Accenture research shows companies must invest in digital technologies now to remain competitive
Rebecca Gibson |
Almost two thirds (60%) of automotive and industrial equipment (IE) manufacturers are risking a loss of market share by failing to invest in digital technologies, according to new Accenture research.
The Accenture Technology Vision 2017 report found that 94% of IE companies believe digital technologies and the industrial internet of things (IIoT) will change the way they need to operate to remain competitive two thirds of the respondents said they were experiencing digital disruption, 50% of the automotive companies and 60% of the IE companies have not comprehensively invested in this area.
In addition, 95% believe digital technologies are either ‘critical’ or ‘important’ to evolve business models to support a product-as-a-service strategy. However, only 10% of automotive companies and 18% of IE manufacturers said they are well prepared for this evolution.
Just over half of automotive companies and 37% of IE firms expect artificial intelligence (AI) to ‘revolutionise’ how they gather information from, and interact with, their customers. Over the next three years, automotive companies will prioritise deep learning and video analytics, while IE manufacturers will invest in robotic process automation and computer vision.
However, many of the automotive industry respondents cited concerns about their end users preferring human interactions, while IE respondents shared concerns about the integration or compatibility between AI and current IT infrastructure.
“AI is moving beyond a back-end tool for the enterprise and taking on more-sophisticated roles within technology interfaces,” said Eric Schaeffer, senior managing director and head of Accenture’s Industrial practice. “While one of the biggest beneficiaries of AI is autonomous vehicles that use computer vision, AI is making every interface both simple and smart and setting a high bar for how future interactions will work. It will act as the face of a company’s digital brand and a key differentiator – and has already become a core competency demanding C-level investment and strategy.”
Accenture believes industrial companies risk a significant loss of market share and revenues if they fail to adopt and embrace technologies like AI to build new products and services.
“If the labour market’s shortage of analytical talent is any guide, executives can ill afford to ‘wait and see’ if they and their managers are equipped to work with AI and capable of acquiring the essential skills and work approaches,” Schaeffer said.