挤压过去以押注未来：科技巨头如何推进AI雄心

Last year, AlixPartners released its inauguralTech Sector Growthvs. Profitability Study, 'The Great Rebalancing Act,'whichsurveyed nearly 150 technology executives in North America tostudy how industry leaders are confronting the growth versusprofitability conundrum. This year, we expanded our study to include insights from nearly350 tech executives across both North America and Europe, theMiddle East, and Africa (EMEA). The 2024 survey digs deeperinto the strategic initiatives that tech companies are prioritizing inresponse to uncertain market conditions. It provides actionableinsights across key topics that can help industry leaders makeinformed decisions in an ever-evolving landscape. With tech's cloudy future—especiallyregarding the evolution of artificialintelligence (AI) over the next 5 to10 years—leading players mustexperiment and make calculated betsto find creative solutions to grow. We have identified three critical themes from our studythat will significantly influence tech companies’ strategicpriorities for the foreseeable future: AI REQUIRES A CONSIDERABLE INVESTMENT.Despite limited near-term benefits, companies willcontinue funding initiatives or risk getting left behind.1 GROWTH AT ALL COSTS LOOKS TO BE GONEFOR GOOD.Instead, companies will emphasizesustained profitability to facilitate investment in futuregrowth opportunities.2 Whether they believe AI will be transformative is moot,as the fear of missing out is fueling lofty investments toavoid being left behind. These investments come at theexpense of other strategic initiatives at a time when techcompanies are already navigating a high-interest-rateenvironment, ongoing efforts to course-correct over-hiring during the pandemic, and a deceleration in themarket growth rate. Freeing up capital for AI and othergrowth initiatives will first mean trimming excess costswhere feasible across the business—a bet for the industrywe will watch play out in years to come. SHIFTING DEMAND AND MARKET NEEDSare forcinga rethink of product and go-to-market strategies.3 To navigate this ever-evolving landscape, we concludethis report with five strategic levers that technologycompanies can implement today to boost their efficiencyand profitability. TECH EXECS SAY AI IS CRUCIAL TO LONG-TERMGROWTH, BUT INVESTORS ARE GROWING SKEPTICALWITHOUT SHORT-TERM RETURN ON INVESTMENT (ROI) The push to implement AI capabilities, especially generative AI (GenAI), is rooted in the widespread belief that itwill be a game-changer—something with which we generally agree. According to our survey, AI is seen as the top catalyst for the next generation of growth and future profitabilitygains. While only 22% of executives are raising growth targets this year due to AI-enabled products and features,76% identify AI as a primary driver of their companies’ long-term growth. Additionally, 22% cited using AI toautomate internal processes as a primary driver of profitability this fiscal year (figure 1). The above, coupled with increasing competitive pressure to leverage AI (or risk getting left behind) andcustomer expectations for integrated capabilities, is driving tech companies to free up capital and reduce costswhere feasible to invest heavily in AI. Equity analysts broadly believe that global AI-related capital expenditures (capex) will surpass $1 trillion in thecoming years, as major tech companies anticipate significant future returns on their AI investments. Accordingto our survey, 90% of tech executives plan to boost capex and research and development (R&D) investments inAI during the next year, with 54% expecting to increase AI investment by more than 10% (figure 2). FIGURE 2:SHARE OF RESPONDENTS THAT WILL INCREASE CAPEX AND R&D INVESTMENTIN AI DURINGTHE NEXT 12 MONTHS, BY PERCENT INCREASE AND COMPANY SIZEPercent of respondents in North America and EMEA Percent of respondents in North America and EMEA Although 83% of respondents prioritize integrating commercial AI solutions into their offerings, internal use cases areat the top of tech executives’ near-term agendas for improving and scaling operations. According to our survey, 57% of tech executives prioritize the use of AI to automate processes and workflows in thenext 12 months. AI ranks higher on their agendas than any other performance improvement lever surveyed (figure 4). FIGURE 4:WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING OPERATIONAL ACTIVITIES WILL BE TARGETED AREAS OF FOCUS FORPERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT IN THE NEXT 12 MONTHS?Percent of respondents in North America and EMEA This prioritization is largely driven by AI’s potential to streamline routine processes, paving the way for significantoperational advances. However, few quick wins exist. Even straightforward internal AI applications have yet todeliver substantial impact for most companies. The fundamental challenge with investing in AI initiatives is that returns are not easy to measure and, for some, maynever even materialize. Each initiative demands considerable effort t