AI enhancing revenue for 86% of executives: TCS study
MUMBAI, INDIA — A new study from Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) reveals the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) by senior business leaders to drive revenue growth and innovation.
Among the largest surveys of its kind, the ‘TCS AI for Business Study‘ surveyed nearly 1,300 executives across 24 countries and 12 industries. Half of the companies had annual revenues between $1 billion and $5 billion, and half of those exceeded $5 billion.
The survey revealed that 86% of respondents have already deployed AI solutions to enhance existing revenue streams or create new ones. Meanwhile, 69% of businesses are more focused on using technology to spur innovation and increase revenue rather than just improving productivity and reducing costs.
Optimism for AI’s transformative potential
The study shows that 57% of executives feel optimistic about AI’s potential impact. Notably, 45% predict that within three years, up to half of their employees will need to use generative AI capabilities in their roles, with another 41% anticipating even greater usage.
“We are now entering an era of wide-and-deep enterprise AI adoption,” said Harrick Vin, TCS’ Chief Technology Officer.
“Enterprises, however, are realizing that the path to production for AI solutions is not easy, and that building an AI-mature enterprise is a marathon, not a sprint.”
Despite the enthusiasm, only 4% of businesses have used AI in a transformative way, with 24% still in the exploratory phase. Key obstacles include current IT infrastructures and evolving customer expectations. The study underscores the necessity for new metrics to evaluate AI success, as 72% of respondents believe existing metrics are inadequate.
Other key insights of TCS AI study
- 54% of executives believe AI’s impact will be comparable to the internet and smartphones.
- Finance, HR, and marketing are the top corporate functions with completed AI projects.
- 65% of executives say human creativity and strategic thinking, augmented by AI, will be their competitive advantage.
- 81% of executives highlight the need for global AI standards and regulations.
- Regionally, 93% of UK and Ireland executives have AI projects aimed at revenue growth, followed by 89% in North America, 88% in APAC, 83% in Continental Europe, and 80% in Latin America.
- Excitement about AI’s impact is particularly high in the BFSI (64%) and manufacturing (63%) sectors.
“When calibrated for accuracy and harnessed responsibly, GenAI makes the computational power of the data, cloud, and AI come alive. Add in human ingenuity and organizations can create a new paradigm for the modern marketplace,” said Sivaraman Ganesan, Head of TCS’ AI.Cloud Business Unit.
The study underscores the need for businesses to approach AI adoption strategically, develop appropriate performance metrics, and upskill their workforce to fully capitalize on AI’s transformative potential.
TCS, a global IT services, consulting, and business solutions organization, ranked #45 on the OA500 2024, an objective index of the world’s top 500 outsourcing firms. The latest index puts TCS five places higher than last year when it ranked 50th.
