Survey: 82% of Firms Report Positive AI Impact
A global survey of over 1,200 businesses by insurance brokerage Gallagher found that 82% of respondents report positive impacts from adopting AI. Despite the benefits, data protection and the potential for errors remain the top challenges cited by companies. This was the firm's third annual AI Adoption and Risk Survey.
- While positive sentiment remains high, the percentage of business leaders viewing AI as an opportunity dropped to 68% from 82% in the prior year's survey, while those viewing it as a risk more than doubled from 5% to 11%. - AI implementation is advancing at different speeds across business functions; IT departments lead with 58% adoption, followed by customer service at 37% and finance at 34%, while procurement and risk management lag behind. - In addition to data protection, top perceived threats from AI adoption include errors or "hallucinations" (57% of respondents) and legal or reputational risks from AI misuse (56%). - A significant majority of companies (85%) have introduced job protection strategies as part of their AI framework, with nearly half also offering training to upskill employees on AI tools. - Despite ongoing investment from 60% of businesses over the past year, companies estimate it will take an average of 28 months to see a return on their AI investments. - The survey found that a lack of in-house expertise is a significant barrier, with 30% of decision-makers reporting their companies do not have the necessary skills to effectively implement and manage AI systems. - Larger organizations with more resources are reporting higher rates of success in their AI initiatives (82%) compared to the previous year (69%).
