A massive 114-page study of more than 2,000 GenAI decisionmakers noted that 80 percent of respondents had a “well-defined” GenAI strategy. But buried later in the report was this nugget: More than half said their well-defined strategy actually wasn’t fully aligned with the business strategy.
The Global GenAI Report (PDF here), published by NTT DATA, focused on ways that companies can “master” their GenAI destiny, acknowledging that most companies have already started playing with the technology. “Everyone has been experimenting with GenAI,” said NTT DATA VP GenAI Nitin Bajaj. “The ideation process is the baseline at this point.”
While much of the report focused on sentiment and attitudes about GenAI — including confidence, concerns, and tensions — the report did include some interesting hard data on spend, metrics and operationalization.
Key Takeaways
- Spending Is Up — Nearly two-thirds of respondents said they are planning to invest significantly in GenAI in the next two years.
- Teams Have Been Built — More than 80 percent of respondents have already established robust or expert GenAI teams
- Metrics Are Costs — The “top performing organizations” in the survey (basically those with 10 percent revenue growth and 15 percent operating profit margins) were 60 percent more likely to use improved productivity and cost savings as a way to measure successful GenAI implementations.
- Focus is Impact — Nearly 90 percent of respondents have experienced “pilot fatigue” around testing GenAI projects, and are shifting their focus to where GenAI has had a proven impact on business performance.
- Legacy Friction — Ninety percent said legacy infrastructure is hindering effective use of GenAI.
- Four Keys to Master — The report stated that “mastering your GenAI destiny” requires a focus on four key areas:
- Strategy — While more than 80 percent of respondents say they have a “well-defined” strategy, 51 percent say it’s not yet fully aligned with the business strategy.
- Technology — Only 44 percent of respondents felt they have the necessary capability and expertise to integrate GenAI into existing systems.
- People — Two of over three respondents said their employees do not have the skills to work with GenAI.
- Ethics — 72 percent of those surveyed lack a GenAI usage policy (including guidance on protecting intellectual property) for employees.
Metrics Mismatch
Among the most interesting charts in the report was one that identified ways that companies measure GenAI success. (See below.) According to the report, there is a mismatch between desired outcomes and measurement tactics.
For example, the report notes that developing “unique competitive advantages” is one of the most crucial desired outcomes of corporations when it comes to GenAI deployment. However, some the metrics used to track success have little to do with tracking competitive advantage; to wit, some of the most commonly-tracked metrics include “products and features developed” and “improved employee experience.”
Conversely, companies claim that “cutting costs” is the lowest-ranking motivator of GenAI deployments. But in reality, it’s one of the top three most common measurements used to gauge the success of GenAI projects.
The data imply that companies need to be more clear and transparent up front regarding the outcomes they desire, and then develop metrics that are not just easy to collect, but more rigorously measure the impact of those efforts.
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