Most organisations currently in ‘exploration mode’ with generative AI

The company questioned just over 2,500 executives as part of a Gartner webinar series in March and April, which discussed the enterprise impact of ChatGPT and generative AI. Results of this poll do not represent global findings or the market as a whole, Gartner has emphasised.

“The generative AI frenzy shows no signs of abating,” said Frances Karamouzis, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner. “Organisations are scrambling to determine how much cash to pour into generative AI solutions, which products are worth the investment, when to get started and how to mitigate the risks that come with this emerging technology.”

The poll found that 68% of executives believe the benefits of generative AI outweigh the risks, compared with just 5% who feel the risks outweigh the benefits. However, executives may begin to shift their perspective as investments deepen.

Organisations will encounter many questions

“Initial enthusiasm for a new technology can give way to more rigorous analysis of risks and implementation challenges,” said Karamouzis. “Organisations will likely encounter a host of trust, risk, security, privacy and ethical questions as they start to develop and deploy generative AI.”

Gartner notes that, despite ongoing economic headwinds, only 17% of executives indicated cost optimisation as the primary purpose of generative AI investments. Customer experience was the most common primary focus of investments, cited by 38% of respondents.

As organisations begin experimenting with generative AI, many are starting with use cases such as media content improvement or code generation. While these efforts can be a strong initial value-add, generative AI has vast potential to support solutions that augment humans or machines and autonomously execute business and IT processes.

“Autonomous business, the next macro-phase of technological change, can mitigate the impact of inflation, talent shortages and even economic downturns,” said Karamouzis. “CEOs and CIOs that leverage generative AI to drive transformation through new products and business models will find massive opportunities for revenue growth.”