacrifice immediate gratification to patiently build habits and technical support that will sustain long-term growth.
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“These comparatively successful outliers take a disciplined, systems-level approach that balances strategy, infrastructure, data, governance, people, and culture,” Cisco writes in its article. full report“They plan ahead, invest early, and embed AI at the core of their operations to help them keep pace with the rapid evolution of AI and deliver lasting value.”
Pacesetters treat AI as a new operating system for their organizations rather than a new tool to be added to employees’ technological arsenal. This is no sledgehammer – instead, it is a new set of blueprints that will redefine the digital ecosystem of business.
This implies an increased level of ambition, which, according to Cisco, requires a lot of patience, attention to detail, and creativity.
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For example, nearly all Pacesetters (99%) have developed what Cisco describes as an “AI roadmap” to guide their internal use of the technology over time, compared to just over half (58%) of all other businesses surveyed. Additionally, 87% of Pacesetters said they are “highly aware of AI-specific threats” to their organizations’ cybersecurity (compared to 42% of other respondents), while 75% said they are “fully equipped to control and secure AI agents” (compared to 32%).
Trust in their internal AI tools is “part of the pacesetters’ value equation,” Cisco wrote in one. Press release Published on Tuesday.
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On that note, a study published in September by data analytics company Statistical Analysis Systems (SAS) and International Data Corporation (IDC) found that one of the key factors preventing companies from achieving ROI from their internal AI initiatives was a lack of trust in the technology.
Successfully implementing AI also requires a willingness to focus on automating some of the more mundane aspects of running a business. Investing in an AI-powered customer service tool could be less headline-grabbing, like, Launching a full-blown video ad built by SoraBut it will likely provide more value in the long run.
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This conclusion is supported by recent data from market research firm Forrester, which indicates that the most useful business applications of AI will be those that work behind the scenes. A new list from venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (A16Z) highlights the top 50 AI startups in which enterprise clients are currently investing, many of which are relatively unknown companies that provide niche automation services.
