“36% of organisations are starting to develop their artificial intelligence…
With the growing presence of artificial intelligence in the business and technology world, Spanish organisations are beginning to lay the foundations for incorporating this resource into their processes and capitalising on its full growth potential. Although only 10% of companies currently have an AI plan that is fully integrated into their strategies, “36% of them have already started to draw it up and only one in four does not plan to have one in the medium term, which shows the strategic importance that AI is going to have in business”.
These are the words of Luis Abril, executive director of Indra and CEO of Minsait, on the occasion of the launch of the “Ascendant Report Digital Maturity 2024” that the digital company presents every year and which, on this occasion, under the title “AI, radiography of a revolution in progress”, addresses the context and degree of adoption of artificial intelligence by companies and public administrations. To this end, it has analysed the information provided by more than 900 organisations from Spain and other countries that have participated in this study, from 15 different sectors of activity.
In Minsait’s analysis, “we perceive a qualitative leap that is moving towards new management models, in which AI is integrated into all functions of the organisation, enabling people to focus on activities of greater value. To achieve this, one of the great challenges for companies and institutions is to accelerate innovation and the agile and flexible scaling of artificial intelligence, in order not to miss the train of competitiveness and continue to grow in a sustainable way,” explains Luis Abril.
Hatching of use cases in organisations
Minsait’s “Ascendant Report” finds that, although companies in all sectors are starting from a low level of AI adoption, they are aware of the challenge of driving and capturing its full value as the technology advances. It is striking that many are already embarking on the deployment of use cases, particularly for generative AI, which has led to a burst of benchmarking at a much earlier stage than has typically been the case for other emerging technologies. Far from eclipsing its traditional version, where there is still much value to be captured, Generative AI has also become the multiplier for deploying use cases and accelerating their arrival in companies.
Among the companies that have already embarked on this path, according to the Ascendant Report, 72% have done so with the motivation to incorporate AI into their operational efficiency, 34% to improve decision-making and 31% to evolve the experience of their customers and internal users. In general, there is a perceived reluctance to explore other areas or to facilitate autonomous actions by artificial intelligence; on the contrary, use cases related to the evolution of operations take precedence.
Other areas of the value chain that have been focused on are the application of AI to risk management and cybersecurity (54%), corporate IT (37%), marketing (36%) and sales (33%); this has encouraged the development of use cases in areas such as predictive analytics for decision making, research and design of new products and services, design and personalisation of campaigns, prediction of customer demand, or the generation of IT code (see Annex).
Within this speed at which AI is beginning to take hold in organisations, the cloud and having a good ecosystem of allies and hyperscalers has become the technological basis for its large-scale adoption and, in the case of Generative AI, practically an imperative due to the cost and the knowledge required to train large language models. 78% of organisations already have cloud infrastructure in place to foster artificial intelligence and one in three have agreements with specialised technology partners.
Minsait believes that integrating ethics and cybersecurity from the initial stages of design, testing and implementation of artificial intelligence use cases is essential to ensure the responsible and secure use of data. Although to date, according to the report, only 9% of organisations have implemented specific cybersecurity solutions and plans for this, companies are already putting in place additional approaches to protect AI models throughout their lifecycle.
By sector, the sectoral exploitation of artificial intelligence is very disparate, although Banking, Energy, Insurance and Telco have already enabled measures to change their approach to AI or incorporate AI-based products and services into their value proposition. Others such as Consumer, Industry and Public Administrations are at a more incipient stage in order to exploit the full potential of this resource. The report includes several use cases, already implemented in companies and institutions, which also have a relevant sustainable development component, acting on the protection of the environment, the generation of knowledge, the fight against disinformation, or the closing of the digital divide.
Concerns about the regulatory framework
This explosion of use cases has accelerated the entry of AI into organisations, although organisations still perceive obstacles to a more agile scaling of its adoption. The lack of qualified professionals is the most important obstacle for 36% of the companies surveyed, followed by the lack of vision and understanding on the part of management about the value of AI and its growth potential for the business, as pointed out by 35%.
Thirdly, 31% of organisations are concerned about the instability of regulation and the absence of a stable regulatory framework that encourages responsible use and privacy compliance as one of the major barriers to increased adoption. A context of limitation that has changed with the recent approval of the European AI Act (AI ACT), the first regulation on Artificial Intelligence in the world that regulates new scenarios of opportunity to encourage this business resource.
Luis Abril, head of Minsait, reminds us that it is important to take advantage of this moment of opportunity: “Artificial intelligence is a valuable resource for improving the competitiveness of companies and public administrations worldwide. And, as has always been the case with other major revolutions, AI represents a disruption in various areas of society and comes with a series of challenges that will have to be managed. These challenges include protecting privacy and data security, preventing bias and discrimination, sustainably managing the resources needed to use AI, and managing the impact it may have on the labour market. And, ultimately, to respond to these challenges in order to continue moving towards a model of society where new technologies are at the service of people”.
