Despite Data Concerns, Most Are Welcoming AI Integration
In a recent study conducted by IBM’s Institute for Business Value in 2023, retail and consumer product chief executive officers said they are in favor of artificial intelligence as productivity remains a top priority.
The survey, which polled more than 3,000 global CEOs including nearly 400 in the retail and consumer product industries in 30-plus countries, found that 75 percent of CEOs believe that companies with the most advanced generative AI will end up on top, with 43 percent of respondents have noted that they are using AI technology to make strategic decisions.
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Compared to last year, CEOs report concentrating on profitability and productivity, with technology playing a major factor in achieving business goals and profits. Meanwhile, 51 percent of consumer products and 53 percent of retail CEOs are focusing on putting the customer experience at the forefront.
Forty percent of consumer product CEOs noted that modernizing technology ranks as one of the top priorities. To that end, more than half (51 percent) of respondents stated that modernizing technology is “the most influential external forces of consumer products enterprises”.
Still, while half of the respondents say they have taken action on this and report already integrating generative AI into their online products and services and an additional 69 percent of CEOs report they foresee the broader benefits of generative AI, there is some holdout.
Despite its promising allure, from a practical standpoint, only 29 percent of the CEO’s executive leadership teams believe that they currently have the in-house expertise to adopt generative AI. Fifty-seven percent of CEOs also said they are concerned about data security while 48 percent are worried about bias or AI’s data accuracy.
According to the company’s report, one of the biggest barriers to adoption is a lack of reliable data. Other obstacles within this space include data lineage and provenance, a lack of proprietary data to customize and security concerns. Less than a third of CEOs already using this technology have conducted an assessment on the impact and inevitable disruption and transitions that introducing AI will bring.
“Generative AI can reduce the barriers to AI adoption and half of CEOs interviewed are actively exploring it to drive a new wave of productivity, efficiency and quality of service across industries,” said Jesus Mantas, global managing partner at IBM Consulting.
Although there continue to be some well-founded concerns, there’s no question that AI technology will play a key role in the future of online retail and consumer products. Mantas believes that creating meaningful integration at scale will require CEOs to assess their company’s data privacy, intellectual property protection, security, algorithmic accountability and governance and find potential solutions to future issues that could arise.
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