Despite some initial concerns about an AI bubble, businesses are continuing to invest heavily in generative AI, with significant implications for the credit and collection industry. Here’s a roundup of the latest reports on AI’s impact.
Why It Matters: AI remains the fastest-growing area of business software spending, with startups in the space seeing a surge in adoption and investment. In the credit and collection industry, this technology holds the promise of driving efficiency and improving outcomes — but adoption challenges persist.
AI is Becoming a Corporate Fixture
- A report from corporate finance platform Ramp indicates a sharp increase in AI spending by businesses. In Q3, spending on AI vendors grew by 38% from Q2, reaching over $20 million.
- Generative AI tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT are the clear leaders, with companies choosing ChatGPT over competitors like Anthropic’s Claude 80% of the time. That said, more businesses are also diversifying their AI use, with 22% of OpenAI customers also spending on Anthropic.
The Productivity Debate
- Accenture’s latest findings show mixed results for AI’s impact on productivity. While productivity overall was flat or negative among 40% of large companies, one-quarter of firms using AI saw an 8% boost in productivity.
- However, Slack’s Workforce Index highlights a disconnect between executives and employees on AI’s value. Executives want workers to use AI for learning and innovation, while employees report using it mostly to complete busy work — a trend that could hinder broader adoption unless addressed effectively.
The Adoption Plateau
- Slack’s report also found that AI adoption by employees has stagnated in the past few months. In the U.S., adoption rates have grown just one percentage point in the last five months, indicating that uncertainty over AI norms may be holding workers back.
- 48% of employees are uncomfortable admitting to their managers that they use AI tools, fearing perceptions of laziness or incompetence.
The bottom line: AI is still very much a growing part of the business landscape, but companies need to address cultural barriers to realize its full potential. This means setting clear guidelines for AI use and aligning executive and employee expectations to foster a culture where AI can thrive. As Christina Janzer of Slack puts it, “Employers and employees both have a really important role to play here in accelerating AI adoption and helping to push past this plateau.”
