rewrite the Driving growth and investing in emerging technologies — while practicing caution — are strategic priorities for boards in the year ahead, according to the advisory firm’s 2024 survey.Public boards are bullish on artificial intelligence and generative AI as new key levers for growth and are taking measures to seize opportunities while mitigating mounting risks, a new survey finds.Directors realize “the full potential of technology deployment requires enhanced risk management, security, and compliance measures to safeguard their organizations and stakeholders,” according to the 2024 BDO Board Survey of nearly 250 public company directors.Risk and innovation: a symbiotic relationshipAt the same time, they are exercising caution, noting that innovation presents both a significant opportunity and risk.Some 17% of directors indicated that “advancing the use of emerging technology is a top strategic priority, while lagging implementation of emerging technology (27%) is a top-cited risk,’’ according to the report. “Risk and innovation have a symbiotic relationship for directors, for whom the need to move quickly to keep pace with customer demand, competition, and stakeholder expectations must be finely balanced with robust risk management and oversight.”The report notes that failing to adequately invest in either of these areas can potentially harm the other. This may explain why emerging technology (51%) and cybersecurity (41%) are among the top areas directors said will see increased investment in the year ahead, the BDO report said.SEE: Will Power Availability Derail the AI Revolution? (TechRepublic Premium)Progress on emerging technology implementationAs boards and management teams consider opportunities for incorporating generative AI into their businesses, the workforce may be ahead of them, the report noted, citing a global study by Microsoft, which found that 75% of knowledge workers already use AI at work.The BDO survey reveals that:23% of respondents are exploring what emerging technology can do and learning more about its risks and limitations.
16% reported actively training employees on emerging technology within their day-to-day work.
6% said they are not currently exploring emerging technology and have no immediate plans to do so.
Directors appear mixed on which business function may present the greatest opportunity for GenAI use cases. However, 31% of directors cited customer experience (16%) and product/service development (15%), indicating that the technology is viewed as a value-adding, top-line tool that organizations can use to capture growth and customer loyalty, according to the report.“Research indicates early adopters have seen benefits from faster and deeper data analysis, which can support personalization and custom content in market outreach and aid in product improvement,’’ the report said. “Boards also see potential in leveraging generative AI to gain efficiency across back-office processes and key but make sure to keep key information.