Less than a third of CEOs polled in a recent PWC survey said their companies have generated additional revenue from AI, and only a quarter have realized cost savings from it. Most companies that reduced costs saw little increase in revenue, and for many, increased revenue from AI use also led to higher costs.
The Global CEO Survey from PWC polled 4,454 CEOs from 95 countries and territories, with a particular focus on AI and its effects on business. Across all polled industries, only 30% of CEOs reported increased revenue from AI in recent months. That’s a step up from the 5% of companies that reported benefits from AI in an October Boston Consulting Survey, but with close to a third of those companies also seeing increased costs, the impact may be limited.
Over the past year, we’ve seen many companies enact large-scale layoffs, often under the cover of AI-driven efficiency savings. In the PWC survey, only 26% of companies reported cost savings from AI, while the majority said revenue decreased or remained unchanged. Only 12% of polled CEOs said their companies had both increased revenue and reduced costs through AI.
This leaves 56% of all polled CEOs saying they have seen zero revenue growth or cost reduction from using AI.
(Credit: PWC)
These companies are using AI in different ways, though. Around 22% are using it to increase demand for their products, while 20% have employed it as part of their customer service system. Intriguingly, 15% appear to be using it in the design space by leveraging it for “direction setting.” That sounds like CEOs trying to replace themselves with AI, if anything.
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Despite the lackluster returns to date, around 69% of CEOs said generative AI will require most of their workforces to learn new skills over the next few years. However, less than half say they have a clear plan in place to enable this.
The numbers paint a picture of CEOs looking to keep up with AI, mainly to remain relevant. If that isn’t indicative of the global AI vibe among major companies, I don’t know what is.
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Jon Martindale
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Jon Martindale is a tech journalist from the UK, with 20 years of experience covering all manner of PC components and associated gadgets. He’s written for a range of publications, including ExtremeTech, Digital Trends, Forbes, U.S. News & World Report, and Lifewire, among others. When not writing, he’s a big board gamer and reader, with a particular habit of speed-reading through long manga sagas.
Jon covers the latest PC components, as well as how-to guides on everything from how to take a screenshot to how to set up your cryptocurrency wallet. He particularly enjoys the battles between the top tech giants in CPUs and GPUs, and tries his best not to take sides.
Jon’s gaming PC is built around the iconic 7950X3D CPU, with a 7900XTX backing it up. That’s all the power he needs to play lightweight indie and casual games, as well as more demanding sim titles like Kerbal Space Program. He uses a pair of Jabra Active 8 earbuds and a SteelSeries Arctis Pro wireless headset, and types all day on a Logitech G915 mechanical keyboard.
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