AI News Bureau
KPMG’s latest AI Quarterly Pulse Survey finds that organizations are doubling down on AI investments as macroeconomic pressures, investor demands, and efficiency imperatives mount.
Written by: CDO Magazine Bureau
Updated 3:50 PM UTC, Mon January 20, 2025
Photo by Igor Omilaev on Unsplash.
KPMG’s latest AI Quarterly Pulse Survey finds that organizations are doubling down on AI investments as macroeconomic pressures, investor demands, and efficiency imperatives mount. The majority of surveyed leaders (67%) expect AI to fundamentally transform their businesses within the next two years, reflecting a sharp uptick in optimism about the technology’s impact.
Yet, data quality concerns top the list for 85% of leaders, followed by data privacy and cybersecurity (71%), and employee adoption (46%). Despite these hurdles, 68% of leaders plan to invest between $50 and $250 million in GenAI over the next 12 months, up from 45% in Q1 2024.
More than half (51%) of businesses are currently exploring AI agents, with plans to leverage them for administrative tasks (60%), call center operations (54%), and new business materials development (53%) within the next year. However, only 12% have deployed these tools so far.
Across leadership ranks, Chief Information Officers (71%) are increasingly spearheading AI initiatives, overtaking CEOs (17%) and Chief Innovation Officers (10%). This represents a marked shift from earlier in the year, when nearly half (49%) reported CEOs as the primary AI leaders.
The quarterly survey of 100 U.S.-based C-suite and business leaders, each from organizations with $1 billion or more in annual revenue, also highlights that only 7% have appointed board members with GenAI expertise, though 91% plan to do so.
Additionally, 81% of respondents aim to include GenAI in performance reviews, a move designed to spur widespread adoption and better governance of AI technologies.