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On Mon, 30 Dec, 4:04 PM UTC
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[1]
AI is becoming ingrained in businesses across industries. Where is it going in 2025?
NEW YORK (AP) -- As artificial intelligence continues to grow at a rapid pace, more and more businesses are grappling with how to adapt both quickly and responsibly. Dan Priest is the new Chief AI Officer at PwC, one of the world's largest consulting firms, where he works with companies across industries as they adopt this burgeoning technology both into their day-to-day operations and future business models. He says 2024 was all about proving what AI brings to the table -- and expects 2025 will shift more into scaling it. Priest recently spoke with The Associated Press about his new role and other AI business predictions his team has for the year ahead. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. Q: When did PwC decide it wanted a Chief AI Officer? A: We launched the role in early July, on the heels of us doing an AI impact analysis and strategy for the firm. The motivation was simply to make sure we were tapping into AI's full potential, responsibly, to best serve our clients. We work with companies across a range of sectors -- including tech, health care and hospitality. Q: What have the companies you work with told you about how they're adopting AI? A: AI is showing up in some form or fashion for the majority of our clients these days. In a recent survey that we did of Fortune 1000 companies, nearly half of respondents said AI is fully embedded in their workflows -- and then about a third had even embedded it in their products and services. And AI is more than just a tech initiative, it's also adjusting business strategies. CEOs overwhelmingly recognise that AI will impact their business model in some way -- with about 73 per cent of those we spoke to in a predictions report saying that they believe AI would cause a shift in their business model. In particular, we're increasingly seeing generative AI both in the presence of the consumer and throughout product development. Q: Can you give me examples of what that looks like? A: To be competitive, companies can't just predict what consumers want anymore. You have to give them a way to personalize the specific products and services they want -- and gen AI has a means of doing that. Take a business in the cruising sector, for example. In the past, cruise lines would have to predict what each type of foods, products and excursions people wanted. Now, with gen AI, they can have a personalization engine that says, "I'm a fan of these luxury products," and then make sure those types of luxury products are on board. Or, "I'm a fan of this type of food," and they can make sure that food is on the menu. It gives companies a way to personalize the experience that wasn't possible before. Q: What risks should companies keep in mind when approaching AI? A: AI is not monolithic, and there are different maturity levels for different uses. You've seen issues in contact centers, for example, where AI agents were introduced and in some cases gave customers hallucinations with wrong information. And so having a "maturity test" to make sure they tech you're using is ready for prime time, particularly when it's customer-facing, is important. Those same disciplines are critical for protecting internal data, which you don't want inadvertently training a large language model. That's one category of risk. On the other side of all of this, another risk is not moving quickly enough and falling behind. Your AI strategy will either put you ahead or make it hard to ever catch up. If we take a lesson from the Internet era, a lot of those early movers ended up being winners for the next ten, 20 years. We expect to see something very similar for companies that embrace AI today, both early on and in a trustworthy way.
[2]
AI is becoming ingrained in businesses across industries. Where is it going in 2025?
NEW YORK (AP) -- As artificial intelligence continues to grow at a rapid pace, more and more businesses are grappling with how to adapt both quickly and responsibly. Dan Priest is the new Chief AI Officer at PwC, one of the world's largest consulting firms, where he works with companies across industries as they adopt this burgeoning technology both into their day-to-day operations and future business models. He says 2024 was all about proving what AI brings to the table -- and expects 2025 will shift more into scaling it. Priest recently spoke with The Associated Press about his new role and other AI business predictions his team has for the year ahead. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. A: We launched the role in early July, on the heels of us doing an AI impact analysis and strategy for the firm. The motivation was simply to make sure we were tapping into AI's full potential, responsibly, to best serve our clients. We work with companies across a range of sectors -- including tech, health care and hospitality. A: AI is showing up in some form or fashion for the majority of our clients these days. In a recent survey that we did of Fortune 1000 companies, nearly half of respondents said AI is fully embedded in their workflows -- and then about a third had even embedded it in their products and services. And AI is more than just a tech initiative, it's also adjusting business strategies. CEOs overwhelmingly recognize that AI will impact their business model in some way -- with about 73% of those we spoke to in a predictions report saying that they believe AI would cause a shift in their business model. In particular, we're increasingly seeing generative AI both in the presence of the consumer and throughout product development. A: To be competitive, companies can't just predict what consumers want anymore. You have to give them a way to personalize the specific products and services they want -- and gen AI has a means of doing that. Take a business in the cruising sector, for example. In the past, cruise lines would have to predict what each type of foods, products and excursions people wanted. Now, with gen AI, they can have a personalization engine that says, "I'm a fan of these luxury products," and then make sure those types of luxury products are on board. Or, "I'm a fan of this type of food," and they can make sure that food is on the menu. It gives companies a way to personalize the experience that wasn't possible before. A: AI is not monolithic, and there are different maturity levels for different uses. You've seen issues in contact centers, for example, where AI agents were introduced and in some cases gave customers hallucinations with wrong information. And so having a "maturity test" to make sure they tech you're using is ready for prime time, particularly when it's customer-facing, is important. Those same disciplines are critical for protecting internal data, which you don't want inadvertently training a large language model. That's one category of risk. On the other side of all of this, another risk is not moving quickly enough and falling behind. Your AI strategy will either put you ahead or make it hard to ever catch up. If we take a lesson from the Internet era, a lot of those early movers ended up being winners for the next ten, 20 years. We expect to see something very similar for companies that embrace AI today, both early on and in a trustworthy way.
