Fueled by Generative AI Advances,
Technology Leaps from No. 6 to No. 1 Cause of Business Disruption
in One Year, According to Key Indicators
While Optimistic, C-Suite Leaders Question
Their Readiness to Respond
Business leaders faced an all-time-high rate of change in 2023
and now expect it to accelerate further in 2024, according to
Accenture’s (NYSE: ACN) Pulse of Change: 2024 Index, released today
ahead of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos.
This press release features multimedia. View
the full release here:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240112833343/en/
Business leaders faced an all-time-high
rate of change in 2023 and now expect it to accelerate further in
2024, according to Accenture’s Pulse of Change: 2024 Index,
released today ahead of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in
Davos. (Photo: Business Wire)
The new annual Index ranks six factors of change affecting
businesses—Technology, Talent, Economic, Geopolitical, Climate and
Consumer & Social—using a range of key business indicators,
such as labor productivity and IT spending. It then compares this
data to a survey of 3,400 C-suite leaders on how they view the
impact of each factor on their organizations, as well as their
preparedness to respond.
The Index indicator analysis reveals that technology disruption
increased the most in 2023, rising to No. 1 from No. 6 in 2022,
catapulted by advances in generative AI. In the survey, C-suite
executives also ranked technology as the No. 1 cause of change.
According to the indicator analysis, Talent was the No. 2 cause
of business change (including issues such as skills shortages and
lack of employee engagement); yet in the survey, C-suite leaders
ranked Talent at No. 4. However, 42% of C-suite leaders say skills
shortage is one of the top three challenges that would hold back
their organizations’ ability to respond to change, underscoring the
importance for businesses of making their talent strategy a
priority—especially as they work to tap the potential of new
technologies.
The Index indicator analysis found that overall, across all six
factors, the rate of change has risen sharply since 2019—183% over
the past four years and 33% in the past year alone.
“The level of change has dramatically increased over the last
few years, and it requires a structural change in how businesses
operate—incremental changes in ways of working and performance are
no longer sufficient to compete,” said Jack Azagury, Group Chief
Executive—Strategy & Consulting, Accenture. “The most
significant source of change and disruption—technology—is also the
key to this structural change. We believe that the companies that
will succeed in the next decade are those that embrace a strategy
of continuously reinventing every part of their business using
technology, data and AI, including harnessing the power of
generative AI, and ensuring their people are at the center of their
transformations.”
The C-suite survey reveals that rapid pace of change holds
continued potential for wide-ranging impact on leaders in the year
ahead:
- A striking 88% of leaders anticipate an even faster rate of
change in 2024.
- 60% see change as an opportunity, and 68% expect revenue growth
to accelerate in 2024.
- Despite their optimism, more than half (52%) say they are not
fully prepared to respond to the change they will face in the 2024
business environment.
Technology disruption seen as opportunity, with caution about
responsible use
Sixty-one percent of C-suite leaders expect the pace of
technology disruption to accelerate even further in 2024, and 76%
see generative AI as more of an opportunity than a threat and more
beneficial to revenue growth than costs reduction.
However, nearly half (47%) say they are not fully prepared for
the accelerating rate of technology change, and 72% are now
approaching investments with more caution because of societal
concerns about the responsible use of AI.
Research Methodology
Accenture’s Pulse of Change Index compares findings from two
major inputs.
1. An analysis of change affecting businesses globally, caused
by six major factors:
- Technology, which is based on indicators such as IT spending
and VC funding on emerging technologies, reflects the pace and
scale at which technologies, such as generative artificial
intelligence, are adopted and implemented;
- Talent, which includes indicators measuring the risk of labor
shortages, level of employee engagement, wage costs and labor
productivity, reflects the overall talent environment from a
quantitative and qualitative perspective;
- Economic, which includes macroeconomic, financial and business
indicators, reflects the overall economic disruption, financial
volatility and business outlook;
- Geopolitical, which includes indicators measuring geopolitical
risk, number of economic sanctions and number of cyberattacks,
reflects changes in war and conflicts, trade tensions and
cybersecurity;
- Climate, which is based on indicators such as climate-related
disasters and direct economic loss attributed to natural disasters,
looks at the risks related to environmental issues, as well as the
financial cost implications of climate-related regulations for
businesses;
- Consumer & Social, which includes indicators assessing
social unrest and household savings, reflects the overall social
climate as well as consumers’ confidence in the future.
To evaluate both the rate and nature of change, the Index
computes, through AI-led data modeling, 40 proprietary and public
data series covering 2019 to November 2023 from leading
institutions such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD), International Monetary Fund (IMF) or the United
Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDG). It quantifies the
change businesses are facing and determines the rankings of the top
six causes of change by comparing their respective increases from
2022 to 2023. This approach identifies the specific change factors
that had the most substantial impact on the overall rate of change
in 2023.
2. A global survey of more than 3,400 C-suite executives,
conducted from October 2023 to November 2023, across 20 countries,
19 industries and a full range of corporate functions, to compare
their perceptions of change with the analysis of business
disruption.
About Accenture
Accenture is a leading global professional services company that
helps the world’s leading businesses, governments and other
organizations build their digital core, optimize their operations,
accelerate revenue growth and enhance citizen services—creating
tangible value at speed and scale. We are a talent- and
innovation-led company with approximately 743,000 people serving
clients in more than 120 countries. Technology is at the core of
change today, and we are one of the world’s leaders in helping
drive that change, with strong ecosystem relationships. We combine
our strength in technology and leadership in cloud, data and AI
with unmatched industry experience, functional expertise and global
delivery capability. We are uniquely able to deliver tangible
outcomes because of our broad range of services, solutions and
assets across Strategy & Consulting, Technology, Operations,
Industry X and Song. These capabilities, together with our culture
of shared success and commitment to creating 360° value, enable us
to help our clients reinvent and build trusted, lasting
relationships. We measure our success by the 360° value we create
for our clients, each other, our shareholders, partners and
communities. Visit us at www.accenture.com.
Copyright © 2024 Accenture. All rights reserved. Accenture and
its logo are registered trademarks of Accenture.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240112833343/en/
Francois Luu Accenture +33 660 53 8428
francois.luu@accenture.com
Sam Hyland Accenture + 1 917 452 4801
samuel.hyland@accenture.com
Accenture (NYSE:ACN)
Gráfico Histórico do Ativo
De Jun 2024 até Jul 2024
Accenture (NYSE:ACN)
Gráfico Histórico do Ativo
De Jul 2023 até Jul 2024