AI helps firms with efficiency, but most don’t trust it to drive growth

Executive Summary

Overcoming today’s weighty business challenges demands a re-assessment of automation’s cutting edge, EY counsels. While many companies are progressing well in using artificial intelligence tools for productivity gains, far fewer are employing them to help with strategic growth initiatives. There is a lack of trust — yet overcoming that barrier may separate leaders from laggards in the upcoming years, EY-Parthenon contends in a new report. In a survey commissioned by EY-P, the consulting arm of Ernst & Young, 63% of the 271 participants — all of them at the vice president level or higher and charged with overseeing company growth — said AI is helping them with efficiency and productivity. At the same time, only 14% of those polled said they are leveraging AI to stay ahead of competitors, while just 8% are doing so to reach new customers and 7% to diversify revenue streams. EY-P suggested in a research report that the need for change should be obvious, considering that 80% of the corporate growth leaders said the environment for business growth is more challenging than it was a year ago. In fact, almost all (97%) of the survey participants said external forces have led their business to change its growth strategy in the past year.