Why the AI Maturity Gap Persists Despite Investment Surge

Research from McKinsey reveals that while 92% of companies are planning to increase their AI investments in the next three years, only 1% of business leaders would call their companies 'mature' – which means that AI has been fully integrated into workflows to drive substantial business outcomes – on the deployment spectrum.

The gap between investment and implementation could signal a critical challenge for organisations: the need to empower employees to use the technology through leadership strategy and upskilling programmes.

According to Aiman Ezzat, CEO of Capgemini, the best way to achieve this is by treating AI as a business function, rather than an isolated technological feature. Aiman tells Fortune that AI as a whole "is about transforming the business. It cannot just be used to keep the house running".

This approach requires ensuring leadership is focused on the strategic direction of AI tools and making smart investments that meet employees' current needs.

He says: "The question you [the CEO] have to focus on is: 'how can your business be significantly disrupted by AI', not 'how is your finance team going to become more efficient?' I'm sure your CFO will deal with that at the end of the day."

Addressing the talent gap

McKinsey's research finds that 50% of business leaders believe the development and release of gen AI tools is too slow in their organisations, citing talent skills gaps and resourcing constraints.

This mirrors findings from PwC, which finds in its Global CEO survey that only 12% of CEOs report that AI has delivered both cost savings and revenue benefits in 2024.

According to McKinsey, leaders must develop a gen AI roadmap and identify revenue-generating use cases for the technology – with just 12% of C-suite respondents saying they are ready to implement value generating gen AI use cases in their businesses.

Training as a driver of adoption

As businesses scale up their AI use cases, the report finds that investing in employee training could make a significant difference to adoption rates. Nearly 50% of workers surveyed say that formal gen AI training from their organisation would make them more likely to increase their day-to-day AI usage.

Despite this, 22% of employees reported that they have received minimal to no support in AI, slowing the spread of the technology within organisations.

Respondents said that having access to AI tools in the form of betas or pilots would help them develop their AI skills, and suggested that businesses offering recognition or rewards for employees using AI in their workflow would likely improve adoption.

Building AI skills at scale

Many businesses are now investing in AI upskilling programmes to facilitate this switch – such as Allianz, which won an International Brilliance Award for its 'Global AI Run' initiative.

This programme was developed by the company to develop AI skills in its global workforce through webinars, role-based learning pathways and the opportunity to practically apply the technology. It has now helped more than 144,000 employees improve their ability to use the technology.

Bettina Dietsche, Group Chief People and Culture Officer of Allianz, says on LinkedIn: "This recognition reflects what the Global AI Run stands for at Allianz: making AI real. Not theoretical. Not exclusive. But practical, inclusive and impact driven.

"The programme empowers colleagues to use AI with confidence, accelerates the adoption of our AI tools and enables teams to develop concrete solutions that improve their day-to-day work."