AlixPartners: Generative AI the biggest disruptor in 2024, say CEOs

The 2020s have brought extreme disruption for businesses across the world – and 2024 is going to be no different, according to new research from business consultancy AlixPartners.

The issue is that new types of disruption keep cropping up – while supply chain challenges and inflation may be a declining worry for CEOs, as AlixPatners’ survey of 3,000 CEOs and business leaders found, now organizations are worried about geopolitical events, climate change and macroeconomic growth.

66% of those surveyed anticipate disruption from the upcoming US Presidential election, while 68% worry about ongoing US-China tensions.

AlixPartners also found that 68% of leaders feel pressure from regulators to take a stance on environmental issues – this figure drops to 64% for investor pressure and 57% for a push from employees.

However, the biggest disruptive opportunity over the next year will be new technologies, and especially generative AI – that’s according to 68% of CEOs and leaders.

Plus almost a third of leaders said that AI was the most important tech for companies to address in the next year.

The issue is that while 72% are optimistic about the future of AI – primarily to drive efficiency at work (43%) and to help with scalability and cost effectiveness (47%) – and 59% are currently investing in AI, only 28% have fully embedded this emerging technology into their organization.

Challenges like ethics, regulatory compliance and reliability remain, and companies continue to be much more likely to be reacting to tech change, rather than trying to drive it.

Getting ahead of the curve on AI at work

AlixPartners’ report looked closely at the 8% of the CEOs surveyed who work at companies in the top quintile for growth in revenue and profits, and studied precisely what made these organizations stand out.

The results show that these high-performing companies are more likely to driving disruption, than simply reacting to it – they know that “disruption is the new economic driver”, as AlixPartners’ CEO Simon Freakley wrote in the report’s introduction.

He continued: “Those who succeed will be the ones who act quickly and decisively in the face of external challenges and at the same time execute brilliantly on the factors under their direct control.”

Beyond this, high-performing organizations were also better at leveraging AI and making data-driven decisions.

Plus, AlixPartners found that this top quintile was much better at investing in the future of their workforce; they know that their people are their biggest asset, and therefore they need to get the most of their talent.

AlixPartners found that 35% of high-performing organizations offer networking and professional events to their people (compared to 22% of other businesses).

Also, more than a quarter focus on learning and development to ensure growth over the next five years (versus 21% of other employers).

Speaking exclusively to UNLEASH, Ted Bililies, partner & managing director, AlixPartners shares: “New technologies are one of the biggest disruptive forces of our lifetime.

“But smart deployment will create a cultural shift within organizations and will result in massive productivity gains as well as brand new vectors for revenue growth, value creation, and reskilling for those who best recognize and act upon the opportunity.”

Ultimately, successful businesses are those that realize that disruption is going to be continuous – nowadays, “disruption isn’t one and done”, according to AlixPartners report – and so they need to create the conditions to continue to thrive in turbulent times.