NAVIGATING

GENERATIVEAI

CorporatePerspectivesfromBusinessLeaders

ByasubjectmatterexpertandGLGNetworkMember

TableofContents

EXECUTIVESUMMARY 1

ABOUTTHERESEARCH 2

GLGSURVEYINSIGHTS 3

CONCLUSION 5

EXECUTIVESUMMARY

GenerativeAItoolshavecreatedintenseexcitementinmanysectors,asbusinessesdiscoverthepotentialforlargelanguagemodels(LLMs),imagegenerationtools,andrelatedtechnologiestoreducerepetitivework,augmentworkers’capabilitiesand

creativity,andenableindividualworkerstosubstantiallyscaletheirproductivity.At

thesametime,businessesareconcernedaboutpotentialrisks,suchaserroneous

orproblematicoutputs,potentialliabilityforthemisuseofintellectualproperty,or

excessivecostsandenergyconsumption.

AsurveyofcorporateleadersandITdecisionmakersdemonstrateshighenthusiasm

forexperimentingwithgenerativeAI,butalsoalackofpreparednesstoadoptthenewtechnology.Asbusinessesmoveforwardwithpilots,theyarelookingforanswerson

howtobenefitfromgenerativeAIwhileavoidingpotentialpitfalls.

“

”

Ourstoryisdefinitelyatthebeginning...WhenChatGPTdropped,we

feditwaymorethanweshould,beingwowedandamazedbyhowit

woulddo“magic.”Thentherewastheaftershockofhowthischanges

virtuallyeveryjobatacertainlevel.

—VPofITataTechnologyCompany

GLG’sSurveyRevealed:

77%

ofrespondentsare

usinggenerativeAIto

improveinternalprocess

efficiency

74%

ofrespondentsare

concernedabouthow

generativeAImayimpact

theprivacyofcustomer

data

88%

ofrespondentsbelieve

generativeAIcould

reducecostsoverthe

nextfiveyears

GLG

QualitativeResearch?1

4%

3%

ABOUTTHERESEARCH

GLG,TheWorld’sInsightNetwork,bringsdecisionmakerstheinsightittakestogetahead,

providingmeaningfulconnectionsthroughtheworld’smostvaried,senior,andqualifiedsourceoffirst-handexpertise.InOctober2023,GLGconductedanonlinesurveyof101seniorITandbusinessleadersintheUnitedStatesandCanadawithdecision-makingauthorityoverthe

selectionofgenerativeAItechnologiesandservicestocapturetheirperspectivesonkeyareasofopportunityandconcern.ThisreportwaswrittenbyasubjectmatterexpertandGLGNetwork

Memberwhoindependentlyinterpretedandanalyzedtheresults.

Thestudyrevealedthatmostrespondents:

?AreadoptinggenerativeAIrapidlybuthavenotmovedpastthestageofpilotsorexperiments.

?FocusfirstonapplyinggenerativeAItooptimizecustomerexperienceorimproveefficiency.

?Worryaboutprotectingtheirintellectualpropertyandtheircustomers’data.

Thefiguresbelowindicaterespondents’levelofseniority,theirroles,andthedistributionoftheircompaniesbyannualrevenueandindustry.

AnnualRevenue

$5.1M-$10M $10.1M-$25M $25.1M-$100M$100.1M-$250M$250.1M-$500M$500.1M-$1B

Greaterthan$1B

JobFunction

Information TechnologyExecutive/GeneralManagement

R&D/Engineering/ProductDevelopment

Sales

2%

3%

5%

14%20% 18%

39%

30%27%16%

11%

Industry

FinancialServices

HealthcarePayers/ProvidersProfessional/

TechServicesIndustrial/ManufacturingEnergy/Resources

Logistics

Retail/Wholesale

Role

C-LevelExecutive

EVP/SVPVP/AssistantVP

SeniorDirector/Director

30%

27%

16%

11%

10%

58%

6%

19%

17%

NavigatingGenerativeAI?2

GLGSURVEYINSIGHTS

55%

ofrespondentsindicated

thattheirorganizations

arenotpreparedtoadopt

generativeAI

“

We’retryingtounderstandwhat

policiesweshoulddevelopandhowwewanttoeducateouremployees

ontheusageofAItools.Wealreadyknowtheyareusingthem,butwe

wanttoensurethattheyaredoingsoinawaythatdoesnotpresentunduerisktothecompany.

