BEIJING - Artificial intelligence (AI) is not a new technology anymore. AI is mainstream and has shown that it can have a disruptive effect on industries, professions, and our daily life. Thus, it is not surprising that a whopping 9 percent of American businesses currently employ AI-empowered tools. 

Wait… 9 percent? This cannot be right, can it? Contrary to previous expectations and research, the actual adoption of AI within businesses in countries such as the United States has been much slower and mainly exclusive to big firms and rising startups only. Other reports, such as a survey from Gartner (2019), McKinsey (2020) or IBM (2021), estimate global adoption between 33 percent and 50 percent. While estimated adoption rates might vary, all reports agree that the actual AI impact in business is still lagging. Due to a massive talent shortage and limited AI expertise, effective and widespread AI adoption is still a far-off scenario.

AI is not a simple matter of application, but scalable, production-level, and value-creating AI solutions require high customization, and a supporting data strategy from the ground up. Thus, to successfully adopt AI, company-wide AI education and relevancy for the individual and their role in the organization is a must.