AI remains a top priority for business leaders worldwide this year, with a strong focus on reaping tangible results from their AI initiatives, consulting company Boston Consulting Group’s (BCG’s) ‘AI Radar’ global survey found.

The ‘From Potential to Profit: Closing the AI Impact Gap’ report findings reveal both optimism and significant challenges in realising AI’s full potential. One in three companies globally is planning to allocate over $25- million to AI, the survey of 1 803 C-level executives across 19 markets and 12 industries showed.

“In my discussions with CEOs, it’s clear they are prioritising AI to drive productivity,” said BCG CEO Christoph Schweizer.

“Our latest survey uncovers a crucial challenge that, while 75% of executives rank AI as a top three strategic priority, only a quarter report meaningful value from their AI initiatives. Many companies have an immense opportunity to close the gap between their ambitions and reality.”

Effective AI adopters have cracked the code on how to achieve meaningful impact by focusing on a targeted set of AI initiatives, scaling them rapidly, transforming core processes, upskilling their teams and systematically measuring operational and financial returns, he noted.

There is a contrast between 68% of executives anticipating maintaining their current workforce size, focusing on enhancing productivity and upskilling existing talent to meet AI demands, and the fact that fewer than one-third of companies have upskilled one-quarter of their workforce.

This level of upskilling is an improvement from last year, but still far from the level needed to help employees feel secure in adapting to a technology often perceived as a threat to jobs, BCG noted.

“Companies that are leading in deriving meaningful value from their AI initiatives allocate more than 80% of their AI investments to reshaping core functions and inventing new offerings, while other companies focus 56% of their AI investments on smaller-scale, productivity-focused initiatives.

“Leaders also set clear goals and track top- and bottom-line impact. However, 60% of companies surveyed are failing to define and monitor any financial key performance indicators (KPIs) related to AI value creation.”

In Africa, 35% of companies are not defining and monitoring any financial KPIs related to AI value creation, and 62% of these companies lack maturity in effective AI organisational change management, the consulting firm pointed out.

Additionally, 68% of companies in Africa have indicated challenges hiring AI talent and upskilling their existing workforce.

“Companies leading in AI focus on depth over breadth, prioritising an average of 3.5 use cases, compared with 6.1 use cases for other companies. These companies anticipate generating 2.1-times greater return on investment on their AI initiatives than their peers,” the report highlighted.