Emerging technologies, notably artificial intelligence (AI), will be key to business success in 2024, according to the latest HLB Survey of Business Leaders.
The survey* interviewed C-suite executives globally to identify the key opportunities and challenges they see in the year ahead.
Across the board, inflation (74 per cent), geopolitical risk (69 per cent) and economic uncertainty (68 per cent) are the main concerns but 84 per cent of business leaders are upbeat and remain confident in their own ability to grow revenue in 2024.
Further, they believe technology will be key to achieving this growth. In total, over two-thirds of business leaders (68 per cent) agree that emerging technology will be key to driving innovation, creativity and productivity in their businesses.
Fiona Dixon, business transformation partner at HLB Mann Judd Sydney, says twice as many business leaders (60 per cent) plan to adopt new technologies in 2024 compared to 2020, to assist with improving operations efficiency, reducing costs, and launching new products or services.
“AI in particular was singled out as the most important technology for business success for the remainder of the decade, with 65 per cent of respondents ranking AI as the most important technology for their business over the next five years,” she says.
“Cloud computing, machine learning and “internet of things” are also seen as important, while other technologies such as blockchain have fallen down the scale of importance.
“Virtual reality also saw a significant jump in ranking, and it will be interesting to see how new technologies such as Apple’s Vision Pro play out over coming months, with businesses already looking at ways to use it.”
Ms Dixon says the research shows that AI is seen as having the potential to help businesses grow in a number of ways.
“Businesses are already using AI to improve operational efficiencies in areas such as process automation, document processing and customer analytics, and we expect to see this use grow exponentially as AI is integrated even deeper into business processes,” Ms Dixon says.
The survey identified three overall approaches to AI adoption by business leaders – innovators who are already using AI or eager to integrate it (44 per cent), explorers who are willing to give it a try but don’t see it as a priority (38 per cent), and conservatives who are averse to using it, or cautious about the risks (18 per cent).
Overall, small business, and those in the technology and manufacturing sectors, were more likely to be innovators. They are also more likely to be confident about their ability to grown revenue over the next 12 months, with 88 per cent saying they are either confident or very confident compared to explorers (83 per cent) and conservatives (80 per cent).
At the other end of the spectrum, conservatives are more likely to be prioritising operation efficiency over new technologies, and are very concerned about data security and privacy, with 47 per cent saying this is the primary barrier to adopting AI.
“There is no doubt that business leaders are on a journey with AI, adapting their businesses to take advantage of the opportunities as they evolve. However it is important that they treat AI integration as a journey – a marathon rather than a sprint – in order to make the most of its potential in a sustainable and long term way,” Ms Dixon says.
