The management consultancy Deloitte surveyed 22 German trading companies on the topic of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI). This technology offers a wide range of possible uses, from the creation of marketing materials to individualized customer approaches to the further development of chatbots.
The survey revealed that a majority of them had already dealt with GenAI. More than three-quarters of respondents said they had at least a basic understanding of the technology. Over half have already gained experience with GenAI in their work. Only around a quarter have no plans to use it in their companies.
Over two thirds of those surveyed were convinced that GenAI will be important or very important for their company in the future. 73 percent assumed that their use could improve process efficiency in their companies. Cost savings and higher productivity can also be achieved with the help of GenAI. The interview participants particularly appreciated the added value of GenAI in customer-oriented areas of the company, such as marketing, customer service and logistics.
However, there are challenges: 67 percent of those surveyed reported that they lacked knowledge of useful use cases. In addition, a third complain about the lack of qualified employees to further expand this field.
“As diverse as the fields of application of GenAI are, identifying and developing suitable use cases does not always have to be a ‘big hit’ right away,” explains Thorsten Zierlein, Lead Partner Retail at Monitor Deloitte. “Even small projects can have enormous leverage “The companies risk little because the necessary investments are manageable. The initial successes with GenAI are crucial in ultimately motivating the entire organization to follow the path of digital transformation.”