Cylance AI Survey

AI IS MOVING THE NEEDLE FOR COMPANIES IN THE US, THE UK, FRANCE, AND GERMANY. O1 OVERVIEW Artificial intelligence (AI) seems to be on everyone’s mind. It powers natural language recognition within voice-powered assistants like Siri and Alexa, beats world-class Go players (Google AlphaGo), and enables hyper-targeted e-commerce and content recommendations across the web, as we see with Amazon and Netflix. But recently, AI has begun actively expanding its footprint within the enterprise. Executives are trying to more fully comprehend what AI is and how they can use it to better capitalize on business opportunities by gaining insights into their data and engaging with customers more productively, thereby honing a competitive edge. AI is the frontier of enterprise technology, but there remains many misperceptions about what it is and how it works. Part of the confusion stems from the fact that AI is an umbrella term that covers a range of technologies — including machine learning, computer vision, natural language processing, deep learning, and others — that are in various stages of development and deployment. The use of AI for dynamic market-based pricing and targeted marketing has been spreading through corporations for a while, but actual AI computing where machines think like humans is still years in the future. The various possibilities prompt a range of reactions from people who understand AI’s disruptive potential. As a field, artificial intelligence encompasses three distinct areas of research and practice: 1 Artificial superintelligence is the type popularized in speculative fiction and in movies such as The Matrix. The goal of this type of research is to produce computers that are superior to humans in virtually every way, possessing what author and analyst William Bryk referred to as “perfect memory and unlimited analytical power.” 2 Artificial general intelligence refers to a machine that is as intelligent as a human and equally capable of solving the broad range of problems that require learning and reasoning. 3 Artificial narrow intelligence exploits a computer’s superior ability to process vast quantities of data and detect patterns and relationships that would otherwise be difficult or impossible for a human to detect. The research covered in this report focused on artificial narrow intelligence (referred to herein simply as AI) that is being targeted for specific business cases in the enterprise. AI IN THE ENTERPRISE: THE AI RACE IS ON 1 So, is enterprise AI just an over-exposed and under-delivering concept about to fall off a cliff and into Gartner’s Hype Cycle Trough of Disillusionment? Or is it the holy grail of business innovation that will leave companies without it in the dust of tech transformation? In an attempt to answer these questions, we commissioned a survey of over 650 IT decision makers at large enterprises working across industries in the U.S., the U.K., Germany, and France, ranging from directors to C-level executives, to gauge their pulse. We asked a host of questions to find out if and how enterprises are using AI, what their future plans are, and what they think the impact of AI will really be on their organization, among other things. Here are five key findings: 1 For Security Teams, AI Is Moving the Needle: The survey found that 77% say they have prevented more breaches following their use of AI-powered tools, and 81% say AI was detecting threats before their security teams could. 2 Organizations Are Already Investing in AI, and This Will Only Increase: Nearly all of the IT decision makers surveyed said they are either currently spending on AI-powered solutions, or planning to invest in them in the next two years. 60% already have AI in place. 3 AI Is Seen As a Competitive Advantage: 87% of IT decision makers see AI-powered technology as a competitive advantage for their IT departments, and 83% are investing specifically in AI to beat competitors. 4 AI Is Living Up To Its Promises: Despite the fact that 76% of respondents are concerned that marketing hype will make it difficult to vet AI-powered tech, 86% say the AI they’ve used has lived up to its promises. Furthermore, 64% of IT decision makers expect to see ROI from their investments in AI in fewer than two years. 5 Concerns Linger, but AI Opportunities Abound: 68% of IT decision makers say AI will make certain jobs obsolete, and 74% are concerned AI technology will replace human jobs. But, 93% say it will create new job opportunities, and 80% believe AI will lead them to hire new workers and retrain existing employees. O2 THE IMPACT OF AI IN THE ENTERPRISE It appears we’ve finally reached a point where AI is shifting from talk to action as companies have begun investing in AI in order to make better use of all the data they’re gathering and the increased computing power to which they have access. According to a recent McKinsey Global Institute Report, AI entrepreneurial investments were between $26 billion and $39 billion in 2016, a three-fold increase over the previous three years. IDC predicts enterprise spending on AI and cognitive computing will rise this year by nearly 60% to $12.5 billion, and then grow to $46 billion by 2020. Granted, most investment in AI comes from big players like Google, Amazon, and other big tech firms, but the AI spending fever is spreading. AI is being used to forecast electricity demand at utilities, to train vehicles to become chauffeurs and truck drivers, and to power robots that box up our Amazon orders. Netflix, for example, says the AI algorithm behind its search and recommendations engine has saved it from losing $1 billion each year due to canceled subscriptions. According to the McKinsey report, early adopters tend to be tech, telecoms, and financial services firms that deploy AI across technology groups and as a core part of their business, all with the support of executive leadership. “60% of IT decision makers surveyed say they already have AI-powered solutions in place.” AI IN THE ENTERPRISE: THE AI RACE IS ON 2