A recent survey of senior leaders finds Canadian organizations are seeing “measurable returns” from the adoption of artificial intelligence technologies.
Data from Deloitte Canada shows that 90% of leaders report positive productivity impacts over the past 12 months from AI, with a similar number reporting that their employees view the tech’s impact positively.
Indeed, as AI continues its advance into workplaces nationwide, leaders are investing more into the technology, with 86% of them planning to enrich upskilling efforts for their organization.
However, the report from Deloitte suggests that while many leaders are focused on productivity gains and cost savings, fewer point to broader business outcomes such as revenue growth or risk reduction.
“Most organizations are still measuring the easiest value, not the most important value,” explains Nihar Dalmia, Partner in AI & Data for Deloitte Canada.
“Productivity and cost savings matter,” Dalmia acknowledges, “but they are only the first layer.”
“The leaders seeing more differentiated outcomes are expanding how AI value is measured to include revenue growth, faster decision-making, better customer experiences, and news ways of working,” Dalmia said.
Most leaders “are still taking an incremental approach to AI,” according to the report, and Jas Jaaj may know why.
Jaaj, who serves Deloitte Canada as Leader of Global AI Markets, Ecosystems & Alliances, believes it is “because it’s the path of least resistance.”
“The step change comes when organizations expand their focus beyond efficiency and rethink how work gets done end-to-end,” says Jaaj.
The leaders unlocking value are “focusing not just on individual use cases, but on the future of their businesses and individual functions with AI, as well as improving the data and systems that matter most for those priorities,” says Dalmia.
Beyond data, “the bigger challenge is coordination; how people, processes, and AI come together in practice.”
“That’s where organizations start to see more meaningful change,” Dalmia posits.
The findings are based on a Deloitte Canada survey of 300 senior leaders from organizations across Canada conducted in March.
