IBM Thailand has outlined five trends for 2024, led by artificial intelligence (AI) defining the business landscape and competitive advantages.
According to the company, people who use AI will replace people who don’t.
“AI is one of the most transformative technologies and today generative AI is swiftly disrupting business,” said Sawat Asdaron, managing director of IBM Thailand and managing partner for IBM Consulting.
He cited the IBM Institute for Business Value, which identified five business trends.
The first trend is when organisations design any system, they will think of AI first, not as an afterthought.
Three out of four chief executives say competitive advantage depends on who has the most advanced generative AI. Yet across organisations, more than 60% are still not developing a consistent, enterprise-wide approach to generative AI, which is an essential step in a responsible, trustworthy AI system, said Mr Sawat.
The second trend is people who use AI will replace people who do not. In 2024, generative AI will impact virtually all organisational roles and levels. According to the study, 77% of entry-level workers will see their job roles shift by 2025, as will more than 25% of senior executives.
As generative AI matures rapidly, an increasing number of roles and people at all levels will be affected, he said. For example, in five years a majority of government leaders expect to spend more on AI and automation than on human talent, noted the study.
Successful AI adoption depends on teams welcoming new AI tools and applications. Executives estimate 40% of their workforce needs to reskill as they implement AI and automation over the next three years.
AI will be integrated into job descriptions and skills requirements in 2024, said Mr Sawat.
The third trend is data conversations will move from IT departments to top management positions. Organisations that can monetise large stores of trusted, high-quality data can almost double the return on investment from their AI capabilities compared with their peers.
Cybersecurity and prevention of data breaches is imperative as data has massive strategic significance, he said. Cybersecurity budgets were 51% greater in 2023 than in 2021 and are expected to climb another 43% by 2025.
The fourth trend is building a flexible operating model, as 81% of executives say generative AI’s predictive capabilities can detect problems early.
Some 77% report generative AI models can successfully identify geopolitical and climate risks, enabling proactive and rapid mitigation, noted the report.
The final trend is the business ecosystem is the strategy. Allowing open innovation, such as cross collaboration between different industries, can lead to joint ventures between banks and telecom operators, for example.
“In 2024, enterprises in Thailand will choose an AI platform from tech firms and service providers who can provide consulting and deployment,” said Mr Sawat.
Even in unfavourable economic conditions, companies are still investing in technology to help them reduce costs and increase revenue and productivity, he said.
Surarit Wuwong, country manager for Technology Group of IBM Thailand, said the uptake of generative AI helps multiply technology spending among enterprises as it enables faster and scalable development of AI projects.
An IBM survey found 75% of chief executives believe organisations with the most advanced generative AI will have a competitive advantage. AI is estimated to unlock an astounding US$16 trillion in value by 2030, according to IBM.
This year, the company’s incubator programme worked with customers to explore use cases of generative AI that had several minimal viable products.
Next year, AI projects are expected to start real deployment, he said.