—C-LevelCorporateITLeader

OrganizationswanttoadoptgenerativeAI

butareunpreparedtodoso.

Respondentsindicatethattheirorganizations

areenthusiasticaboutadoptinggenerative

AI,with91%indicatingthatmiddle

managementintheirorganizationsis“eager

to”or“considering”adoptionofgenerativeAI.

Theseleadersseesignificantopportunities

forgenerativeAItochangethewaytheir

organizationswork:76%expectgenerative

AItoincreasetheproductivityofmanytypes

ofworkers,and69%seethepotentialfor

generativeAItoimpactthewaysthatalmost

allusersinteractwithinformationsystems.

Yetmostrespondentsfeelthat,despite

thisenthusiasm,theirorganizationsarenot

preparedtoadoptgenerativeAI,withonly

45%ofrespondentsindicatingthattheir

organizationsare“very”oreven“somewhat

prepared”todoso.

SuccessfulimplementationsofgenerativeAIarestillrare,andmostorganizationslackformalleadershipinthisspace.

Thisperceivedgapinpreparationmaystemfromascarcityoffull-scaleproduction

implementationsofgenerativeAI.MostrespondentsindicatethattheirorganizationsarestillattheexperimentalstageandhavenotimplementedgenerativeAIatscale:

only6%reportthatgenerativeAIwasinday-to-dayusewithinamajorfunctionoftheircompanies.While46%ofparticipantssurveyedhavepilotsorformalprogramsinplace

aroundgenerativeAI,24%reportthattheircompanieshavetakennostepstoactually

implementthetechnology.Onereasonfortheselowlevelsoffull-scaleadoptionmaybethelackofformalleadershipovergenerativeAI.Only18%ofparticipantsreportthattheir

companieshaveadedicated,company-wideleaderforAI,andonly23%areworkingwithasystemintegratororothervendorwhocouldhelpguidetheiradoptionofthetechnology.

GLG

NavigatingGenerativeAI?3

84%

GenerativeAIisbeingappliedtosomeusecases,butitsfullpotentialisnotyetbeing

ofrespondentsindicatedthatgenerativeAIadoptioncould

realized.

WheregenerativeAIisbeingadopted,it

contributesignificantlyto

isbeingappliedfirsttointernalprocesses

top-linerevenuegrowthin

toimprovetheirefficiencyortofront-line

thenextfiveyears

customerservicerequirements(77%of

respondentsarealreadydoingtheformer,orplantowithintwoyears,while74%are

alreadydoingthelatter,orplantowithintwoyears).Only58%ofrespondentshave

planstoleveragegenerativeAItoimprovetheirsalesandmarketingcontent,andonly

50%haveplanstoutilizegenerativeAIinproductdevelopmentprocesses,indicatingthatorganizationslackaclearpictureforhowbenefitsmightaccruefromapplyinggenerativeAIintheseareas.

OrganizationsarestilldiscoveringthebenefitsofgenerativeAI.

