In a revealing survey conducted by the Deloitte AI Institute, over 2,800 directors and C-suite executives globally have expressed a notable degree of unpreparedness in the face of rapidly advancing generative artificial intelligence technologies. Unveiled during the World Economic Forum in Davos, the survey’s findings bring to light significant gaps in AI skills, governance, and risk management within the business sector.
A mere 20% of the executives surveyed believe their organizations are “highly” or “very highly” prepared to meet the evolving AI skills requirements. This lack of readiness extends to the domain of AI governance and risk management, with only a quarter of leaders feeling adequately equipped to handle these aspects. Furthermore, less than half of the organizations represented are actively engaging in educating their employees about AI, underscoring a crucial gap in AI literacy and understanding.
The survey also reveals a predominant focus on the immediate, tactical benefits of AI, such as efficiency improvements and cost reduction, which are prioritized over more strategic objectives like fostering innovation and generating new ideas. This orientation towards short-term gains potentially overlooks the long-term transformative potential of AI in business.
“We’re in the early days of a major technological transformation with Gen AI beginning to drive a wave of innovation across industries,” says Joe Ucuzoglu, Deloitte Global CEO. “The speed, scale, and use cases of Gen AI are breathtaking. Business leaders are under an immense amount of pressure to act, while ensuring appropriate governance and risk mitigation guardrails are in place.”
The increasing necessity for AI skills in hiring is echoed by 66% of business leaders who won’t hire without them, highlighting a gap that many executives are struggling to fill.
As Deloitte highlights the unpreparedness of executives for the AI era, it’s clear that adaptation is crucial across all business sectors, including human resources. Understand how AI is transforming the hiring process in our insightful article, “Get Ready: Your next job interview could be conducted by an AI recruiter“.
Expectations for AI-driven organizational transformation are high, with 75% of respondents anticipating substantial changes within the next three years. However, the survey indicates that companies are still in the early stages of aligning AI with strategic growth and innovation objectives. For instance, while 56% of companies are seeking efficiency improvements through AI, only 29% are focusing on encouraging innovation, and a mere 19% on uncovering new ideas and insights.
Concerns extend beyond the business realm, with over half of the leaders (51%) worried about AI increasing economic inequality and 52% believing it could centralize power in the global economy. These fears are driving a strong consensus for more global regulation (78%) and collaboration (72%) in managing AI’s adoption responsibly.
The news of Delloite rolling out a new AI tool for its employees broke on January 9th, 2024, which has received mostly negative reviews from people on social media, mostly due to how this is being perceived.
Employees of Deloitte are among those voicing their concerns about AI potentially replacing them in the future.
The survey is part of Deloitte’s ongoing efforts to track and understand the integration and impact of generative AI in the business sector, with future surveys poised to delve deeper into innovation, transformation, and trust in AI.
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