Icertis, the contract intelligence company that pushes the boundaries of what’s possible with contract lifecycle management (CLM), released its inaugural AI impact report titled The Future of Generative AI: C-Suite Perspectives for 2024 and Beyond. 500 senior executives at businesses across the U.S. and U.K. shared their perspectives on how AI will transform the workforce, data privacy, the competitive landscape, and more. Results confirm that the influence of AI on financial performance will reach a critical inflection point for companies across all industries in the year ahead: Nearly half of senior leaders agree AI will impact their bottom line in 2024 and 56 percent are prioritizing AI use cases that have an immediate impact on revenue or cost.
“We are living in a revolutionary era for technology with the proliferation of generative AI, yet the question remains whether AI will live up to the hype in terms of its value for businesses. According to this survey from Icertis, the resounding answer from forward-looking leaders is yes – and the profound effects of AI on the enterprise are imminent,” said Monish Darda, CTO and Co-founder, Icertis. “2024 will be pivotal to determine which use cases deliver tangible outcomes as companies tap into rich data pools that exist within their own organizations, enabling them to harness the full power of AI and bring it to life across critical functions like legal, finance, procurement, and ESG initiatives.”
Leaders are almost equally concerned about the impact of AI on data privacy and security (42 percent), the workforce (42 percent), company financials (41 percent), company technology strategy (37 percent), industry competition (37 percent), and the regulatory environment (34 percent). However, an analysis of these key themes reveals discord and new areas of opportunity to reimagine strategic advantage with AI.
Key findings include:
- Senior leaders disagree on AI budget governance. 34 percent of executives believe the CEO should oversee the AI budget, 33 percent believe it should be the responsibility of the CTO or CIO, and the remainder are split among various collaborations across the c-suite. Notably, 22 percent of U.K. executives believe the AI budget is owned by the CFO compared to only 8 percent of U.S. leaders who share this perspective, indicating diverging points of view on the role of finance.
- Financial implications from AI are imminent. Nearly half of c-suite leaders agree AI will impact their bottom line in 2024, while an additional 36 percent predict its financial effects will be realized in the next two to five years. Revenue and cost cutting are the predominant goals of generative AI programs in 2024: 56 percent of leaders are prioritizing AI use cases that have an immediate impact on revenue or cost, and 37 percent are prioritizing risk management use cases.
- Competition will be catalyzed by AI adoption. 56 percent of the c-suite agrees that AI will incite greater competition by minimizing gaps between competitors, compared to 21 percent who believe AI will lessen competition by exaggerating gaps between early adopters and laggards.
- AI will become the strategic partner that sits next to you in the boardroom. 90 percent of executives are concerned that AI will ultimately automate strategic initiatives managed by the c-suite, but 52 percent are planning to create new mid-to-senior level positions in 2024 directly tied to AI. Executives also believe employment levels will be the top macro-economic factor driving AI adoption in the year ahead as they seek opportunities to leverage technology in a tight labor market.
- Leaders are willing to stall AI innovation in the name of ethics. 42 percent of the c-suite favors government regulations around AI that prioritize responsibility and ethics over the opportunity for innovation. This sentiment is directionally higher in the U.K. at 46 percent versus 38 percent in the U.S. In comparison, 30 percent of senior leaders favor government regulations that prioritize AI innovation and offer the opportunity for faster development.
- Data security is the cornerstone of trust in AI vendors. Data security strategy is the top factor influencing trust in AI technology vendors among executives. Nearly half of c-suite leaders are discouraging employees from sharing company data with public AI models like ChatGPT, including financials, contract data, tech development data, and customer data, in the interest of protecting sensitive information.
Read the full report – The Future of Generative AI: C-Suite Perspectives for 2024 and Beyond
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