TORONTO, June 15, 2017 /CNW/ - New research released
by Accenture (NYSE: ACN) reveals that companies with optimal
artificial intelligence (AI) innovation strategies generate greater
shareholder value. But less than one fifth of leading companies
that leverage AI have achieved this performance in recent years.
These companies have demonstrated high 'AIQ' by combining strong
in-house innovation and external collaboration.
Accenture's report "Boost Your AIQ: Transforming into an AI
Business," published in collaboration with
the G20 Young Entrepreneurs' Alliance, assesses both the
Fortune Global 100 and Accenture's list of Intelligent 100 pioneers
in the development and application of AI technologies, for the
period of 2010 to 2016. In order to measure their Artificial
Intelligence Quotient (AIQ), the research analyzes the level of
both their in-house capabilities and investments in AI as well as
their commitment to partnering with outside partners.
The research finds that only 17 percent of companies fall into
the high-performing "Collaborative Inventor" quadrant, while most
(57 percent) are still seen as "Observers," with relatively low
levels of either in-house innovation or external collaboration on
AI. Collaborative inventors have seen their enterprise value (a
measure based on their market capitalization, debt and cash
positions) rise by an average of 4.2 percent since 2013, compared
to 2.3 percent for the remainder of the sample. Accenture Research
estimates that companies that can move from "Observer" status to
"Collaborative Inventor" could see their firm's enterprise value
increase by 90 percent, on average.
"Artificial intelligence is one of the most powerful technology
innovations we have ever seen – transforming the way we work and
live," said Paul Daugherty, chief
technology and innovation officer, Accenture. "Many companies are
ready to go beyond the experimental phase of AI, leveraging it to
improve productivity and create entirely new revenue opportunities.
To become a high performer, they will need to both develop their
own technology, data and people capabilities as well as become
deeply involved in the broader AI ecosystem."
Innovation Strategy to Leverage Artificial
Intelligence
The research shows that companies must converge
and integrate three main factors to achieve high AIQ:
- Technology: Not only do companies need to combine the
constellation of sensors, deep-learning algorithms, natural
language processing and other technologies – they must choose when
to invest in proprietary applications. For example, a chat bot may
improve efficiencies, but may not differentiate a brand as much as
proprietary AI-based products and services.
- Data: AI requires vast volumes of data and securing that
data is crucial to enable intelligent systems to learn and improve.
Adding to the complexity, most data that is currently available to
companies is unstructured or disparate. To overcome these
challenges, companies must update their legacy systems to converge
the data and embed AI at the intersection to create intelligent
products and services.
- People: AI calls for a diverse range of expertise in
different combinations – mathematics, data science, neuroscience,
behavioral psychology, linguistics and other liberal arts – to both
train and work with intelligent machines. At the same time, AI
will have an impact on the jobs and roles of existing workers and
many of the new skills do not yet exist in the market. The research
suggests that companies must strike the right balance between
reskilling the existing workforce and hiring external talent. This
includes partnering with universities to create a talent pipeline –
but also, with the emergence of the gig economy – creating a more
flexible working environment to attract specialist
freelancers.
"Success in AI cannot happen in isolation," said Francis Hintermann, global managing director,
Accenture Research. "Our analysis shows that creating AI
innovations requires incumbents to open up their technology, data
and talent to work with specialist startups and entrepreneurs. That
requires them to transform their innovation strategies and
organizational cultures."
About the Accenture Artificial Intelligence Quotient
(AIQ)
The Accenture Artificial Intelligence Quotient (AIQ)
was developed using a mix of publicly available data, qualitative
analysis and AI-powered web crawling tools. It is composed of five
parameters grouped into two indexes, AIQ for Invention and AIQ for
Collaboration. For each of the 200 companies (Fortune 100 and the
Intelligent 100), Accenture calculated one score per parameter
based on the relative positioning of that company vs the leading
companies. The averages of each index were used to set up cut off
points to define the four categories of companies (Collaborative
Inventor, Inventor, Collaborator and Observer).
About Accenture
Accenture is a leading global professional services company,
providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy,
consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched
experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries
and all business functions – underpinned by the world's largest
delivery network – Accenture works at the intersection of business
and technology to help clients improve their performance and create
sustainable value for their stakeholders. With more than 401,000
people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives
innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us
at www.accenture.com.
SOURCE Accenture