More than 40% of organisations are using artificial intelligence (AI) to a moderate or large degree in their financial operations – and that number is projected to double over the next three years.
Additionally, and not surprisingly, companies identified as leaders in the use of AI are far more likely to see a strong return on investment, according to data from KPMG.
“Companies are turning to AI in every area of finance,” the KPMG Global AI in Finance Report said.
Fifty-seven per cent of leaders in the space said that their ROI is exceeding expectations. Even those just getting started are seeing gains, with nearly 30% saying the ROI on AI is beating expectations.
Leaders identified by KPMG report an average of seven benefits post-AI implementation, compared with two or three benefits for novices, according to the report.
The main AI usage benefit that leaders cited was AI’s ability to “bring data to life” and improve decision-making through accuracy checking, generating deeper data insights, and predictive analysis.
KPMG surveyed 1,800 companies headquartered in ten major markets across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific in April. It followed up with more questions in September to create an “AI maturity framework”, given the pace of AI development and the speed of its adoption.
“Currently, nearly two-thirds of companies are piloting or using AI for accounting and financial planning,” the report said. “Other areas of finance are following suit: nearly half of companies are now piloting or using AI for treasury and risk management.”
Organisations identified as leaders in this area are spending 12.5% of their IT budget on AI-related activities, compared with 7.4% of budget spending by other organisations. And, leaders expect that percentage of IT budget money to grow to 16.5% in three years for AI-related projects.
“Becoming a leader in AI requires the proper financial and human resources. That is why AI leaders invest nearly twice as much as others in enterprise-wide AI activities as a proportion of IT budgets,” the report said. “As others play catch up, the gap between them and leaders will narrow.”
Getting familiar with AI is imperative to staying competitive, but as organisations become more aware and affected by data security risks, the more hesitant they are to pursue integration plans across systems. Data security vulnerabilities (57%) and limited AI skills and knowledge (53%) are the biggest barriers to AI adoption, the report said.
Additionally, concerns about generative AI are greater than those around traditional AI given the potential to draw on sensitive and proprietary data, the report said.
“Companies should follow the example of AI leaders in our study by implementing a wide range of use cases,” the report recommended. “These should include not just basic use cases around data entry and administrative processes, but also higher-order tasks around research, risk management, cybersecurity, fraud detection, and predictive analysis.”
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