Nearly half of Latin companies set to adopt AI by 2023
Artificial intelligence (AI) will be in place in 40% of the largest organizations in Latin America by 2023, according to research released by IT analyst firm IDC.
Companies in the region will also be seeking governance services relating to areas such as data management and security, according to the study that was carried out with 5,000 large Latin American businesses.
Despite the advances in AI adoption in the region, the analyst noted that 30% of companies will not be able to make the most of the technology due to skills shortages and challenges in relation to the existing IT set up of organizations.
To tackle these challenges, IDC is advising companies to focus on building the expertise for technical implementations and in complex contract negotiation required to make inroads in AI, while also addressing areas such as automation. IDC predicted that 40% of Latin organizations will have digital sustainability teams in place next year.
The way Latin organizations manage their IT budgets is also set to change, the IDC report noted, as businesses implement service-based technologies in areas ranging from cloud to virtual working spaces and connectivity. Some 40% of companies will also be allocating hardware budgets differently to improve the experience of customers and staff working remotely until 2025.
A separate study by MIT Technology Review produced in partnership with Genesys on trends in AI adoption and the current state and the future of data sharing in Latin America predicted that by 2022, AI projects are expected to accelerate. Almost two-thirds of respondents in Latin countries said they expected 21% - 40% of their processes to use AI, with the areas of fastest growth being logistics and supply chain management, as well as sales and marketing.
Latin firms have been ramping up adoption of AI, mostly for customer service, cited 55% of respondents polled for the MIT TR/Genesys study. Banks and airlines in the region have been at the forefront, taking advantage of chatbots and virtual assistants to improve response times and lighten administrative loads. The report also noted the emergence of a number of AI customer service-focused startups in the region.
Most companies using artificial intelligence systems in Latin America have profited from the use of the technology, according to research from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and MIT Sloan Management Review (SMR). However, the numbers in Latin America are below the global average: 55% of AI enterprise users polled worldwide registered profit through the use of the technology with 11% generating a high profit.