Generative AI is increasingly influencing decision-making at the highest levels of business. SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) today announced new research that reveals 44 percent of C-suite executives would override a decision they had already planned to make based on AI insights. Another 38 percent would trust AI to make business decisions on their behalf.
The “AI Has a Seat in the C-Suite” survey, conducted by Wakefield Research and sponsored by SAP, polled 300 C-Level executives at companies with at least $1 billion in annual revenue in the United States. Additional findings included:
- 74 percent of executives place more confidence in AI for advice over their family and friends.
- 55 percent of executives work at firms where AI-driven insights have replaced or frequently bypass traditional decision-making. This is especially true for companies with $5 billion or more in revenue.
- 48 percent of executives use generative AI tools daily; 15 percent use AI multiple times per day.
“Most executive decisions are based on a combination of the data, how they feel and discussions they’ve had with people they trust,” said Jared Coyle, chief AI officer for SAP North America. “What this data tells us is that AI is part of that trusted inner circle.”
For a majority of the executives surveyed (52 percent), AI is trusted most to analyze data and make recommendations for decision-making. Executives also have confidence in AI to spot risks or issues they hadn’t previously considered (48 percent) and to offer alternate plans (47 percent). They’re also using AI in a multitude of other ways, including: enhancing product development (40 percent); supporting budget planning (40 percent); and performing market research (40 percent).
And the benefits of AI extend beyond the office: 39 percent of executives feel they experience a better work-life balance because of AI; 38 percent report improved mental well-being; and another 31 percent claim to experience reduced stress.
Coyle noted that many businesses still struggle with building a foundation of reliable data critical for this kind of trust because of misalignment between IT and business functions, integration challenges across systems or even concerns with the quality of the data itself.
“The only way to ensure reliable business data for AI is to have one common semantical data layer for your business,” he said.
To that end, Coyle points to the SAP Business Data Cloud solution, the company’s latest fully managed SaaS data management solution that unifies all SAP and third-party data throughout an organization. By connecting data from every part of the business and harmonizing it more easily and quickly than ever before, SAP Business Data Cloud can help customers make more impactful decisions faster and fuel reliable AI.
By SAP News
