Dive Brief:
- More companies are entering the initial stages of generative AI adoption, according to Gartner research published Tuesday.
- More than 2 in 5 executives say their organization is currently piloting generative AI, according to the survey of more than 1,400 leaders in September. Another 10% of organizations are in the production stage.
- The survey marks a significant increase from Gartner data collected between March and April this year, which showed only 15% of organizations were piloting generative AI and 4% of organizations were in the production stage, according to Gartner.
Dive Insight:
It has been less than a year since ChatGPT debuted, sparking a generative AI wave that has engulfed 2023.
Vendors responded quickly, adding generative AI features to popular tools and introducing new services. But overall, enterprises have taken a measured approach to adoption.
Several practical concerns drove enterprise caution. Many generative AI tools initially lacked security guardrails and safety measures. Other issues include cost and infrastructure requirements, which vendors have tried to mitigate through partnerships and investments in their own capabilities. Hallucinations and incorrect information present another deterrent factor.
As vendors improve performance and safety, 78% of executives say the benefits of generative AI outweigh its risks, according to Gartner’s data.
“I see a pretty equally rapid evolution on the vendor side of things,” Jeff Wong, global chief innovation officer at EY, said. “Even if I reached back six months ago, they recognized, first of all, that privacy was a problem… and that was not an acceptable solution to enterprises, but it was almost immediately recognized and people addressed that whether it was through segregation of servers or data assets.”
EY first took a cautious approach to generative AI, and it has since ramped up its efforts, launching an in-house platform for employees.
For enterprise use, technology leaders are tasked with finding valuable use cases, identifying which tools to use, running pilots and making sure employees are armed with knowledge and resources to leverage the technology.
CIOs can lean on technology teams and those outside traditional IT functions to identify use cases, an implicit acknowledgment that generative AI implementation traverses traditional business lines.
Enterprises are looking to implement the technology in multiple areas. Nearly half of organizations surveyed said teams are scaling generative AI across several business functions, with 1 in 5 organizations scaling across more than three different areas.
Software development, marketing and customer service are currently the most common functions enterprises are piloting for adoption.