SimilargapsintheperceptionofopportunityarevisibleinresponsestoquestionsabouthowgenerativeAIismostlikelytoprovidebenefit.Themajorityofrespondents(66%)perceivegenerativeAIasusefulinaugmentingskilledworkersbyhelpingthemdo

theirjobsmoreeffectivelyandinreducingrepetitive,low-valuelabor(56%),butonlya

minorityofrespondentssawthepotentialforgenerativeAItoenablerichpersonalization(15%),generatenewproductpossibilities(22%),orgenerateideastoprovideinspiration

tohumanworkers(16%).In-depthqualitativestudiesbyGLGhaveshownthat

organizationsthatadoptgenerativeAIforthesepurposeshavealreadyseensignificant

benefit,meaningthatwhileindividualexpertshavefoundvalueingenerativeAIforthesepurposes,respondentsmorebroadlyarenotawareofhowgenerativeAIcanbeappliedtotheseusecases,orarenotsurehowtoobtainmaximumvaluefromgenerativeAIin

thesecontexts.

OrganizationslacktoolstomanagegenerativeAIrisks.

WhenitcomestoconcernsraisedbygenerativeAI,respondentsareinstrongagreementthatensuringtheprivacyofcompanyandcustomerdataandensuringthattheuseof

generativeAIdidnotintroducelegalliabilities,suchasintellectualpropertymisuse,arethelargestconcerns(74%and65%ofrespondentsrankedtheseamongtheirtopthreeconcerns,respectively).RespondentsarelessconcernedabouthowtomakegenerativeAIavailabletononspecialists(37%putthisconcernintheirtopthree)andhowto

differentiatetheircompanies’useofgenerativeAIfromthatofcompetitors(26%putthisconcernintheirtopthree).

“

IbelievethatAIwillbeoneofthemosttransformativetechnological

advancementswe’veseensincetheinventionofthesmartphone.It’snowuptoustomakesurewetakeadvantageofthisopportunitybutensurethatwedosoinanethicalandlegalway.

—VPofITataTechnologyCompany

GLG

NavigatingGenerativeAI?4

ThishighlightsasignificantchallengeinthewaythatgenerativeAIhasreached

businesses:asgenerativeAIservicesbecomerapidlyaccessibletoendusers,

companieslackthetoolstoeffectivelygoverntheiruse.Expertswhohavealready

ledimplementationsofgenerativeAImayhelpcompaniesfindeffectivestrategiesfor

reducingwidelyunderstoodrisks,suchasdataprotectionandliabilityreduction,andmayhelpcompaniesidentifyandmitigateconcernsthatareonlybeginningtobediscussed,

suchasthehighenergyconsumptionofgenerativeAIworkloadsandthechallengetosustainabilitygoalsthatmayposeforcompanies.

OrganizationsareincreasingtheirinvestmentingenerativeAI.

Despitethesehesitationsandareasofconcern,participantsstronglyagreethatadopting

generativeAIrepresentsanimportantopportunitytoimprovemargins,with84%

ofrespondentssayinggenerativeAIis“very”or“somewhat”importanttotop-line

revenuegrowthinthenextfiveyearsand88%sayinggenerativeAIwouldbe“very”

or“somewhat”importanttoreducingcostsinthesametimeperiod.Giventhislevelof

opportunity,itisnotsurprisingthatoverallinvestmentingenerativeAIwillgrow;while

61%ofrespondentsspendunder$1millionannuallyongenerativeAItechnologiestoday,52%expecttospendmorethan$5milliononthetechnologyoverthenextfiveyearsand21%expecttospendmorethan$10million.

CONCLUSION

GLG’ssurveyofbusinessleadersandITdecisionmakersindicatesthatcompaniesare

excitedaboutthepotentialbenefitsofgenerativeAIbutarestrugglingtotransitionfrom

pilotstofull-scaleimplementations.Manyorganizationshaveyettoappointleadership

overgenerativeandotherAItechnologiesandareunsurehowtodevelopastrategyforAIthatwillleadtomeaningfulbenefits.TappingintoatrustednetworkofAIthoughtleaders,innovationresearchers,andregulatoryperspectivesmayhelpcompaniestaketheright

firststepstotransitiontheirpilotstofull-scaleimplementationsandleveragegenerativeAIinkeybusinessprocessessuchasproductdevelop