A survey conducted by Insight Enterprises (NASDAQ:NSIT) in partnership with The Harris Poll found that two-thirds (66%) of business leaders say their company has deployed private, secure generative AI tools to the workforce, and a similar number (65%) say their department has been tasked to identify use cases for their organization.
Companies report several benefits they are trying to achieve from generative AI initiatives. More than half (54%) report improved productivity as a top outcome expected from the technology; around two in five cite improved customer experience (42%), improved customer service (40%), and/or reduced human error (37%). That said, employee knowledge or training on generative AI tools remains a top barrier to implementation (32%), indicating that more education and training is required.
Insight’s latest research, a follow-on to its June 2023 report Beyond Hypotheticals: Understanding the Real Possibilities of Generative AI, is designed to garner the latest insights on how 600 director level or above professionals at companies with 1,000+ employees are exploring generative AI technologies.
“It’s remarkable that most IT budgets did not even anticipate generative AI a year and a half ago. But now, as we enter 2024, just about every business leader is fixated on how this technology can reinvent their operations and create new business models,” said David McCurdy, chief enterprise architect and chief technology officer at Insight. “That said, there’s a certain ‘finesse’ that many employees still need to acquire in order to effectively leverage generative AI in their work. As we shift gears into the next phase of adoption, advanced training will be crucial to success.”