Most companies are yet to establish a well-defined plan for implementing generative AI on a large scale within their organizations, revealed a report by Grammarly. The study highlights that although businesses acknowledge the advantages of generative AI, they are currently adopting a disorganized and random approach to its implementation.
According to the study conducted by Forrester Consulting and commissioned by Grammarly Business, organizations are turning to this technology to tackle various challenges, such as enhancing writing quality (47%), boosting revenue (46%), and expediting execution (42%). Additionally, 43% of these companies are adopting generative AI at a faster pace than they have with other innovations in the past.
However, there is a notable gap between businesses and their employees when it comes to adopting this technology. Only 45% of companies have a comprehensive enterprise-wide strategy to ensure secure and unified deployment across the entire organization. This lack of a cohesive approach leaves them exposed to security threats and technical complications stemming from the uncoordinated and ungoverned use of generative AI.
“If you’re a business leader, adopting generative AI is not optional—your teams and competitors already are. Those who fail to recognize or underestimate the value of the technology will fall behind, but businesses need to know how to operationalize it at scale. Carefully executing a company-wide strategy with holistic solutions is essential to achieve transformation through generative AI—and avoid long-term risks,” said Matt Rosenberg, Grammarly’s Chief Revenue Officer and Head of Grammarly Business.
Additionally, the study emphasizes that businesses can gain a competitive advantage by being early adopters of generative AI and implementing it throughout their entire organization. The findings reveal that 89% of the companies consider generative AI a critical or important priority. By the year 2025, a remarkable 97% of them plan to use technology to support communication.
Among the companies already utilizing generative AI, 74% report that it has positively impacted their ability to increase revenue. Furthermore, on average, generative AI saves users 33% of their daily work time, which is equivalent to saving 2.5 hours every workday or 13 hours each workweek.
The main concern for companies not using generative AI is the fear of falling behind competitors (35%). However, obstacles such as security concerns (32%), lack of a coherent AI strategy (30%), and the absence of internal policies to govern generative AI (27%) hinder their adoption of the technology.
Inevitable implementation of generative AI
The widespread implementation of generative AI is inevitable, and it already has a significant impact on various aspects of business. The study underscores that generative AI will revolutionize how work is conducted, with 62% of respondents predicting its transformational effect on workflows throughout their entire company within a year.
The benefits of generative AI go beyond time-saving and revenue increases. Those who have already embraced the technology affirm that it is profoundly influencing their ability to enhance customer satisfaction (77%), improve the employee experience (79%), lower operational costs (75%), and ensure better privacy compliance (77%) and data security (73%).
Long-term success or long-term challenge
The unchecked and widespread use of generative AI can lead to significant long-term challenges if companies fail to keep up. Despite businesses moving swiftly to implement the technology, employees are adopting it even faster. Surprisingly, 39% of respondents already use generative AI extensively for all their writing and editing tasks at work, while 80% of them claim their company has not yet embraced the technology.
Generative AI is considered a "critical" priority by most sales, marketing, HR, and customer support leaders. In fact, 72% of these leaders indicate that different departments within their organizations are independently utilizing generative AI without a cohesive organization-wide strategy.
The importance of data security
Data security is of utmost importance when it comes to generative AI, but many companies lack a clear approach to address it. The study highlights the need for improved privacy and security, as well as a better understanding and knowledge about generative AI.
Respondents emphasized that enterprise data security is the most critical factor considered in their investments, and it also poses the top technical challenge to adopting generative AI. Surprisingly, 64% of the companies represented in the study are unsure about how to assess the security of potential generative AI partners.
Survey respondents emphasize that their companies require a solution that can be utilized across the entire organization (90%) and can effectively understand the context of various scenarios (89%). Those companies with holistic strategies for generative AI are 1.4 times more likely to accelerate its adoption compared to those who only use it at the departmental level.
