NEW YORK - Artificial intelligence (AI) is being adopted in massive numbers globally and it turns out the global pandemic actually accelerated the deployments for certain businesses. There are several reasons for the growing adoption of AI, including general business needs, the technology advancing and becoming more accessible and the increased desire for contactless interactions and other changing business needs due to the global pandemic. One study found that while 74 percent of companies are exploring or deploying AI, businesses are at various stages of implementation.

The Global AI Adoption Index 2021, conducted by Morning Consult for IBM, comprised a survey of Information Technology (IT) decision makers in 5,500 businesses in the United States, China, India, Singapore, United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Chile and Peru. In their business operations, a third of companies are analyzing data to build and scale AI, though they have not yet deployed any AI projects. Another third of businesses are using pre-built applications, like chatbots.

About a quarter of companies are developing proofs of concept (PoC) for certain AI-based or AI-assisted projects and another quarter are exploring AI solutions, though they have not purchased any tools or apps. However, one group has moved beyond the PoC stage, with 21 percent of businesses deploying AI across the business. These are the types of companies that started earlier than others and pushed ahead during the pandemic. Also, they are in a range of industries, such as H&M in retail and EasyJet in transportation, both of which have taken a company-wide approach to AI implementation.

That type of company-wide approach requires total buy-in from the top of an organization, since the resources and investment involved can be significant. Any business that takes that approach should strive to achieve some sho