While an overwhelming majority of the chief executives want to invest in generative AI (GenAI), most don’t know how to go about it, Aarav Singhal, managing director and partner at Boston Consulting Group said at Mint Digital Summit on Friday.
“GenAI in 2024 is a priority for almost 90% of CEOs and they want to put money behind it, but 70% of them feel they aren’t doing enough,” Singhal said. “There is intent and money but how to get there and how to scale, that’s the key issue to be solved.”
Singhal said that there are three ways GenAI can deliver value. The first is by increasing productivity on existing tasks, such as writing emails or summarising a video meetings. The second is by reimagining the way things are done – like having an AI assistant at a call centre. The third involves completely changing how businesses are run. “Each of these use cases has its own challenges,” Singhal said.
Also read: Watch out, AI and GenAI are transforming e-commerce from the ground up
He added that of the 400 or so GenAI programmes BCG is working on, half have moved beyond the pilot stage and are now being scaled up. “The challenge is going to be very different. Strategies have to be adapted for scaling.”
Singhal said ideally, 70% of the focus should be on transforming the business and people, while the focus on the tech and algorithms should be 20% and 10%, respectively.
He cautioned companies against focusing too much on the technology and losing sight of the business problem to be solved. “Focus on the outcome and the tech will solve for itself. If you focus on tech, you will not get the outcomes,” Singhal said.
He added that training people in this fast-moving industry is crucial. “The tech is moving so fast that you can’t just let people learn on the job.”
Also read | GenAI is a force-multiplier, and India will be the testbed: McKinsey CTO
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Published: 24 May 2024, 06:23 PM IST
