Chinese and Indian businesses are set to leave their UK counterparts behind when it comes to realising the benefits of AI, according to new analysis from BSI.
The International AI Maturity Model shows that firms from the two emerging and developing economies have a greater level of readiness to smoothly integrate AI into their operations, prepare employees for resulting changes to work, and leverage it as a force for good, while the UK, Japan and the Netherlands have greater progress to make in areas including investment, training and supplier engagement.
BSI’s model assesses and weights a suite of measures including organisational confidence and readiness for AI adoption amongst businesses globally, to come up with a single score. It identifies India as the most AI mature market, scoring 4.58 to China’s 4.25. Based on insights from 932 business leaders across nine countries and seven sectors, metrics include attitude and actions including around investment, training, internal and external communications and safety. Published as part of BSI’s Trust in AI report, the analysis identifies the UK and Japan to be less mature relative to others, potentially influenced by factors including policy direction or media narratives focused on risk rather than opportunity. On all measures, China and India led the way, with the US in third place, followed by Australia.
In China, 73% of business leaders said they were increasing investment compared to just 39% of UK business leaders. Only 38% of UK business leaders said that their business had an AI strategy or that they had conducted an AI risk assessment – only Japan scored lower though the Netherlands score was similar.
Results showed that 65% of UK business leaders said they thought their business encouraged the use of AI, versus 96% of Chinese business leaders and 94% of Indian business leaders. Similarly, 72% of UK business leaders said that they were confident in their business’s ability to harness the benefits of AI, the second-lowest result of all nationalities surveyed (putting it ahead of Japan, at 50%). And 96% of Chinese business leaders and 94% of Indian business leaders were confident in their business’s ability to harness the benefits of AI.
Interestingly, there does seem to be a link between confidence and investment in AI and the firm belief in the need for up to date regulation and guidance. Majority (98%) of Chinese business leaders and 95% of Indian business leaders said that it was important for their business to keep up to date with regulation and guidance around AI use and management, against 83% of UK business leaders.
The research identified gaps between perceptions of what successful AI adoption entails and concrete steps being taken. More than three quarters of international business leaders (76%) think organisations will be at a competitive disadvantage if they do not invest in AI. Yet 30% felt not enough was being invested by their businesses in AI tools. Similarly, while nine in ten felt offering training to ensure safe, ethical and effective use was important (89%), and a similar proportion (87%) felt businesses should train teams to utilise AI tools in order to protect jobs, only a third reported substantive awareness of their company offering such training and only two fifths said their businesses had a specific learning and development programme.
Susan Taylor Martin, CEO, BSI, said: “BSI’s International AI Maturity Model paints a positive but nuanced picture of a world excited about AI’s potential and its promise as a force for good. Some countries and some sectors are pulling ahead while for others there is a journey still to go on to build trust and confidence. Investment in standards, training and assurance is key as AI becomes integral to the future of life and work.
“While the Model shows diverging paths thus far on AI, its mass adoption and integration into work and life is a marathon, not a sprint. Success is not about being first, but about building trust. BSI is committed to playing a role in shaping the guardrails for the safe and ethical use of AI, which will help businesses globally respond to embrace AI to build a positive future for all.”
Notably, under half of businesses have an AI strategy (44%) – falling to just 28% in the Netherlands and 21% in Japan. More positively, 93% globally recognise the importance of an ethical approach to AI. BSI recently published the first international AI management system standard (BS ISO/IEC 42001), along with a package of measures designed to enable the safe, secure and responsible use of AI. However, only one in three (29%) were aware of significant moves by their business to implement such policies and processes.
BSI also explored where leaders see scope for AI, with 55% saying the key opportunity is around improving productivity and efficiency, closely followed by improved customer service (46%). A quarter see it as a tool to reduce reliance on contractors or consultancies, while nearly two fifths (38%) expect AI to support the management, measurement and reporting of sustainability goals, and 40% expect to use it to support cybersecurity. Under a third globally (31%) anticipate AI changing or replacing specific job functions.
There are clear differences between sectors. Healthcare trails with 40% in the sector saying their employer is not currently investing in AI – compared with just 4% in technology roles. This is despite a high level of optimism within healthcare for AI to improve efficiency and productivity (62%) compared with more tentative responses from transport (51%), retail (53%) and agriculture leaders (46%).
The research finds that 83% globally recognise the importance of informing their supply chain about AI use, and 82% say the same about customers. However, only a third say their business is providing a significant volume of information to the supply chain about AI use, and just 26% are informing customers about their AI usage to the same extent.
The vast majority, in all markets and sectors, believe businesses should promote and support innovation in society, with strong recognition for the role they play to inspire trust in AI in their wider ecosystem, especially in innovation-focused sectors like life sciences (94%) and technology (91%). Slightly fewer say AI tools should be embraced even if some jobs change or are lost (72%), highlighting an awareness of, and perhaps some trepidation towards, the changing workforce. Two thirds (65%) agree innovation is more important than protecting existing jobs – dropping to 37% in the UK, 38% in France and 38% in healthcare.
BSI’s research draws together four key takeaways exploring how businesses can act to shape trust in AI across their ecosystems and wider society, so AI can be realised as a force for good. These include:
- Think long-term: Look at AI as part of your wider business strategy – once the foundations are in place, businesses can optimise and evolve their AI strategy as technology advances.
- Businesses and policymakers should collaborate across borders: The goal must be to innovate with AI, but to do so safely. Alongside regulatory routes, cross-border collaboration can offer necessary protections.
- Move from intention to action: Instil trust in AI by clarifying priorities and accelerating progress towards them.
- Lead and inspire: Set the standard for an AI future in which the technology is a force for good.