Company culture, leadership essential for securing AI ROI

It is abundantly clear that AI is one of the defining technologies of our time. It has matured to the point where it is used in almost every industry and its adoption is only increasing. In the Deloitte AI identifies the fifth state of AI in the enterprise Nearly 80% of business leaders surveyed report full deployments of three or more types of AI applications, a significant increase from 62% a year earlier. More than 75% of leaders say they plan to increase AI investment in the coming year, but the pace of investment is slowing somewhat, which may be due to the reality that organizations don’t always see the expected returns.

For organizations aiming for high ROI but falling short, it may be time to explore how to better orchestrate and drive change across the enterprise. This is partly a matter of corporate culture and leadership, and there are signs that companies today are increasingly realizing the importance of these factors in leveraging AI value.

Towards an AI-ready corporate culture

Promoting corporate culture change is not a new challenge. Whenever a transformative technology emerges, it takes time and intention to refocus the business around new possibilities. This has implications for assets and processes, but the human element is just as important. With AI, changing the way the business works requires the workforce to embrace the vision and willingly participate in making it a reality.

The belief that AI’s core value lies in replacing humans with machines is steadily falling away as business leaders and their workforce realize that AI’s potential lies in helping humans become more productive and innovative. When it comes to human capital, the use of AI can improve work for people and people better at their jobs. In the State of AI survey, 82% of respondents say their workforce recognizes how cognitive tools can improve performance and job satisfaction. This is encouraging, as one of the first barriers to adoption is helping end users understand why they should adopt a new tool rather than maintain the status quo.

While there seems to be an eagerness to use AI among the workforce, many companies are lagging behind in implementing targeted actions to encourage the use of AI. Many leading AI-enabled companies nurture corporate culture traits such as cross-organizational collaboration, workforce optimism for AI, and support and retention of AI professionals. Yet the State of AI survey found that a majority of respondents are not redesigning work or talent practices, delivering easy-to-use AI systems, investing in human-machine collaboration, or engaging employees in AI design. Most importantly, nearly 80% of responding companies are not training their workforce to effectively apply and use AI.

The gap between what is and what could be is striking, but there is cause for optimism. Many organizations recognize the importance of culture and are making progress. Research respondents report that the most important factors in developing an AI-ready culture are agility and a willingness to change, as well as executive leadership with a vision of how AI will be used. It is the last element that could have the most impact in moving the enterprise forward to using AI for its greatest potential and business benefit.

Leading change to propel ROI

Even as AI matures as a technology, new practices for developing talent models and driving change are still emerging. Still, there are generally applicable practices that are becoming more widespread, particularly in leadership.

A variety of areas of focus for leaders can drive change management. This includes becoming fluent in AI by learning the terms, concepts, possibilities and risks surrounding the technology. By knowing what AI is and how it works, leaders can make more informed decisions about the types of tactics and investments that can improve adoption and use. This can include upskilling the existing workforce, intentionally promoting a diversity of ideas and experiences through recruitment strategies, and working with people and organizations to set standards, share leading practices and identify emerging risks .

Another finding from the State of AI study is that leaders can foster positive and productive human-machine relationships by involving business specialists, employees and other end users in the design and development of new tools. Take the example of a global retailer¹ which, in an AI pilot project, brought merchandisers into the development and testing of a selling price algorithm. By involving merchandisers, the company found it could create a man-machine workflow that delivered results superior to what humans or machines could achieve independently. This increase in human productivity, in turn, positively impacted corporate culture and attitudes toward AI, and it took leadership to enable that collaboration.

Ultimately, every company is different and each has a unique set of challenges, assets and goals. Approaches to working with AI may necessarily be specific to the company using the tools. Despite the differences, the path to getting more ROI from AI is partly paved with culture and leadership. The challenge now is for enterprises to define how to shape and promote those essential elements and realize the AI ​​business value they seek.

by Beena Ammanath, Managing Director, Deloitte Consulting LLP, and Executive Director, Deloitte’s Global AI Institute; and Michael Stephan, US Human Capital National Managing Partner, Deloitte Consulting LLP