ABBYY, a multinational specialized in intelligent automation, reveals the results of its new study, conducted in collaboration with Sapio Research, on the impact of global economic stagnation on investments in intelligent automation.
The economic climate has certainly had a downward impact on business investments, but these have increased exponentially in terms of AI, according to 81% of IT executives.
AI: Observed ROI leads to greater investments
In France, almost half of business leaders (41%) saw a financial return of double their AI investments in 2023.
Significantly, 81% said their AI budgets have increased this year, and 40% even plan to increase their investments, despite the current economic environment.
The survey also found that medium- and large-sized companies are investing more in AI to enable intelligent automation, and that increased investment (up to 35%) from emerging companies means they are increasingly recognizing more that artificial intelligence makes it possible to standardize practices and that it is necessary to benefit from a competitive advantage.
As AI adoption becomes more widespread with the use of broad language models such as generative AI, 89% of IT leaders responded that they have AI strategies in place.
34% of them have reduced their roadmap to three- to five-year plans, placing revenue-impacting processes at the top of their priorities, particularly in terms of operations, marketing, product development, sales and logistics services.
Artificial intelligence above all as a productivity factor
Participants interviewed in France noted that intelligent automation freed them from many repetitive and monotonous tasks, allowing them to devote more effort to customer- and revenue-focused projects.
This development has resulted in a notable increase in their productivity (40%), their level of satisfaction (55%) and their ability to innovate (52%).
Nearly half of respondents, or 45%, reported increased levels of employee loyalty since adopting intelligent automation, especially significant in an era of increasing resignations.
Furthermore, they highlighted that improving employee efficiency (48%) and productivity (40%) is one of the biggest benefits for both companies and their employees.
Additionally, 32% of respondents reported a better balance between their personal and professional lives.
“IT leaders are getting a lot of value from their investments in AI.
More than half of executives surveyed reported higher quality products and designs, as well as faster delivery of their products to customers.
More than a third reported improved customer service outcomes.
Not surprisingly, they have achieved double the ROI by leveraging AI in their intelligent automation initiatives to drive improvement in complex processes and unlock value from internal data. »
Gabrielle Lukianchuk , Marketing Director at ABBYY
Methodology
This study was conducted by Sapio Research in July 2023 on behalf of ABBYY. We surveyed 1,000 IT decision makers from 17 industries including financial services, healthcare, transportation/logistics/supply chain, insurance, retail, government/public sectors in the US, UK, Germany and France to understand how Current global economic stagnation is influencing investments in intelligent automation, whether and which technologies organizations intend to adopt in the near future.
