Written by Dan Wellers, Global
Lead, Digital Futures, SAP
Nearly half (48 percent) of the
companies who say they have already benefited from machine learning cite
increased profitability as the top benefit they have realized, according to
a new study from SAP SE.
A similar share of companies who
are already benefiting from machine learning also expect revenue growth of more
than 6 percent for the two-year period of 2018-2019, the study showed. The
study was conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and written in
discussion with SAP.
The results also reveal leading
companies - called Fast Learners - that are already seeing substantial benefits
from machine learning. These benefits span the entire organization and include
increased profitability and revenues, greater competitive differentiation, and
faster, more accurate and more cost-efficient processes.
Machine
Learning Leaders:
- Make
machine learning a C-level strategic priority:
Fast Learners have senior management who understand the strategic value of
machine learning and are more open to embracing change. Seventy-five
percent of Fast Learners plan to retrain employees displaced by machine
learning to perform more interesting and higher-value tasks that keep them
within their organization.
- Drive
competitive differentiation and innovation: Fast
Learners see machine learning as a way to stand apart from the
competition. Thirty-one percent say machine learning has already resulted
in business model or business process innovation.
- Recognize
potential for new revenues and profitability: Fast
Learners have realized that machine learning can increase profitability
and impact new revenue streams, due in part to faster, more accurate and
more cost-efficient processes - including the ability to identify revenue
opportunities more accurately.
- Keep
key processes close to home: Fast
Learners are spending more today on business functions - such as finance
and HR - sourced locally (58 percent) than they are in low-cost regions
(22 percent) - and they expect that trend to continue. Business relevance
and customer value will increasingly take precedence over cost in
important decisions on sourcing priorities.
- Implement
an enterprise-wide strategy: Fast
Learners are implementing machine learning enterprise-wide, rather than
within individual business units or functions. They have also done more to
integrate machine learning into key customer-facing and product
development functions. Forty-one percent say machine learning is
translating into higher customer satisfaction.
"Making the Most
of Machine Learning: 5 Lessons from Fast Learners" is based on survey results from 360 senior executives across
four geographic regions: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America.
##
About the Author
Dan Wellers leads
Digital Futures at SAP Global Marketing, an initiative which explores emerging
technologies and their effects on the future of business and society. He is
also the founder of the SAP Center for Business Insight, which develops and
publishes new research-based thinking for business executives to address the
challenges and opportunities of digital transformation.