Scaling artificial intelligence can create a massive competitive advantage, but it’s not enough to invest in cutting-edge technologies and algorithms. You need to rewire decision making and operations to extract value—and invest in human capabilities to make it stick. At BCG, we refer to this as the 10, 20, 70 rule.
The pioneers of AI at scale—the companies that have scaled AI across the business and achieved meaningful value from their investments—typically dedicate 10% of their AI investment to algorithms, 20% to technologies, and 70% to embedding AI into business processes and new ways of working. In other words, these organizations invest twice as much in people and processes as they do in technologies.
When companies underinvest in people and processes, they quickly lose momentum with artificial intelligence. That’s because it’s deceptively easy to launch a series of successful AI pilots. Without the right approach and focus on change management strategy, it’s nearly impossible to scale AI across the business.
The second episode of our podcast series, Me, Myself, and AI, has just started. We speak with leaders who have achieved big wins with artificial intelligence in their companies and learn how they did it. Hear what gets experts from companies like Lyft, Google Cloud, Mastercard, 1-800-Flowers, and others, excited to do their jobs every day and what they consider the keys to their success.
ListenA recent BCG-MIT Sloan Management Review study suggests that in order to achieve significant financial benefits from their machines, companies will have to look beyond automation—and focus instead on learning and organizational transformation. A symbiotic relationship is necessary, where companies don't just teach machines what humans already know; they deploy whatever human-machine interaction the situation calls for, adapting as needed to changing context, circumstances, and scenarios.
Plan for the Future of AI
Leaders need to understand the implications of AI. BCG and WIRED's content database can help.
Managing Director & Partner
Austin
Our AI consultants, working in hybrid, cross-functional teams, ensure that companies have the full range of expertise to drive a companywide digital transformation. Here are just some of the capabilities we bring to AI-at-scale engagements:
BCG GAMMA
Growing business through applied data science and advanced technology.
Artificial intelligence can help doctors identify patients at risk at an early stage – through a tool developed prior to COVID-19 by One O One, Professor Jean-Daniel Chiche, and BCG.
Using AI-driven digital twin, a mining conglomerate saved $200 million and achieved a 10x reduction in demurrage costs.
BCG's patented Spend AI tool uses natural language processing, neural networks, and machine learning to help companies free up funds, rev up profits, and kick-start growth.
BCG's real-time personalization engine for a global food and beverage chain increased revenue per customer by a factor of three, resulting in more than $150 million in annual impact.
Are companies using AI to make critical decisions inadvertently hindering efficiency? Sylvain Duranton advocates for implementing AI systems alongside human judgement.
In BCG's latest survey, 55% of the organizations are less advanced than they believe.
Companies are encountering the “AI paradox”: it is deceptively easy to launch projects with AI but fiendishly hard to reach scale.
