Rethinking software development in the AI era Posted on : Sep 11 - 2019

A new KPMG report provides an inside view into how big companies are investing in and deploying artificial intelligence and machine learning technology.

Even among some of the largest enterprise organizations, there's a big difference between the most advanced companies and others when it comes to artificial intelligence programs and deployments. While some are way ahead of the pack, there are others that are just getting started.

A new report, AI Transforming the Enterprise, from consulting giant KPMG, provides a view into top corporate leadership's perspective of where enterprises are with their efforts. How do you stack up among your peers as we enter the age of AI?

KPMG based its report on interviews with leaders in 30 large cap companies, plus analysis of job postings and media coverage for 200 of the top global companies, plus interviews with three technology companies that provide artificial intelligence technology to enterprises.

First, here's what the most advanced organizations look like. KPMG said that companies with the most mature AI capabilities are spending an average of $75 million on AI talent today with approximately 375 full-time employees working on AI. They expect those numbers to grow to between 500 and 600 workers in the next three years.

At the other end of the scale, KPMG said it found nearly a 10-fold gap in resources devoted to AI between the companies with more mature AI capabilities versus those companies at the early stages of their investments in the technology. Resources devoted to the programs matter.

But most organizations are still working to bring their artificial intelligence programs to the entire enterprise organization. The report noted that only 17% of organizations have scaled AI across the enterprise. Yet KPMG said that many companies are setting this as a key objective, and in three years half of the companies expect to be using AI at scale.

8 Trends

KPMG identified the following eight key trends around deploying technology, organization, capital, and data strategies for AI success.

Rapid shift from experimental to applied technology. KPMG said that less than 3 years ago, many large organization leaders were just beginning to pilot AI applications. Now enterprises are converting pilot projects to production.

Automation, AI, analytics, and low-code platforms are converging. Organizations have been deploying these technologies at the same time and have learned that they work more effectively together, according to KPMG. View More