Dive Brief:
- Executives are focused on mitigating risks and embedding trust in AI solutions as enterprise adoption expands, joint research from AWS and Accenture shows.
- Leaders are exercising caution. Nearly three-quarters of companies temporarily paused at least one AI project this past year due to risks, according to the survey of more than 1,000 executives.
- Enterprises can find value through responsible AI practices, an approach that applies governance and transparency across the design, deployment and use of the technology. More than 4 in 5 organizations expect the approach to improve employee trust and drive innovation. One-quarter predicted increased customer loyalty and satisfaction.
Dive Insight:
Organizations spent the past two years learning and gathering best practices for AI implementation, adoption and evaluation. Most are now in a better position to confront a laundry list of risks and challenges.
Despite early gains, there are additional hurdles on the horizon.
Technology leaders predict that growing adoption will increase AI-related incidents, ranging from algorithmic failures to data breaches, according to Accenture and AWS. Nearly half of organizations say there’s a greater than 25% chance of a major AI incident occurring next year.
Risk ramifications coupled with AI fatigue and leader burnout create mounting pressure for technology leaders. Most are not afraid of the challenge.
Chief technologists and IT leaders have seen their jobs evolve to guide responsible adoption. Nearly two-thirds say they are more focused on managing costs and profitability than in the past as their success is directly tied to revenue impacts and strategy alignment, a ServiceNow report said.
Responsible AI practices can help drive growth, AWS and Accenture found. The approach can increase revenue by an average of 18%, respondents said. Mastercard, Rolls-Royce and Accenture are three enterprises referenced in the report that credit responsible AI for bringing more value to the business.
