{{item.videoDuration}}
{{item.title}}
{{item.text}}
{{item.videoDuration}}
{{item.title}}
{{item.text}}
Insights from PwC’s 2023 Emerging Technology Survey
PwC’s 2023 Emerging Technology Survey sheds light on the current state of investment and implementation of artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), advanced robotics, quantum computing, neuromorphic computing and blockchain.
Our survey findings reveal the companies across industries capturing the highest benefits from the Essential Eight technologies and generative AI (GenAI) — we call them EmTech Accelerators. These EmTech Accelerators focus on reinvention, creating new business models while also allocating the right resources and integrating these technologies into their overall business strategy. By collaborating with other business leaders, they’re also able to capture higher value from their projects.
Among investments in emerging tech, AI investments dominate recent and planned expenditures, and 55% of technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) respondents say it was within their top three investment priorities in the last 12 months. In addition to offering potential for new features in existing products and services or new ones, GenAI is a game-changer for internal operations, offering immense potential for businesses to transform their operations and drive innovation.
By reinventing their business models, allocating resources effectively, integrating technologies — GenAI specifically — and embedding them into their overall operational strategies, TMT companies can accelerate their leading position. As the applications of GenAI continue to grow, it’s crucial for TMT executives to examine investment and implementation strategies to stay competitive and chart a path toward future growth — while proactively managing risks.
GenAI adoption is ramping up sectorwide
As GenAI is quickly becoming key to transforming internal operations, TMT companies are ramping up adoption across their business functions. While adoption rates vary among subsectors, nearly half (48%) of TMT companies overall report GenAI adoption in a few or many areas of their business.
- The coming year will also see increases in GenAI adoption across the industry, specifically in options like enabling open, publicly accessible GenAI models as well as cybersecurity and privacy enhancements for GenAI.
- From what we’re seeing with clients, there’s also variation in how business segments are harnessing the power of GenAI. Larger organizations, like multinational corporations, are using GenAI to delve deep into unstructured data like contracts and invoices, which can help enhance procurement and streamline operations. On the other hand, in commercial and consumer segments, GenAI is being used to automate customer inquiries and support as well as to assist employees with document summarization and quality control. We’re also seeing GenAI being used to assist across the software development life cycle (SDLC) to help deliver benefits such as improved developer productivity, faster development and better software quality. These different applications demonstrate the adaptability — and applicability — of GenAI to meet diverse business needs.
As you work across the C-suite to develop your GenAI strategy, you would do well to manage the balance between risk and reward by adopting AI responsibly and taking an open-minded, agile leadership approach to help navigate potential tensions. Enlisting outside help is common — 65% of TMT executives have either already hired or plan to hire a service provider to help them with GenAI strategy. Once your GenAI strategy is in place, aligning it with the overall digital strategy of the organization can help increase benefits and avoid disconnects between risk and innovation-oriented functions.
Prioritize data and knowledge modernization to pave the way for GenAI deployment
- Delivering enterprise-scale outcomes with GenAI, and AI more broadly, depends on how your business handles structured and unstructured data. Start by understanding where your data is stored. Do you already have your data in the cloud or have a hybrid cloud strategy? Have you considered edge computing for certain applications? This option offers several advantages over cloud hosting, including reduced latency (as there’s no need to transmit to a centralized cloud server for processing), bandwidth optimization for the large volumes of data GenAI applications process, offline operation and storage cost efficiency.
- Working in AI solution delivery pods within your company can help bring your strategy to life. Assembling multidisciplinary teams of business product owners, designers, data scientists and engineers can grow your capabilities, quickly building stickiness along the way. These teams determine which processes to transform, architect the AI first solution, determine data sources and elements to automate, build modeling pipelines and more. This kind of groundwork powers the applications and AI-enabled insights that accelerate scalable business transformation — and even cost savings. We’ve already seen this in action in the industry.
