A new report from IBM reveals that only 15% of businesses are fully harnessing AI’s potential, positioning them as ‘Leaders’ in the new technology, while 85% remain ‘AI Learners’.

According to IBM’s findings, published in its AI in Action report, 71% of Leaders describe their organisations as being very aggressive in making investments in AI, compared to just 19% of Learners. 

The report, based on a survey of 2,000 firms from around the world including the UK, shows that firms leveraging AI are more likely to report their C-suite is fully aligned with IT leadership on what it takes to achieve AI maturity (72% vs. 36% of Learners), with AI Leaders 80% more likely to invest across customer experience, automation, virtual assistants, and cybersecurity.

The research found that companies ahead in their use of AI are more confident in their ability to effectively manage their organisation’s data to support further AI initiatives, meaning the gap between AI Leaders and Learners is expected to grow.

That’s already led 72% of AI Leading companies to be confident in customising their AI strategies to get optimal value, while only 33% of those further behind felt able to do so effectively.

In practice, 61% of Leaders reported using APIs to create their own solutions, versus 28% of Learners, with two-thirds saying AI has already driven a 25% or more growth in revenue rates.

Almost a third (29%) of leading firms said that they had experienced a more than 50% improvement in profit margins since the start of their AI initiatives.

Part of a successful strategy relies on careful planning, with 85% of AI Leaders reporting that they follow a roadmap instead of taking a more opportunistic approach to integrating emerging tech, with 65% saying that the value of AI is clear, as opposed to only 51% of those without a plan.

Those plans include using expertise from third-parties to augment internal talent, with 84% of Leaders using service providers to accelerate and scale up their use of AI. Over half (57%) said that these external partners had a great deal of influence on their decision making processes.

To get the most out of emerging tech, the research highlighted a few key areas firms should consider when looking to gain a competitive edge. 

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Among those is the importance of a cohesive vision across the organisation which aligns AI with existing business goals, developing use cases for AI, getting data AI ready, and ensuring employees are reskilled in best use practices. 

“Of the organizations that were considered AI Leaders, two-thirds reported that AI has already driven 25% or greater improvement in their revenue growth rate,” said Shobhit Varshney, VP and Americas AI Leader, at IBM Consulting.

“We dove into the data to uncover how these AI Leaders were implementing AI within their businesses that could help others learn from their success.”