Covering Disruptive Technology Powering Business in The Digital Age

A new report by MIT Technology Review Insights explores opportunities for businesses to leverage data and generative AI to deliver growth.

The report, “Laying the foundation for data- and AI-led growth,” was produced in partnership with Databricks and is based on a global survey of 600 CIOs, CTOs, CDOs, and technology leaders for large public and private sector organisations, of which over 200 are from the Asia Pacific & Japan region, and features in-depth interviews with C-level executives. Among the organisations represented are ADP, Condé Nast, Databricks, Dell Technologies, General Motors, Razorpay, Regeneron Genetics Center, Starbucks, and the U.S. Transportation Security Administration.

“We are currently at an inflection point in the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in Asia Pacific and Japan, and Singapore is emerging as one of the fastest adopters of generative AI. 53% of surveyed executives from Singapore are currently experimenting, and 37% are at the adoption stage. CIOs and CDOs are doubling down on their investments to ensure they have the right data strategy and talent in place to benefit from AI,” said Ed Lenta, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Asia Pacific and Japan at Databricks.

He added: “Japan and India are also notable for their strides in AI adoption. We know that today’s early movers will be tomorrow’s AI winners. Success, however, requires a world where everyone in an organisation can use AI irrespective of whether their language of choice is Python, SQL, or English.”

Eye-Opening Findings 

The study’s findings include the following:

Executives expect AI adoption to be transformative in the short term.

A majority—81% of survey respondents—expect AI to boost efficiency in their industry by at least 25% in the next two years. One-third say the gain will be at least 50%.

CIOs are doubling down on their investments in data and AI.

Faced with new competitive pressures and an unprecedented speed of innovation, technology leaders need their data and AI assets to deliver more growth to the business than ever before. They are investing to secure this future: every organisation surveyed will boost spending on modernising data infrastructure and adopting AI during the next year, and for nearly half (46%), the budget increase will exceed 25%.

Democratisation of AI raises the stakes for governance.

As business units clamour to use generative AI, executives seek governance frameworks that can provide data accuracy and integrity as well as data privacy and security. 60% of respondents say a single governance model for data and AI is “very important.”

As generative AI spreads, flexible approaches are favoured.

88% of surveyed organisations are using generative AI, with 26% investing in and adopting it and another 62% experimenting with it. The majority (58%) are taking a hybrid approach to developing these capabilities, using vendors’ large language models (LLMs) for some use cases and building their own models when IP ownership, privacy, security, and accuracy requirements are tighter. In Singapore specifically, 60% of firms are opting for a buy-and-build approach, and 20% chose build-only LLMs.

Talent and skills gaps overshadow organisations’ other data and AI challenges.

When asked how their company’s data strategy needs to improve, the largest share of respondents (39%) say investing in talent and upskilling the workforce. An even larger share (72%) say it will be “very important” to encourage innovation that will help attract and retain talent.

Lakehouse has become the data architecture of choice for the era of generative AI.

Nearly three-quarters of surveyed organisations have adopted a lake house architecture, and almost all of the rest expect to do so in the next three years. Survey respondents say they need their data architecture to support streaming data workloads for real-time analytics (a capability deemed “very important” by 72%), easy integration of emerging technologies (66%), and sharing of live data across platforms (64%). Ninety-nine percent of lakehouse adopters say the architecture is helping them achieve their data and AI goals, and 74% say the benefits are “significant.”

“With data and AI at the forefront of innovation, our report underscores the commitment of C-suite executives to steer toward a transformative future,” said Laurel Ruma, Global Director of Custom Content for MIT Technology Review. “Strategic investments, consolidation efforts, and dedication to governance and democratisation of AI are not merely choices; they are imperatives for success.”

To download the report, click here.

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