Gen AI inspiring greater enterprise adoption of other AI types: Pegasystems research

The rapid rise of creative ‘right-brain’ generative AI has opened the door to greater adoption of the more analytical ‘left-brain’ AI decisioning solutions by global businesses, according to new research from Pegasystems, the leading enterprise AI decisioning and workflow automation platform provider. The study, conducted by research firm Savanta, was unveiled at PegaWorld® iNspire, the company’s annual conference in Las Vegas. It surveyed Australian business decision makers across enterprises on their understanding and use of AI, as well as the challenges and opportunities they see in successfully implementing the technology.

The research found 96% of Australian business decision makers felt the increased prevalence of gen AI was directly responsible for their adoption of other types of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, with more than a third (35%) saying it played a major role in their decision. It also showed generative AI has become the predominant way of deploying artificial intelligence (AI) within global enterprises, highlighting the extent to which it has been embraced as both a productivity enhancer and a creative partner for innovation.

The study explored how business decision makers are implementing AI through the lens of the two sides of the human brain: the more rational, analytical AI decisioning side (the ‘left-brain’), and the more creative, generative side (the ‘right-brain’). It found that ‘right-brain’ generative AI is the most used AI within enterprises today, with half of Australian respondents (50%) saying they use it mostly for creative or productivity-enhancing tasks such as content creation (57%), curating large stores of information (54%), or in conversational chatbots (54%). Conversely, less than a third of all Australian respondents (29%) predominantly use rational ‘left-brain’ AI decisioning solutions, such as predictive analytics (49%), or decision management tools (36%). Only 20% of Australian respondents use an equal number of both ‘left’ and ‘right’ brain AI tools.

Other findings from the research include:

• AI spend is on the rise…but so are transformational expectations: Ninety-four percent of Australian respondents say it’s likely they will increase their use of AI in the next five years, with 82% saying they are either ‘extremely’ or ‘very’ confident AI can add transformational business value to their organisation over the next five to 10 years. In the short-term, the vast majority (75%) also expect to be able to directly attribute up to half of their increased profits over the next three years to their use of AI. However, 80% say they spend up to half of their annual IT budget on AI solutions. With 75% admitting to at least some level of waste in their budget spend due to a lack of a proper strategy, it’s clear that more care is required around how and why these investments are made.

• But…businesses overestimate their AI understanding: The vast majority of Australian respondents (96%) say they have a good understanding of AI and the way it works. Despite this, 78% think AI has been in general business use for less than five years – with just 4% saying it has been in use for 10 years or more, despite mainstream usage dating back to the 1980s. Meanwhile, over two-thirds (67%) could not correctly identify an accurate definition of generative AI – despite only 1% admitting they don’t know what the technology is. These numbers could explain why over two-thirds (68%) say they have had a failed AI implementation.

• AI trust and the enterprise – it’s complicated: Nearly half of Australian respondents (47%) are concerned with resting the success of their brand on AI, while 48% also admit they have concerns over AI transparency and bias. Forty percent of Australian respondents are also worried about AI taking their jobs – while 44% are concerned about the potential enslavement of humanity by AI-powered robots. Despite these concerns, more than two-thirds (67%) trust AI to completely run a department if they felt it would improve overall results. Meanwhile, 41% of Australian respondents prefer to trust a human to build customer relationships, provided they had assistance from AI – compared to just 9% who trust a human more without AI intervention.

• Demand for AI skills is growing: Over 1 in 10 (12%) of Australian respondents think their organisation has weak AI skills and experience, while one quarter (25%) say this presents a barrier to further AI use within their business. However, 99% find prior AI skills and experience valuable when considering new applicants to join their team, suggesting a growing importance of fostering an AI-literate workforce. Those with hands-on AI experience such as ‘prompt engineering’ are most in demand (67%), followed by experts in AI theory and academics on the subject (46%). Just 2% are not proactively looking to hire anyone based on their AI skills or experience.

“Generative AI is the flag-bearer of a new wave of AI enthusiasm, so it’s no surprise that so many businesses are using it as a catalyst to not only explore other types of AI but also to drive more creativity and innovation,” said Don Schuerman, Chief Technology Officer, Pega. “The next few years are going to see continued growth, not only in the acceleration of artificial intelligence in all its various forms, but also in terms of its adoption. To make the most of this, organisations must ensure they have the requisite skills, expertise, and understanding to make their AI projects a success. In the coming years, we expect to see more and more businesses not just adopting AI productivity tools, but partnering with AI to drive innovations that produce the best possible outcomes for themselves and their customers.”