61% of businesses have already implemented AI

Though the promise of artificial intelligence (AI) always appears to be on the horizon, many companies are already realizing its benefits, according to a new report from Narrative Science and the National Business Research Institute. Some 61% of businesses said they implemented AI in 2017--up from just 38% in 2016, demonstrating that AI has finally hit the enterprise in a meaningful way. Tech innovation is often driving AI's enterprise adoption: Of the nearly 200 executives surveyed, 71% said their company has an "innovation strategy" to push investments in new technologies like AI. And 59% of companies said they had a budget to invest in innovation, and 62% said that budget has increased in the past year. "The time has come for every enterprise to come to grips with AI's impact and challenges, and begin to build a roadmap to harness its potential to transform businesses and industries," the report stated.