GenAI: Leaders say we’re ready for it, employees less convinced - Adobe
The Asia Pacific region is ahead of Europe and the US in its uptake of generative AI, but its a different story in our part of the world where we lag our peers.
That’s according to Adobe’s Digital Trends 2024 report for Asia Pacific and Japan, which found that two in three brands in the region have “implemented full or initial AI solutions and pilots”. That compares to the US (61%) and Europe (55%). Across ANZ, only 50% of senior executives describe their organisations as being in the implementation phase of generative AI.
However, there’s a disconnect between senior executives, the vast majority of whom think they have a solid plan for the rollout of GenAI, and practitioners in the rest of the organisation who are far less confident.
Across APJ, just 4% of executives say their organisation doesn’t have a formal generative AI adoption strategy, which rises substantially among practitioners. In ANZ, only 3% of executives admit they have no formal strategy compared to 21% of practitioners.
Source: Adobe Digital Trends 2024
“For some senior executives, adoption can be as simple as signing a vendor contract, while practitioners are likely better acquainted with the realities of having the right data, tools and training,” says Duncan Egan, Adobe’s vice president Digital Experience Marketing Asia Pacific and Japan, who puts the gap down to management and practitioners viewing AI through a different lens.
“However, we expect this disconnect to narrow in 2024, with brands poised to strengthen organisational readiness for generative AI deployment,” he added.
Most brands are developing guidelines for responsible use of AI (73%) and aligning a comprehensive AI roadmap with broader business goals (71%).
“Generative AI offers a clearer path to unify data, predict customer needs, and deliver more relevant and time-critical content. However, the study shows that despite widespread adoption intentions, only some brands are recalibrating to seize these benefits, putting them ahead in the race for consumer loyalty, conversion, and trust,” says Egan.
When it comes to digital content and customer experiences, which is the domain Adobe plays in, survey respondents see the biggest impacts of generative AI being on data analytics and management (68%) content workflows (64%) and customer journey management (63%).
Source: Adobe Digital Trends 2024
Other findings include:
- Across APJ, the majority intend to reorganise teams and functions to accommodate AI usage, which is highest in Asia (80%) and India (74%), followed by ANZ (67%).
- Plans to introduce AI leadership roles are high across the regions India at 78%, Asia at 73%, ANZ at 64% and Japan at 60%.
- 75% of ANZ brands see clear benefits of using AI for content creation.
- Over a quarter of ANZ practitioners (27%) routinely use generative AI to craft emails, messages and other copy.
- Only 3% of ANZ executives concede there in no formal AI strategy compared to 21% of ANZ practitioners.
The Digital Trends 2024 Asia Pacific and Japan research is derived from a global survey of 8,600 executives and practitioners and 6,800 consumers conducted in January and February 2024. The Asia Pacific and Japan analysis includes responses from 1,426 executives and practitioners and 998 consumers, from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, India, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam
Source: Adobe Digital Trends 2024
