AI’s Greatest Challenge Is Managerial, Not Technological
AI will succeed if corporate executives can harness its potential.
Photographer: Hulton Archive/Archive PhotosA recent IBM survey of 2,000 executives on their expectations for artificial intelligence in 2030 revealed something noteworthy. They unsurprisingly predict that AI investment will surge (from already high levels) and that 79% expect AI will contribute significantly to their revenue. But strikingly, only 24% “clearly see” where that revenue will come from.
Such lack of clarity might seem like a bad sign when most AI projects have failed to generate a return on investment, but it’s actually exactly what we should expect from a truly revolutionary innovation, and it makes clear that the greatest businesses challenges posed by AI will be managerial, not technological.
Revolutionary innovations rarely announce their business models – or even their use cases - in advance. They usually start with a simple one-to-one replacement where the innovations are a better or cheaper way of doing something that companies already do. Over time, users realize that they offer new and powerful capabilities. That’s when their real impact kicks in, and it explains why the same survey reports that executives expect their AI spending to shift from efficiency gains to product and service innovation.