[3]
AI is becoming ingrained in businesses across industries. Where is it going in 2025?
NEW YORK -- As artificial intelligence continues to grow at a rapid pace, more and more businesses are grappling with how to adapt both quickly and responsibly. Dan Priest is the new Chief AI Officer at PwC, one of the world's largest consulting firms, where he works with companies across industries as they adopt this burgeoning technology both into their day-to-day operations and future business models. He says 2024 was all about proving what AI brings to the table -- and expects 2025 will shift more into scaling it. Priest recently spoke with The Associated Press about his new role and other AI business predictions his team has for the year ahead. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. A: We launched the role in early July, on the heels of us doing an AI impact analysis and strategy for the firm. The motivation was simply to make sure we were tapping into AI's full potential, responsibly, to best serve our clients. We work with companies across a range of sectors -- including tech, health care and hospitality. A: AI is showing up in some form or fashion for the majority of our clients these days. In a recent survey that we did of Fortune 1000 companies, nearly half of respondents said AI is fully embedded in their workflows -- and then about a third had even embedded it in their products and services. And AI is more than just a tech initiative, it's also adjusting business strategies. CEOs overwhelmingly recognize that AI will impact their business model in some way -- with about 73% of those we spoke to in a predictions report saying that they believe AI would cause a shift in their business model. In particular, we're increasingly seeing generative AI both in the presence of the consumer and throughout product development. A: To be competitive, companies can't just predict what consumers want anymore. You have to give them a way to personalize the specific products and services they want -- and gen AI has a means of doing that. Take a business in the cruising sector, for example. In the past, cruise lines would have to predict what each type of foods, products and excursions people wanted. Now, with gen AI, they can have a personalization engine that says, "I'm a fan of these luxury products," and then make sure those types of luxury products are on board. Or, "I'm a fan of this type of food," and they can make sure that food is on the menu. It gives companies a way to personalize the experience that wasn't possible before. A: AI is not monolithic, and there are different maturity levels for different uses. You've seen issues in contact centers, for example, where AI agents were introduced and in some cases gave customers hallucinations with wrong information. And so having a "maturity test" to make sure they tech you're using is ready for prime time, particularly when it's customer-facing, is important. Those same disciplines are critical for protecting internal data, which you don't want inadvertently training a large language model. That's one category of risk. On the other side of all of this, another risk is not moving quickly enough and falling behind. Your AI strategy will either put you ahead or make it hard to ever catch up. If we take a lesson from the Internet era, a lot of those early movers ended up being winners for the next ten, 20 years. We expect to see something very similar for companies that embrace AI today, both early on and in a trustworthy way.
[4]
AI is becoming ingrained in businesses across industries. Where is it going in 2025?
