DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 21, 2025 --
Key takeaways
- While Generative AI (GenAI) technology continues to advance at incredible speed, organizational change has been hard work — with more than two-thirds of respondents reporting that 30% or fewer of their experiments will be fully scaled in the next three to six months.
- Despite longer than expected time to value, nearly three-quarters of respondents reported that their most advanced GenAI initiative is meeting or exceeding ROI expectations. Cybersecurity and IT functions are leading the way in terms of ROI and successful scaling.
- Agentic AI is seen as a key enabler of sustainable value, with 26% of organizations currently exploring autonomous agent development to a large extent— but regulatory uncertainty and risk management remain key barriers.
Why this matters
The Deloitte AI Institute™ today unveiled the fourth quarterly edition of its State of Generative AI in the Enterprise report, revealing the current landscape of GenAI adoption and deployment and how organizations are overcoming barriers to create value at scale. "The State of Generative AI in the Enterprise: Generating a new future," is based on a survey of 2,773 director- to C-suite-level respondents across 14 countries. While respondents have a range of self-reported levels of GenAI expertise, all are experienced with AI and are piloting or implementing GenAI in their organizations. The report features case studies covering how GenAI is boosting software security in banking, how it's accelerating sales success in the technology industry, and how it's powering social media content creation in the consumer industry.
Key quotes
"GenAI use cases are rapidly proliferating in leading enterprises across industries. We are seeing a shift as leaders move past the initial hype to strategically deploying GenAI in the core of their businesses. Focus is essential, prioritizing demonstrated use cases with measurable return on investment."
— Joe Ucuzoglu, Deloitte Global CEO
"Amid the promise of AI agents and the evolution of foundational models, future-thinking organizations are as bullish as ever in building bridges to ROI, all while understanding the need for nuance — and patience — as we embrace this next wave of GenAI. Anticipation is high, and now is the time for leaders to take the long view of their GenAI investments, with a focus on governance, collaboration and continued iteration as key accelerators in the race for sustainable value."
— Jim Rowan, Applied AI leader and principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP
Adoption is moving at the speed of business, not the speed of technology
The initial fervor for GenAI has gradually given way to a positive yet pragmatic mindset among business leaders at all levels. More than two-thirds of respondents say that 30% or fewer of their experiments will be fully scaled in the next three to six months, revealing that no matter how quickly the technology advances—or how hard the companies producing GenAI technology push—organizational change in an enterprise can only happen so fast. Despite this, a vast majority of respondents (78%) expect to increase their overall AI spending in the next fiscal year – a net positive in terms of helping organizations move past the hype cycle and take time to test where GenAI's capabilities can help the most.
The uneven pace of change has put a spotlight on regulatory and risk concerns as key barriers
As businesses and policymakers navigate the moving target of regulating a technology with capabilities that are still taking shape, the need for disciplined action has grown. Concerns around regulatory compliance has emerged as the top barrier holding organizations back from developing and deploying GenAI tools and applications – increasing 10 percentage points from the Wave 1 survey (28%) to Wave 4 (38%). Sixty-nine percent of respondents say fully implementing a governance strategy will take over a year to resolve, underscoring the need for perseverance and a strategic approach to setting the appropriate governance foundation. To act decisively in the face of uncertainty, organizations should focus on market sensing and scenario planning, with an eye to uncover potential blind spots in their strategies and make more informed decisions today.
Scaling is still a work in progress — some uses are outpacing others
A strategic shift is emerging, from technology catch-up to competitive differentiation with GenAI, and return on investment for organizations' most advanced (scaled) GenAI initiatives has been generally positive. Almost all organizations report measurable ROI, and almost a quarter (20%) report 31% or more. GenAI usage in IT appears to be furthest along, with 28% saying their most advanced initiative is in that function. Cybersecurity implementations have also emerged as a standout, with 44% saying ROI has surpassed their expectations, more than any other function. Despite these successes, scaling and value creation remain key challenges, though organizations are making strides with centralized governance, phased adoption, collaborative partnerships and continuous iteration.
Agentic AI will be a key enabler of sustainable value — but it's no silver bullet
Agentic AI has captured leaders' attention, with 26% of surveyed organizations already exploring autonomous agent development to a large extent and 42% to some extent. As software systems that can meet objectives with minimal intervention, agents could help accelerate the creation of long-lasting business value; however, the key barriers currently faced by GenAI — regulatory uncertainty, risk management, data deficiencies and workforce issues — still apply, and are arguably even more important due to the increased complexity of agentic systems.
About "The State of Generative AI in the Enterprise"
This is the fourth in a series of quarterly surveys intended to track the adoption of GenAI in the enterprise. This research builds from Deloitte's previous "State of AI in the Enterprise" report, which has been running for six years. This wave of the survey, conducted between July and September 2024, connected with 2,773 AI-savvy business and technology leaders directly involved in piloting or implementing Generative AI at major organizations across 14 countries and six industries: consumer; energy, resources and industrials; financial services; life sciences and health care; technology, media and telecom; and government and public services.
About Deloitte
Deloitte provides industry-leading audit, consulting, tax and advisory services to many of the world's most admired brands, including nearly 90% of the Fortune 500® and more than 8,500 U.S.-based private companies. At Deloitte, we strive to live our purpose of making an impact that matters by creating trust and confidence in a more equitable society. We leverage our unique blend of business acumen, command of technology, and strategic technology alliances to advise our clients across industries as they build their future. Deloitte is proud to be part of the largest global professional services network serving our clients in the markets that are most important to them. Bringing more than 175 years of service, our network of member firms spans more than 150 countries and territories. Learn how Deloitte's approximately 460,000 people worldwide connect for impact at www.deloitte.com.
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