Companies with AI-led processes outperform peers, finds Accenture research

Accenture

Companies with artificial intelligence (AI)-led processes have outperformed peers, an Accenture study has found.

"Globally, the number of companies that have fully modernised, AI-led processes and have achieved intelligent operations has nearly doubled from 9 percent in 2023 to 16 percent in 2024," Accenture said in a release on October 15.

Compared to peers, these organisations achieve 2.5 times higher revenue growth, 2.4 times greater productivity, and 3.3 times bigger success at scaling generative AI use cases, the research said.

The “Reinventing Enterprise Operations with Gen AI” report is based on a survey of 2,000 executives across 12 countries and 15 industries.

In India, the number of companies that have fully modernised, have AI-led processes and intelligent operations have tripled from 8 percent in 2023 to 25 percent in 2024, it said.

Enabled by a digital core, finance at 76 percent is at the highest level of developing generative AI use cases followed by IT & security at 65 percent and customer service at 63 percent in India.

While the research indicates that some companies are reinvention-ready —moving to the highest level of operations readiness — a majority, 64 percent globally, and 58 percent in India, still struggle to change the way they operate. The reasons for this are universal.

The research also highlights some shortcomings. For example, about 78 percent executives indicate that AI and generative AI are advancing too fast for their organisation’s training efforts to keep pace.

“Most executives understand the urgency of reinventing with generative AI but in many cases their enterprise operations are not ready to support large-scale transformation,” said Arundhati Chakraborty, group chief executive of Accenture Operations. "Additionally, an end-to-end perspective leveraging talent, leading practices and effective collaboration between business and technology teams is essential for intelligent operations.”

The report shortlist four key actions business leaders should take to advance their operations maturity.

First, implement a centralised data governance and domain-centric approach to data modernisation. Second, embrace a talent-first reinvention strategy. Third, ensure business and tech teams co-own reinvention and finally, adopt leading processes to drive business outcomes.