We may be entering a “haves” and “have-nots” split in business — one that unfolds dramatically in front of all of us in the next couple of years.
Two documents put numbers on it.
The first is McKinsey’s report on the economic potential of generative AI. The headline figure, as VentureBeat reported when it came out last June, is that generative AI could add “$2.6 trillion to $4.4 trillion annually” to the global economy. Take one industry: “the technology could deliver value equal to an additional $200 billion to $340 billion annually if the use cases were fully implemented.” Or another: “In retail and consumer packaged goods, the potential impact is also significant at $400 billion to $660 billion a year.” McKinsey got to those numbers by working through 63 use cases across 16 business functions.
The line that matters more than any of the dollar figures is this one: “Current generative AI and other technologies have the potential to automate work activities that absorb 60 to 70 percent of employees’ time today.”
The second is BCG’s own numbers. The firm reported $12.3 billion in revenue for 2023, said it “performed hundreds of GenAI projects for industry-leading clients” last year, and its CEO put the cause plainly: “GenAI is a strong driver of growth as clients need to move from experimentation to impact.” When the consultants are this busy with something, their clients are spending real money on it. And the clients spending it are, by definition, not everybody.
That’s the split. Those companies that sit on their hands may be dramatically left in the dust by the couple in their industry that began working AI into their business processes aggressively from the outset.
The “haves” could slash up to 70% of their employees’ time every day. That is hard to compete against.