We helped a Fortune 500 telecom client reimagine their service operations by establishing an AI center of excellence (CoE) to develop a data and analytic modeling pipeline. The infusion of AI yielded an initial estimated first-year savings of 10% of functional budget with 2% revenue acceleration.
Embracing workforce transformation for GenAI success
Creating a team of people who have the appropriate skills and mindset to use GenAI effectively can help boost innovation and productivity in the company. This can also help you get more value out of your investment in GenAI. By including employees in the process of creating AI solutions within the company and addressing their concerns, development needs and career path, you make them an important part of your GenAI strategy. This not only makes them feel more involved and committed, but also allows the company to benefit from their knowledge and insights from different roles and departments.
Encouraging experimentation with generative AI while keeping scalability in mind is also key. By involving individual workers and departments in the identification of high-value use cases, you can harness the diverse perspectives and domain experience. This collaborative approach not only helps in identifying the most impactful applications of GenAI but also fosters a culture of innovation and continuous learning within the organization.
In our survey, only 8% of TMT companies reported that more than 40% of their employees were involved in developing, launching, adopting or commercializing emerging technologies as part of their primary job function. To bridge this gap, 34% of TMT executives have trained select employees on key roles needed for generative AI and 36% plan to do so in the next 12 months. Upskilling has the added benefit of boosting retention rates — especially among top talent — which has been a challenge for the sector.
Hiring new talent with GenAI experience is also a consideration, as 37% plan to do so within the next year. In addition to hiring new talent — for devising GenAI strategy and more — some TMT executives have already hired third-party service providers to help them with implementation and scaling.
GenAI ROI in the near future
When it comes to integrating emerging technologies, 58% of TMT executives say they already have a high level of integration and that they’ll continue to invest in that integration. When it comes to GenAI specifically, 69% have already integrated it with other emerging tech or are planning to within the next 12 months. This integration is crucial because it allows for the collection and use of more data, which in turn can improve performance and decision-making. The expected result? Improved return on investment.
TMT companies are looking at broader AI/analytics capabilities integrated with GenAI specifically to achieve operational and sustained benefits by driving greater ROI – while also balancing risk, cost and customer/employee experience. Looking ahead to the next 12 months, they have high expectations for measurable outcomes for cost savings, increased operational efficiency and increased employee productivity. And they’re making good progress with many activities already underway to deploy GenAI now and in the near future.
As TMT organizations move forward, it’s important to look beyond individual use cases to drive returns. Developing AI programs offer opportunities for scaling and cost efficiencies, including internal AI factories that can develop repeatable patterns across use cases and develop a responsible framework. Bolder approaches include adopting an enterprise-wide AI-led transformation.
Overcoming risks and building trust through responsible implementation
There are risks and challenges with implementing any tech, including AI. Top external threats identified by TMT executives include new legal liabilities and reputational risks, uncertain legal and regulatory landscapes, disruption of industries, lack of trust in GenAI by external stakeholders and potential bias in AI toward specific groups. Internally, TMT companies face challenges such as difficulty in identifying and managing GenAI risks, workforce-related concerns including training and resistance to change, data issues including privacy and cybersecurity, sustainability impact and the inability to define or consistently measure ROI in GenAI. Despite these risks, nearly half (48%) of TMT executives strongly agree their companies are prepared to identify and mitigate potential AI risks.
To address these challenges and build trust with stakeholders, prioritize a responsible approach to AI and incorporate trust by design. This includes building on established governance, cybersecurity, privacy and compliance programs. Three in ten (30%) TMT executives have already implemented governance measures for responsible development and deployment for GenAI and 28% have implemented cybersecurity and privacy enhancements. By focusing on responsible implementation, you can help mitigate risks, build trust with stakeholders and leverage the potential opportunities GenAI offers.
{{filterContent.facetedTitle}}
{{contentList.loadingText}}
{{contentList.loadingText}}
Contact us
Follow us
