Generative AI driving surge in business AI adoption, study finds

Pegasystems has unveiled new research indicating that the rise of creative right-brain generative AI (GenAI) is facilitating the adoption of analytical left-brain AI decisioning solutions among global businesses. The findings, which were shared at the company's annual conference in Las Vegas, highlight a notable shift in how enterprises are leveraging various AI technologies to boost productivity and drive innovation.

The study, conducted by research firm Savanta, surveyed over 500 business decision-makers from enterprises around the world. It revealed that 95% of respondents believe the increased prevalence of GenAI has directly contributed to their adoption of other AI tools. Approximately one-third of those surveyed said GenAI played a major role in their decision to implement other forms of AI.

Right-brain generative AI is currently the most utilised AI technology within enterprises, according to the survey. About 44% of respondents reported using GenAI primarily for creative or productivity-enhancing tasks, such as content creation (61%), curating large stores of information (54%), and deploying conversational chatbots (51%). In contrast, less than one-third (30%) predominantly utilise left-brain AI decisioning solutions like predictive analytics (57%) and decision management tools (42%). Only 25% of respondents indicated an equal use of both left-brain and right-brain AI tools.

The research highlighted several key trends and challenges in AI adoption. Ninety-two percent of respondents expect to increase their use of AI in the next five years, with 74% expressing high confidence that AI can add transformational business value within the next decade. However, the study also revealed that 85% of respondents allocate up to half of their annual IT budget to AI solutions, and 77% admit to some level of waste due to a lack of a proper strategy.

Despite high confidence in AI, businesses appear to overestimate their understanding of the technology. Although 93% of respondents claimed to have a good grasp of AI, 80% believed AI has been in general business use for less than five years, contradicting its mainstream adoption dating back to the 1980s. Moreover, nearly two-thirds (65%) could not correctly define generative AI, even though only 3% admitted they were unfamiliar with the term.

Concerns about AI transparency, bias, and potential job displacement are prevalent. Nearly half (47%) of the respondents expressed concerns about relying on AI for business success, and 51% were worried about AI transparency and bias. Furthermore, 42% feared job loss due to AI, and 40% had concerns about the potential for AI-powered robots to dominate humanity. Despite these fears, a majority (62%) indicated some level of trust in AI's capability to manage a department to improve results, and 41% preferred human interaction in customer relationship building with AI assistance, compared to just 15% who favoured human-only approaches.

The demand for AI skills within organisations is rising. One in five respondents (20%) admitted their organisation has weak AI skills and experience, with over a quarter (28%) citing this as a barrier to further AI adoption. Conversely, 98% valued AI skills and experience when considering new hires, particularly in hands-on AI roles like prompt engineering (64%) and experts in AI theory and academics (46%). Only 5% were not actively seeking candidates with AI expertise.

Don Schuerman, Chief Technology Officer at Pegasystems, commented on the findings, stating, "Generative AI is spearheading a new wave of AI enthusiasm. It’s no surprise that businesses are using it as a catalyst to explore other types of AI and drive creativity and innovation. The next few years will see continued growth in the adoption of AI in various forms, and organisations must ensure they have the necessary skills and understanding to make their AI projects successful."

The study involved participants from North America, the United Kingdom, France, Australia, and Germany.