Unlocking Growth: How Enterprises Are Leveraging Gen AI as a Key Enabler Beyond the Hype

Generative AI is far from a passing trend, particularly among enterprise leaders. A survey by Writer reveals that nearly all CIOs and tech decision-makers identify AI as a crucial enabler for their organizations. This shift signals a move from mere speculation about AI’s potential to a confident embrace of its capabilities.

“It’s a hype cycle,” acknowledges Andrew Racine, Writer’s Vice President of Demand Generation and Growth. To better understand enterprise perspectives on AI, the team surveyed 500 executives and AI professionals. They discovered that some were experiencing a "trough of despair" from the hype cycle; despite efforts to implement AI to meet the demands of CEOs and board members, achieving high-quality outputs proved challenging.

Are You Ready for AI Agents?

“Productivity is important, but are you genuinely solving business problems? Are you facilitating growth and reducing costs, rather than only marginally boosting productivity? These are the themes we recognize,” Racine notes.

Survey Results

Key Highlights:

- 82% of respondents anticipate rapid growth in generative AI use over the next two years.

- The top areas where generative AI will have the greatest impact include IT operations (65%), customer support (64%), and security (54%).

- 97% of companies foresee new teams utilizing generative AI, with training (31%), customer support (29%), and human resources (29%) leading.

- A substantial 95% believe enhanced security measures are crucial for implementing generative AI.

- 94% of respondents highlight data protection as a primary concern in business applications of generative AI.

- Data control and access issues are prompting many companies to adopt on-premises or virtual private solutions, with 78% planning to use private solutions.

- 61% report experiencing AI hallucinations within their organizations.

- While 17% rate their in-house generative AI projects as "excellent," over half consider their efforts merely "okay."

- Companies are primarily searching for security controls (69%), data governance (65%), and high-quality outputs (57%) when selecting a commercial generative AI platform.

- Nearly half (49%) expect to utilize six or more AI solutions within the next two years.

What CIOs Want CEOs to Understand

Writer’s survey primarily focused on insights from C-suite executives and general managers, emphasizing the necessity of securing executive-level buy-in for IT initiatives. Racine underscores that without this support, organizations see only minimal benefits from new technologies.

He elaborates, “Historically, CIOs were focused on keeping systems operational without taking risks. Now, they are shifting towards a growth mindset, striving to achieve more with less across expansive organizations still tied to legacy operations.”

The survey reflects a strong interest in generative AI, yet it is directed at CEOs and board members to underscore the importance of collaboration with IT when embracing new technologies. Effective technology adoption requires IT’s endorsement for organization-wide implementation.

This isn't Writer's first foray into AI sentiment research. The previous study concentrated more on marketing perspectives. However, Racine confirmed that this survey will be an annual event, tracking the state of generative AI adoption in enterprises.

Updated as of April 4, 2024, at 8:38 AM PT: Clarified that Writer’s survey targeted a diverse mix of executives, directors, and managers, not exclusively CIOs.