71% of enterprises are experimenting with real use cases for generative AI

According to Forrester, firms that actively harness generative AI (genAI) to enhance experiences, offerings, and productivity will realize outsized growth and will outpace their competition. Between July and September 2023, the number of enterprises that are in the experimentation and expansion stages of implementing genAI jumped from 62% to 71%, representing one of the fastest mass adoption rates of a new technology in the enterprise.

GenAI success, however, requires full enterprise support and turning the technology’s friction points — BYOAI and coherent nonsense — into opportunities. To harness the full potential of genAI, leaders should:

• Make trust an intrinsic part of their enterprise’s genAI foundation. A deliberate and cohesive approach to trust is essential for long-term success. Companies that help their employees and customers understand the nuances of privacy and security will empower their users to be more confident and innovative in their use of this technology.

• Stay focused on practical, measurable use cases. GenAI use cases most often involve the augmentation or transformation of an existing product, service, or business process. In initial prototypes and use cases, select projects that lean toward employee-facing or offline generation, as opposed to real-time generation with a chatbot.

• Explore and invest in skills that are both known and emerging. To harness genAI successfully, both employees and leaders need to upskill continually. These include technical as well as soft skills to communicate the impact of genAI transparently and openly with employees.

• Differentiate by relying on their own business data. Foundational models are powerful tools but accessible to everyone. To create differentiation, organizations should rely on their own business data to build genAI models and applications.

“Generative AI has the power to be as impactful as some of the most transformative technologies of our time,” said Srividya Sridharan, VP and group research director at Forrester. “The mass adoption of generative AI has transformed customer and employee interactions and expectations. As a result, genAI has catapulted AI initiatives from ‘nice-to-haves’ to the basis for competitive roadmaps. Forrester’s research is designed to help business and technology leaders utilize genAI to gain a long-term competitive advantage.”