2024 AI Survey – “One Thing” Every Company Must Do Right Now

Annie Weckesser at Uniphore explains one thing every company must do right now according to a 2024 AI survey.

Today, the AI conversation has moved from “What is AI?” to “How to AI?”

It’s a question more businesses are asking with an increasing sense of urgency. Business leaders don’t just want to know how AI can drive better outcomes and optimize operations. They need to know, and they need to know now.

That’s because the writing is on the wall: every company must soon become an AI company — or risk being left behind.

In a 2024 survey of more than 500 contact centre leaders, nearly everyone revealed that their companies were planning on investing in AI transformation.

What’s more, the decision to invest was being overwhelmingly driven by C-suite leaders across enterprises, making it clear that AI integration today is more than a business aspiration or wish list item. In fact, it has become a business-critical directive.

But what will that transformation look like, and how do businesses plan on achieving it?

Here’s what we learned from the survey results:

91% of Leaders Say They Need Help Developing Their AI Blueprint

What is holding them back? The short answer: data. AI requires massive amounts of high-quality, AI-ready data to deliver meaningful results.

But most enterprise data doesn’t meet that threshold. Data siloes, poor data quality and data ownership barriers make it difficult for enterprises to access and prepare their own data for AI usage. This is not about having enough data – rather it is about having it AI ready.

Only 14% Say Their Business Decisions Are Always Data Driven

Yes, you read that right. According to the survey, while 91% of respondents emphasized the importance of accessing data to make informed decisions, less than one in five said their business decisions were primarily data driven.

While that number seems abysmally low now, it won’t — and cannot —  be  for long. As more companies prioritize their AI transformation, the gap between the winners and losers will only widen.

And that gap will be even more apparent as AI advancements that used to take months and years happen in weeks, days and sometimes hours.

Enterprises Must Act Now to Get Their Data AI-Ready

With AI innovation progressing at a supercharged speed, the pressure to move is only getting more intense. That’s great news for companies that already leverage their own data for AI usage—and a massive opportunity for those on the outside looking in.

Companies that want to lead—or continue leading—in the AI Era must prioritize making their data AI ready above all else. And they must make it a collective company mission, with every level of the organization rowing in sync and in the same direction.

Starting Your AI Blueprint Now Is Crucial to a Successful Transformation

That’s not conjecture. It’s a fact. And the data backs it up. According to the survey:

40% Feel Market Pressure to Adopt AI in the Contact Centre

The AI transformation race is on, and enterprises are feeling the pressure to develop an executable blueprint—and fast.

In addition to market pressure to stay competitive, 21% felt pressure from customers to improve their experience. An additional 13% said they felt pressure from senior executives to join the AI race.

66% of Organizations Have No AI Blueprint Whatsoever

That means two out of three are lagging dangerously behind. Because of the speed of innovation, the 34% that do have a blueprint have increased their lead exponentially, putting them years—not months—ahead of their competitors

Only Half of Those With a Blueprint Consider It Well Defined

Having a blueprint is one thing. Have one with actionable milestones is another. While 45% thought their blueprint was very well defined, only 11% expressed extreme confidence in their blueprint.

Remember, 91% of business leaders said they need help building their AI blueprint. But that’s good news because it is now easier than ever to go from planning to design to deployment.

With a unified AI and data platform enterprises can not only prepare their data for AI usage, they can tailor it to specific use cases and connect it to the applications they need to drive the right outcomes.

And because the platform enables enterprises to infuse AI into every area that impacts the customer, it streamlines the AI transformation from top to bottom.

So if there is one thing I’d urge enterprises to do, it is to get your data AI-ready now.

Author: Guest Author