Shift to enterprise-grade AI - How chemicals and petroleum leaders are adopting AI

 Attaining AI at a Large Scale

• Artificial intelligence is being led by "outperformers" in the chemical and petroleum industries.
• To take advantage of AI-related technology, these companies are focused on prioritizing functional areas and use cases.
• The research by Research Insights examines how these businesses are embracing AI strategically.

Acknowledging AI's Importance

• Executives in the chemical and petroleum industries are more selective about where and how they use AI. CxOs prioritize three functional areas: information technology, information security, and innovation.
• In 2016, CEOs' top concern was technology available, but that focus has now switched to implementation difficulties. Some firms are effectively implementing AI at scale, and they are surpassing their competitors financially.
• AI adoption as part of a wider digital reinvention strategy, as well as investments in specific activities and organizational skills, are all important to achieving value in the company.
• Many businesses are trying to make the shift from paper to digital.

State of AI

• At the very least, chemical and petroleum companies are investigating AI adoption.
• Over a third of these businesses are in the process of being evaluated, piloted, or implemented. The majority of chemical and petroleum CxOs choose only three roles.
• The top two functions are in line with the 5,000+ responses from across industries.
• AI-enabled help desk virtual assistants, process automation, and threat detection are all beneficial to IT and IS.
• Revenue growth and customer satisfaction and retention are far more important than cost concerns for CEOs in the chemical and petroleum industries. This is in line with cross-industry responders who place a premium on customer satisfaction. (72 percent).

The outperformers

• Over the last three years, chemical and petroleum companies have outperformed their peers. Thirty-eight percent of outperformers are experimenting with, implementing, or using artificial intelligence.
• This is comparable to other industries in the industry's adoption rate.
• Outperformers in the chemical and petroleum industries plan to increase their AI investments.
• According to a recent Gartner research, they will invest twice as much as their counterparts this year (2.8 percent of IT expenditure against 1.4 percent).

Based on these leaders’ survey responses, chemicals and petroleum organizations should strive for a different mentality to take advantage of AI:

• Consider digital technologies strategically
• Consider digital technology strategically 
• Apply analytics and AI across the organization 
• Make the most of data 
• Establish data governance

A different mentality to take advantage of AI

Thinking strategically about digital technologies

Leverage analytics and AI across the business

Capitalize on data

Set data governance

Starting small, failing fast and scaling robustly are keys to successful technology execution.

Getting started

IBM: Starting small, failing fast, and scaling robustly apply equally to AI as to other areas of successful technology execution. The innovation platform concept can support an organization through a business transformation "inside out," he says. IBM is investing in artificial intelligence (AI) by creating a "factory" for industrialization.

Key questions to consider

Focus: Which functions are your priority areas for AI, and do they support efficiency, profitable growth, and/or customer satisfaction and retention? 

Value: What are the top value drivers for your organization, and how do you plan to measure AI benefits?

Data: Who owns and maintains your data, and how strong is your organization’s data expertise?