New research has revealed that 98% of business leaders believe AI will have transformed their industry in the next three years.

The research, produced by Expleo, shows that 72% of businesses expect to deploy AI tools in the next 12 months, with around a quarter (24%) already deploying AI tools today.

Titled ‘Integrating AI: Navigating the next wave of business transformation‘, the report comprosies isnights from 803 key decision-makers at large- and mid-sized businesses in the UK, Ireland, France, and Germany to provide a strategic overview of AI adoption and the challenges organisations face when deploying AI.

Through a qualitative survey conducted by leading research firm IPSOS, respondents also provide detailed insight into how the technology is reshaping eight transformative industries: aerospace and defence, automotive BFSI, energy and utilities, life sciences, manufacturing, retail, and transport.

AI Adoption Gains Momentum 

Expleo’s research points to a clear momentum shift for AI, moving beyond a period of promise to one where adoption is growing as businesses start to demand more from their deployments. This is characterised by four key trends, according to Expleo.

First, deploying AI is seen as an urgent priority. Whilst only 24% of businesses have already deployed AI tools, 72% expect to do so in the coming 12 months. The survey suggests that many business leaders fear being left behind, with 80% considering their industry to have been changed or changing thanks to AI yet just 56% believe AI is doing the same to their organisation and its processes.

Closely linked to this increased urgency to deploy AI at scale is a desire to see returns, particularly in areas that directly correlate to the bottom line. Better time-to-market (91%), financial gains (90%), and improved quality (90%) were cited as the top three measurements for ROI for AI deployments.

Despite the urgency, scaling AI remains a challenge. While there is a clear impetus to begin realising ROI from AI deployments, obstacles remain. Chief amongst these are technical integrations with existing tools (39%) and controlling costs (35%). In fact, just 17% of those surveyed did not see any major barriers to deploying AI.

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Connected to these obstacles is a demand for proven expertise. The complex integration landscape has put Ai skills in high demand. 60% of businesses are turning to outside expertise to support their deployments today. Equally, more than half (55%) of businesses are investing in equipping their workforce with the competencies needed by investing in AI training for employees.

“AI is a technology for today, not tomorrow,” Rajesh Krishnamurthy, CEO of Expleo, said.

“But the optimism that abounds around the technology often isn’t matched by the success of deployments. After years of promise, businesses are at the point where they are demanding to see a return on their investments. The challenge now is to convert promise into meaningful impact.”

“Successfully moving AI deployments from proof of concept to production at scale is more than a technical exercise. Capable data scientists are a critical component to the success of AI deployments, but so is business knowledge. Building teams with techno-functional expertise and implementing a process to ensure adoption across the user base will ensure AI applications are both technically sound and generate value too.”