Software doesn't always end up being the productivity panacea that it promises to be. As its victims know all too well, "death by PowerPoint," the poor use of the presentation software, sucks the life and energy out of far too many meetings. And audit after enterprise audit reveals spreadsheets rife with errors and macro miscalculations. Email and chat facilitate similar dysfunction; inbox overload demonstrably hurts managerial performance and morale. No surprises here -- this is sadly a global reality that we're all too familiar with. So what makes artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) champions confident that their technologies will be immune to comparably counterproductive outcomes?

High tech, telecom, and financial services are the leading early adopters of machine learning and AI. These industries are known for their willingness to invest in new technologies to gain competitive and internal process efficiencies. Many startups have also had their start by concentrating on the digital challenges of this industries as well. The MGI Digitization Index is a GDP-weighted average of Europe and the United States. See Appendix B of the study for a full list of metrics and explanation of methodology.

McKinsey also created an overall AI index shown in the first column below that compares key performance indicators (KPIs) across assets, usage, and labor where AI could make a contribution. The following is a heat map showing the relative level of AI adoption by industry and key area of asset, usage, and labor category. McKinsey also created an overall AI index shown in the first column below that compares key performance indicators (KPIs) across assets, usage, and labor where AI could make a contribution. The following is a heat map showing the relative level of AI adoption by industry and key area of asset, usage, and labor category.