How is artificial intelligence being implemented in companies around the world? IBM wanted to find out and commissioned Morning Consult to conduct a study. One result of the 'IBM Global AI Adoption Index 2023': 44% of the German companies surveyed with over 1,000 employees are still in the trial phase, while 32% stated that they are already using AI in their company. In comparison: globally, 44% of respondents are already actively using AI. This puts large German companies behind the international leaders when it comes to AI implementation: India (59%), China (50%), Singapore (53%) and the United Arab Emirates (58%) are at the top of the list when it comes to the active use of AI. Australia (29%), Spain (28%) and France (26%) bring up the rear in a global comparison.

The main drivers for the growing use of AI in companies are early adopters - they are also leading the way in terms of future plans: 52% of companies already working with AI in Germany intend to increase their investment in this technology. Challenges and hurdles to implementation include the recruitment of suitably qualified employees, ethical concerns regarding AI and the integration or scaling of AI projects.

"We see that the early adopters who have overcome obstacles and deployed or tested AI are already benefiting and making further investments. Important factors driving the adoption of AI at the enterprise level are more user-friendly AI tools, more and more AI integrated directly into standard business applications and the automation of key processes," says Hardy Gröger, Distinguished Engineer and Director, Software Technical Sales DACH at IBM. "We also observe that companies are using AI especially for use cases where the technology can quickly have a profound impact, such as IT automation, digital work, search and knowledge discovery. For the 44 percent of companies that are still in the early stages of evaluation, 2024 will be the year when they will need to address and overcome barriers such as skills shortages and the complexity of data quality and handling."

Germany in international comparison

The introduction of AI in large companies has remained constant in recent years. For example, 32% of IT experts in large German companies report that their organizations have actively implemented AI, compared to 44% of companies worldwide. A further 44% of German companies are actively researching the use of this technology, compared to 40% of companies worldwide. In the area of generative AI, 33% of the German companies surveyed are actively implementing the technology, while a further 46% are exploring its use. The global average here is 38% and 42% respectively.52% of German companies that are using or researching AI state that they have accelerated investment in AI or the rollout of AI in the last 24 months. Globally, 59 percent of experts said the same.

Germany is in the middle of the global field when it comes to AI investments: 52 percent of large companies stated that they will accelerate their investments. The markets most likely to intensify their AI rollout include China (85%), India (74%) and the United Arab Emirates (72%). Companies in the UK (40 percent), Australia (38 percent) and Canada (35 percent), on the other hand, are least likely to accelerate the rollout.

Supplementing human tasks with digital work (40 percent) and developing in-house AI solutions (39 percent) are the most important AI investments in companies researching or using AI in Germany. Internationally, on the other hand, research and development (44%) and retraining/staff development (39%) are at the forefront of investment.

Drivers and obstacles to the introduction of AI

Drivers for AI adoption in Germany are the increasing integration of AI into standard business applications (44%), advances in AI tools that make it easier to use (41%) and the need to reduce costs and automate key processes (40%). For German IT experts, the two most important AI innovations in recent years are solutions that are easier to implement (40 percent) and that better meet business requirements (37 percent).

As mentioned above, there are a number of obstacles to the successful introduction of AI in Germany. These include limited AI knowledge and expertise (34 percent), ethical concerns (27 percent), AI projects that are too difficult to integrate and scale (21 percent), excessive data complexity (20 percent), a lack of tools for AI development (20 percent) and a high price (16 percent).

Of course, AI also has an impact on the workforce. For example, one in five (21%) companies in Germany stated that they do not have suitably qualified employees to use new AI or automation tools. 15 percent cannot find new employees with the right skills to fill this gap. Only 29 percent are currently training or retraining employees to handle new automation and AI tools.

In addition, IT professionals see the need for trustworthy and controlled AI. However, the practical implementation for companies is difficult: German IT experts largely agree that consumers are more likely to choose services from companies with transparent and ethical AI processes (78% strongly or somewhat agree). They also say that it is important for their company to be able to explain how their AI made a decision (78% in those companies that research or use AI).