EY Hanyoung: Generative AI Investment Rises but Commercialization Remains in Early Stages

'EY Reimagining Industry Futures' Report Released
Actual Adoption Rate Remains at 1% Due to Security Concerns
"ICT Providers Must Evolve into Orchestrators"

Global companies are expanding their investments in core digital transformation technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), analytics, and generative AI (Gen AI). However, they are reportedly facing difficulties in actual commercialization.

On May 13, EY Hanyoung, the global accounting and consulting firm, announced the key findings of EY's "EY Reimagining Industry Futures" report. The report presents the results of a survey conducted by EY on 1,635 companies across eight sectors in 26 countries, including Korea, regarding their perceptions and strategies for new technologies and ICT services.

According to the survey, 61% of all companies responded that they are investing in AI and analytics technologies, and 32% said they plan to invest within the next three years. This means that 93% are either currently investing or planning to invest. Additionally, 47% of respondents said they are investing in generative AI, and 43% plan to invest in it within the next three years, resulting in a total of 90% who are either investing or planning to invest. This demonstrates companies’ high expectations for and acceptance of generative AI technology.

However, the level of commercialization remains low. The actual adoption rate of generative AI was found to be only 1%. Half of all companies expressed concerns related to cybersecurity and personal data protection, and this figure rose to 64% among public sector organizations. Other obstacles to commercialization identified include a lack of integration between new technologies (45%) and the complexity of integrating with existing systems and processes (44%).

The survey also found that decision-making authority regarding new technologies is expanding across the entire C-level executive suite. Among executives, chief information officers (CIOs) (60%) and chief technology officers (CTOs) (50%) still play leading roles in major decisions, but chief executive officers (CEOs) (49%) are also directly involved in formulating new technology strategies. In particular, CEO involvement was highest in Asia at 56%, and by sector, it was highest in energy (56%) and consumer goods and retail (54%).

Notably, companies where the CEO is directly involved in new technology decision-making tend to be more active in investing in generative AI. While 51% of companies with active CEO involvement are investing in generative AI, only 44% of those without such involvement are doing so. The report stated, "New technology strategy is no longer the exclusive domain of IT departments but has expanded into an enterprise-wide decision-making issue," and emphasized, "Close communication between ICT providers and key leadership has become even more important."

Meanwhile, many companies are reportedly struggling to find suitable partners due to a lack of information about ICT service providers. Seventy-three percent of respondents said that "an understanding of the rapidly changing ICT ecosystem is necessary," and 56% said they lack information about the partner network structures of their current technology partners. Awareness of the latest mobile technologies, such as network APIs (32%) and network slicing (26%), was also found to be low.

This lack of information could lead to decisions to reduce the number of ICT partners. Thirty-five percent of all respondents said they plan to reduce the number of ICT partners within the next 12 months. The main reasons cited were strengthening security, reducing costs, and alleviating technological complexity. The report emphasized, "ICT service providers must position themselves not just as simple technology vendors but as strategic partners who accompany customers on their digital transformation journeys," adding, "They need to demonstrate end-to-end service capabilities, from adoption to operation, in addition to core technologies."

Donghyun Lee, Head of Digital Innovation at EY Consulting and EY Asia-Pacific Technology, Media, and Telecommunications Industry Leader, explained, "Pilots are often conducted within limited scopes and simplified conditions, making it difficult to fully verify the expected effects," and added, "It is necessary to resolve factors that hinder integration between technologies and to pursue an execution-focused approach that combines pilots with actual implementation."