Thriving through AI disruption
There’s no single path to success in today’s world of disruption, innovation and AI. But we found some lessons from those that are leading the way.¹
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Only 1 in 4 organizations 
is ready

Big picture: Companies need to adapt to changing technologies and circumstances—especially in the age of AI—so digital transformation is still the top strategic priority. But only about a quarter of companies think their tech capabilities are sufficient to meet those strategic needs.

AI is happening fast

Today, AI is the ultimate test for readiness. It’s a new technology that will enable unimaginable change and disruption because it enables currently unimaginable new ways of working. And it will happen fast.

In 2023, 37% of respondents reported using generative AI at least once per week. In 2024, the number jumped to 72%.2

In a few years, imagining business before AI will be like imagining business before the internet. And trying to compete without AI will be like a bad dream where the wifi is always down.

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Good tech isn’t enough

Readiness for AI is as much a mindset as a set of capabilities. It involves:

-    Treating IT as an enabler of growth and innovation
-    Aligning IT and LOB strategy
-    Building a workforce with the necessary skills to adopt and use AI.

These add up to a posture of readiness for AI and other innovations, whatever other new capabilities and challenges arise.

Companies who do part of this well tend to do all of it well: There is a strong correlation between AI deployment and AI-ready tech and strategy … so long as you have the necessary skillsets.

The value of AI readiness

In our research, some companies were AI-ready, some were not. The AI-ready ones are 10x more likely to feel fully prepared to deploy AI enterprise-wide by 2026.

The bottom line: Companies without strong strategy and fully prepared technology capabilities will likely struggle with AI adoption. They’ll risk being outpaced by AI-ready competitors unless they take deliberate steps to improve their footing.

Chapters

Overcoming AI barriers

Improving AI readiness now

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Footnotes

1 Unless otherwise noted, statistics and quotations are drawn from original IBM research: 98 interviews and 1204 survey respondents in the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Italy, China, India, Japan and Australia, conducted March-June 2024. Respondents’ roles include key decision-makers with influence regarding the evaluation or selection of AI services or solutions. Primarily from businesses with 1,000+ employees (n=1,082), with some from mid-market (500–999 employees, n=122). Cross-industry mix focused on finance and banking, manufacturing, retail, energy and utilities, public, and telecommunications.

2 AI at Wharton, Growing up: Navigating Gen AI’s Early Years (Oct 2024)