In a survey of over 1,000 C-suite executives across the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand, Constellation Research has found that artificial intelligence (AI) has become the top priority for organizations in 2024 and beyond. The survey, conducted from December 2023 to January 2024, reveals the rapid adoption and transformative impact of AI across industries.
According to the findings, more than 75% of respondents believe AI will have a significant impact on their roles within the next three years. Furthermore, an impressive 69% of executives are already using AI at work, showcasing the growing familiarity and trust in the technology.
“Exponentially more impactful than the internet, AI is the top priority for every business, across industries, geographies, and roles,” said R “Ray” Wang, Founder and Principal Analyst at Constellation Research. “Leading C-suite executives have rapidly responded to these board-driven, top-down mandates and investments.”
The survey identified the top five areas where early adopters have applied AI: analytics (13.5%), automating work (12.9%), communication or content creation (11.3%), forecasting (10.6%), and customer insights (10.4%). These findings align with the growing demand for operational efficiency, revenue and growth, and regulatory compliance, risk mitigation, and proactive monitoring.
Interestingly, the survey also found that trust in AI is growing due to increased familiarity. More than 77% of executives are confident that AI can accurately share information and results, with 48.76% believing they can somewhat trust AI and 30.8% definitely trusting it.
“Enterprise leaders want to work with technology vendors who deliver on trust and work with foundational principles of AI,” added Wang. “Constellation Research has set five principles for ethical and trusted AI, including transparency, explainability, reversibility, trainability, and having a human in the loop.”
Despite the enthusiasm, the survey also revealed some concerns among C-suite executives. While more than 69% expect to spearhead their organization’s AI efforts, 41.81% worry about security and compliance when it comes to AI. Additionally, 38.4% of respondents are moderately to extremely concerned about the accuracy of AI results, and 50% are concerned about data leakage.
“As with all technologies, the humans behind AI can turn it into a weapon or a tool for advancing humanity,” Wang cautioned. “Common potential risks that can be controlled for include hallucinations, data leakage, security, accuracy, and cost.”
The survey also highlighted the critical role of high-quality, high-volume data in the success of AI initiatives. In fact, 91% of companies will determine they do not have enough data to achieve a level of precision their stakeholders will trust. Savvy organizations, however, recognize the importance of data, with 66.5% of C-suite executives believing their team is getting enough data to power AI efforts.
Notably, more than 77% of leaders expect AI will provide their organization with a competitive advantage. This sentiment is driven by the benefits observed across various use cases, including increased efficiency, faster problem resolution, reduced costs, greater consistency and quality, and better insights into customers and clients.
To capitalize on this competitive edge, organizations are planning to invest in skilling up their employees. The survey found that 71.6% of C-suite executives plan to reskill workers for AI, and 67.92% intend to improve their own skills in the technology.
“The cultural path to AI will require dedicated training, reskilling, and investment for employees,” Wang said. “Leaders must take the time to provide up-to-date training for human and machine collaboration, create an environment that supports learning and learning from failure, and develop training programs designed for humans operating at machine scale.”
Overall, the Constellation Research survey paints a clear picture of the transformative impact of AI on enterprises. From the C-suite’s unwavering commitment to AI as a top priority to the growing trust and benefits observed, the findings underscore the exponential advantage AI can bring to organizations that embrace it. However, navigating the challenges and risks associated with AI will require a strategic and ethical approach, underpinned by strong data foundations and a focus on upskilling the workforce.