As artificial intelligence continues to grow at a rapid pace, more and more businesses are grappling with how to adapt both quickly and responsibly. Dan Priest is the new chief AI officer at PwC, one of the world's largest consulting firms, where he works with companies across industries as they adopt this burgeoning technology both into their day-to-day operations and future business models. He says 2024 was all about proving what AI brings to the table - and expects 2025 will shift more into scaling it. Priest recently spoke with The Associated Press about his new role and other AI business predictions his team has for the year ahead. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. Q: When did PwC decide it wanted a chief AI officer? A: We launched the role in early July, on the heels of us doing an AI impact analysis and strategy for the firm. The motivation was simply to make sure we were tapping into AI's full potential, responsibly, to best serve our clients. We work with companies across a range of sectors - including tech, health care and hospitality. Q: What have the companies you work with told you about how they're adopting AI? A: AI is showing up in some form or fashion for the majority of our clients these days. In a recent survey that we did of Fortune 1000 companies, nearly half of respondents said AI is fully embedded in their workflows - and then about a third had even embedded it in their products and services. And AI is more than just a tech initiative, it's also adjusting business strategies. CEOs overwhelmingly recognize that AI will impact their business model in some way - with about 73% of those we spoke to in a predictions report saying that they believe AI would cause a shift in their business model. In particular, we're increasingly seeing generative AI both in the presence of the consumer and throughout product development. Q: Can you give me examples of what that looks like? A: To be competitive, companies can't just predict what consumers want anymore. You have to give them a way to personalise the specific products and services they want - and gen AI has a means of doing that. Take a business in the cruising sector, for example. In the past, cruise lines would have to predict what each type of foods, products and excursions people wanted. Now, with gen AI, they can have a personalization engine that says, "I'm a fan of these luxury products," and then make sure those types of luxury products are on board. Or, "I'm a fan of this type of food," and they can make sure that food is on the menu. It gives companies a way to personalize the experience that wasn't possible before. Q: What risks should companies keep in mind when approaching AI? A: AI is not monolithic, and there are different maturity levels for different uses. You've seen issues in contact centers, for example, where AI agents were introduced and in some cases gave customers hallucinations with wrong information. And so having a "maturity test" to make sure they tech you're using is ready for prime time, particularly when it's customer-facing, is important. Those same disciplines are critical for protecting internal data, which you don't want inadvertently training a large language model. That's one category of risk. On the other side of all of this, another risk is not moving quickly enough and falling behind. Your AI strategy will either put you ahead or make it hard to ever catch up. If we take a lesson from the Internet era, a lot of those early movers ended up being winners for the next ten, 20 years. We expect to see something very similar for companies that embrace AI today, both early on and in a trustworthy way.
[5]
Here's What PwC's New AI Head Thinks About AI at Work
Take a business in the cruising sector, for example. In the past, cruise lines would have to predict what each type of foods, products and excursions people wanted. Now, with gen AI, they can have a personalization engine that says, "I'm a fan of these luxury products," and then make sure those types of luxury products are on board. Or, "I'm a fan of this type of food," and they can make sure that food is on the menu. It gives companies a way to personalize the experience that wasn't possible before. Q: What risks should companies keep in mind when approaching AI? A: AI is not monolithic, and there are different maturity levels for different uses. You've seen issues in contact centers, for example, where AI agents were introduced and in some cases gave customers hallucinations with wrong information. And so having a "maturity test" to make sure they tech you're using is ready for prime time, particularly when it's customer-facing, is important. Those same disciplines are critical for protecting internal data, which you don't want inadvertently training a large language model. That's one category of risk. On the other side of all of this, another risk is not moving quickly enough and falling behind. Your AI strategy will either put you ahead or make it hard to ever catch up. If we take a lesson from the Internet era, a lot of those early movers ended up being winners for the next ten, 20 years. We expect to see something very similar for companies that embrace AI today, both early on and in a trustworthy way.
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Dan Priest, PwC's new Chief AI Officer, discusses the widespread adoption of AI in businesses, its impact on business models, and the potential risks and rewards of AI integration.
In a move reflecting the growing importance of artificial intelligence in the business world, PwC, one of the world's largest consulting firms, appointed Dan Priest as its new Chief AI Officer in July 2023. This decision came after an extensive AI impact analysis and strategy development for the firm, aimed at responsibly harnessing AI's full potential to serve clients across various sectors, including technology, healthcare, and hospitality 1234.
Recent surveys conducted by PwC reveal significant AI integration across major corporations:
These statistics underscore the rapid and widespread adoption of AI technologies across industries, signaling a transformative period in business operations and strategies.
Dan Priest highlights the increasing use of generative AI in consumer-facing applications and product development. He emphasizes that competitive advantage now lies in personalization rather than mere prediction of consumer preferences 1234.
A notable example comes from the cruising sector:
This shift towards AI-driven personalization represents a significant leap in enhancing customer experiences across various industries.
While the potential benefits of AI are substantial, Priest also warns of associated risks:
To mitigate these risks, Priest recommends implementing "maturity tests" to ensure AI technologies are ready for customer-facing applications and to protect sensitive internal data.
Despite the risks, Priest emphasizes that the greatest danger for businesses might be in not moving quickly enough with AI adoption. Drawing parallels to the Internet era, he suggests that early movers in AI integration are likely to emerge as industry leaders in the coming decades 12345.
As AI continues to reshape the business landscape, companies face the dual challenge of rapid adoption and responsible implementation. The insights from PwC's Chief AI Officer underscore the critical nature of AI strategy in determining future market positions and competitive advantage.
Reference
[1]
Borneo Bulletin Online
|AI is becoming ingrained in businesses across industries. Where is it going in 2025?[4]
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