AI adoption advances, but foundational barriers remain

Survey respondents report the rapid adoption of AI and expect only a minimal effect on head count. Yet few companies have in place the foundational building blocks that enable AI to generate value at scale. The adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly taking hold across global business, according to a new McKinsey Global Survey on the topic.1 1.The online survey was in the field from February 6 to February 16, 2018, and garnered responses from 2,135 participants representing the full range of regions, industries, company sizes, functional specialties, and tenures. To adjust for differences in response rates, the data are weighted by the contribution of each respondent's nation to global GDP. AI, typically defined as the ability of a machine to perform cognitive functions associated with human minds (such as perceiving, reasoning, learning, and problem solving), includes a range of capabilities that enable AI to solve business problems.