The Hackett Group, Inc., an AI enterprise transformation firm, has announced its AI World Class information technology research, introducing a new set of performance benchmarks that quantify how leading organizations use disciplined artificial intelligence (AI) investment to change the economics of enterprise performance.
Quick Intel
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The Hackett Group establishes AI World Class IT benchmarks.
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A 75% performance gap is emerging between AI redesign and simple automation.
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AI World Class organizations reduce IT process costs by 27%-35%.
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They lower IT staffing levels by 34%-44%.
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They improve project ROI by 1.5X-2.5X.
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The methodology draws on three decades of benchmarking data.
According to The Hackett Group's analysis, AI World Class organizations achieve significant advantages by simplifying technology environments, reimagining work and directing AI investments to the highest-value opportunities across the enterprise.
The research reveals that a 75% performance gap is emerging between organizations that redesign end-to-end processes around AI and those that simply automate existing processes.
Executive Perspectives
"CIOs face a paradox: AI requires greater investment while the business expects lower costs with higher performance," said Michael Fuller, principal, The Hackett Group. "Leaders are creating capacity for AI by simplifying technology, reducing technical debt and redesigning operating models, then directing that capacity to the investments with the greatest return."
Significant Results
The results are significant. AI World Class technology organizations reduce information technology (IT) process costs by 27%-35%, lower staffing levels by 34%-44% and improve project return on investment (ROI) by 1.5X-2.5X. Beyond the technology function, those improvements help drive enterprisewide gains in productivity, operating leverage, cash conversion and customer experience.
The findings also demonstrate how the benefits of disciplined AI investment compound across business functions. Benchmark modeling identified opportunities for organizations to achieve 52%-59% lower order-to-cash process costs, up to 2.7X greater procurement ROI, 53.5% fewer inventory days of supply, and 61% lower recruiting costs when AI investments are aligned to end-to-end business outcomes.
Start with the Business Outcome
Rather than pursuing isolated use cases, AI World Class organizations start with the business outcome. They identify the enterprise priorities with the greatest potential impact, then manage AI as an enterprise investment portfolio, continuously identifying, prioritizing, and scaling initiatives that deliver measurable business outcomes. By directing investments to the highest-value opportunities, they maximize enterprise return and accelerate performance improvement.
"The CIO's role is rapidly expanding from managing technology performance to enabling enterprise performance," said Kyle Robichaud, principal, The Hackett Group. "CIOs must help determine where AI can create the greatest value and build capabilities to scale it securely and efficiently. Those that consistently identify and scale high-return AI investments will create a lasting competitive advantage."
Methodology
Spanning 16 end-to-end business processes, AI World Class benchmarks quantify where AI-enabled transformation can create the greatest value and establish future-state performance standards for organizations seeking to improve both technology and enterprise performance. The AI World Class benchmark methodology draws on more than three decades of benchmarking data, process intelligence and transformation experience with 98% of the Dow Jones Global Titans, 97% of the Dow Jones Industrials and 90% of the Fortune 100.
The full research paper, "Close the Enterprise AI Performance Gap: How Disciplined AI Investment Changes the Economics of Enterprise Performance," is available for complimentary download.
About The Hackett Group
The Hackett Group, Inc. is an ROI-led, AI enterprise transformation firm that helps clients enable AI World Class performance. Its experts and engineers leverage Hackett AI platforms, including XT™, AIXelerator™, Hackett AI XPLR™, ZBrain® and XDA™, to accelerate and enhance the delivery of the company's solutions and services.
