Stronger commitment to AI could boost revenues by 38%, employment by 10%
by 2022
DAVOS, Switzerland -- (Business Wire)
Businesses risk missing major growth opportunities unless CEOs take
immediate steps to pivot their workforces and equip their people to work
with intelligent technologies, according to new research by Accenture
(NYSE: ACN).
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Impact of greater AI spending on revenue and employment growth, 2018-2022 (Graphic: Business Wire)
The Accenture
Strategy report, Reworking
the Revolution: Are you ready to compete as intelligent technology meets
human ingenuity to create the future workforce?, estimates
that if businesses invest in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and
human-machine collaboration at the same rate as top performing
companies, they could boost revenues by 38 percent by 2022 and raise
employment levels by 10 percent. Collectively, this would lift profits
by US$4.8 trillion globally over the same period. For the average S&P500
company, this equates to US$7.5 billion of revenues and a US$880 million
lift to profitability.
Both leaders and workers are optimistic about the potential of AI on
business results and on work experiences, according to the study.
Seventy-two percent of the 1,200 senior executives surveyed said that
intelligent technology will be critical to their organization’s market
differentiation and 61 percent think the share of roles requiring
collaboration with AI will rise in the next three years. More than two
thirds (69 percent) of the 14,000 workers surveyed said that it is
important to develop skills to work with intelligent machines.
Yet, a disconnect between workers’ embrace of AI and their employers’
efforts to prepare workers puts potential growth at risk. While a
majority (54 percent) of business leaders say that human-machine
collaboration is important to their strategic priorities, only three
percent say their organization plans to significantly increase its
investment in reskilling their workers in the next three years.
“To achieve higher rates of growth in the age of AI, companies need to
invest more in equipping their people to work with machines in new
ways,” said Mark
Knickrehm, group chief executive, Accenture
Strategy. “Increasingly, businesses will be judged on their
commitment to what we call Applied Intelligence - the ability to rapidly
implement intelligent technology and human ingenuity across all parts of
their core business to secure this growth.”
The research suggests that there is a strong foundation on which to
boost AI skills investment. Sixty-three percent of senior executives
think that their company will create net job gains in the next three
years through AI. Meanwhile, the majority of workers (62 percent)
believe AI will have a positive impact on their work.
The report shows how pioneers are using human-machine collaboration not
just to improve efficiencies, but to drive growth through new customer
experiences. An online clothing retailer’s AI helps its stylists learn
more about customers’ preferences so that they can offer a unique and
highly personalized service. And a sports shoe brand set a new bar in
customization and speed-to-market by aligning highly skilled tailors and
process engineers with intelligent robots to design and manufacture in
local markets.
“Business leaders must take immediate steps to pivot their workforce to
enter an entirely new world where human ingenuity meets intelligent
technology to unlock new forms of growth,” said Ellyn
Shook, Chief Leadership and Human Resources Officer, Accenture.
“Workers are impatient to collaborate with AI, giving leaders the
opportunity to demonstrate true Applied Intelligence within their
organization.”
To help leaders shape the future workforce in the age of AI, Accenture
makes the following recommendations:
1. Reimagine Work by reconfiguring work from the bottom up.
Assess tasks, not jobs; then allocate tasks to machines and people,
balancing the need to automate work and to elevate people’s
capabilities. Nearly half (46 percent) of business leaders agree that
job descriptions are already obsolete; 29 percent say they have
redesigned jobs extensively.
2. Pivot the Workforce to areas that unlock new forms of value.
Go beyond process efficiencies and prepare the workforce to create new
customer experiences. Fuel new growth models by reinvesting the savings
derived from automation into the future workforce. Foster a new
leadership DNA that underpins the mindset, acumen and agility required
to seize longer-term, transformational opportunities.
3. Scale up ‘New Skilling.’ Measure the workforce’s level of
skills and willingness to learn to work with AI. Using digital
platforms, target programs at these different segments of the workforce
and personalize them to improve new skills adoption. Accenture has
developed a ‘new skilling’ framework based on a progression of skill
level and using a suite of innovative digital learning methods that
maximizes training investment at speed and scale.
Methodology
Accenture combined quantitative and qualitative
research techniques in order to analyze the attitudes and readiness of
workers and business leaders with regards to collaborating with
intelligent technologies. The research program included a survey of
14,078 workers across skill levels and generations and a survey of 1,201
senior executives. These were carried out between September and November
2017 in 11 countries and (Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany,
India, Italy, Japan, Spain, UK and the USA) and the following industry
sectors: Automotive, Consumer Goods & Services; Health & Life Sciences;
Infrastructure & Transportation; Energy; Media & Entertainment; Software
& Platforms; Banking (Retail & Investment); Insurance; Retail;
Telecommunications; Utilities. The research also included economic
modelling to determine the correlation between AI investment and
financial performance, in depth interviews with 30 C-suite executives
and ethnographic interviews with 30 individuals who have been working
with AI.
About Accenture
Accenture is a leading global professional
services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in
strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining
unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40
industries and all business functions – underpinned by the world’s
largest delivery network – Accenture works at the intersection of
business and technology to help clients improve their performance and
create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With more than 435,000
people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives
innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com.
Accenture Strategy operates at the intersection of business and
technology. We bring together our capabilities in business, technology,
operations and function strategy to help our clients envision and
execute industry-specific strategies that support enterprise wide
transformation. Our focus on issues related to digital disruption,
competitiveness, global operating models, talent and leadership help
drive both efficiencies and growth. For more information, follow
@AccentureStrat or visit www.accenture.com/strategy.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180122005091/en/
Contacts:
Accenture
Matthew McGuinness, +44 7584 187689
matthew.mcguinness@accenture.com
or
Tourang
Nazari, +1 202-322-4640
tourang.nazari@accenture.com
Source: Accenture
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