A recent report by AI skills platform Multiverse underscores a widening AI maturity gap that jeopardizes business performance. The study indicates that leaders significantly overestimate their organizations’ AI readiness, while employees often lack crucial training. Multiverse warns that this disconnect could undermine AI’s return on investment (ROI) and hinder economic growth potential.
Key Findings
The study surveyed 810 business leaders and 1,190 employees across the US and UK, revealing stark contrasts between leadership optimism and the realities of AI implementation. Here are some key findings:
- 96% of respondents noted improvements in customer and user experience over the last year due to AI.
- Four in five tech leaders reported that implementing AI has led to increased revenue generation.
- 96% cited improved productivity and operational efficiency, with 48% stating that AI has helped decrease unnecessary external costs in the past year.
Disconnect Between Leaders and Workers
Despite the positive impacts, there are clear signs of a disconnect:
- 61% of leaders believe AI is fully implemented in their organizations, while only 36% of workers agree.
- 60% of leaders think they are ahead of competitors in AI maturity, but only 46% of workers share this view.
- Leaders identified their primary barriers to further investment as the inability to fully utilize existing AI technology (63%) and resistance from employees to adopt AI (58%).
- Alarmingly, 56% of self-identified ‘AI experts’ reported having no formal training.
Notably, 45% of organizations classified as “AI Beginners” still consider AI fully implemented, highlighting a significant perception gap.
Insights from Leadership
Euan Blair, CEO and founder of Multiverse, stated: “AI looks set to upend every aspect of our working lives. The financial promise is huge, and optimism is high. However, organizations are rushing to implement AI without the necessary foundations in place. To build truly AI-native businesses, tech investments must be coupled with an AI-enabled workforce equipped with the skills and tools to leverage AI fully, ensuring maximum ROI and risk mitigation.”
AI Maturity Model
The report introduces an AI Maturity Model, categorizing respondents as follows:
- AI Beginner (22%): Proof of concept stage, developing pilot projects.
- AI Explorer (51%): Early stage, integrating AI into specific business processes.
- AI Adept (27%): Fully integrated, embedding AI throughout the organization.
Measuring AI ROI
The findings reveal a significant gap in organizations’ abilities to measure and optimize the ROI of their AI initiatives:
- 49% of business leaders claim to track AI’s ROI, but only 44% use this data to improve their AI projects.
- 57% of leaders express that they cannot clearly demonstrate or predict AI’s benefits.
Although nearly half of companies are attempting to measure AI’s impact, many struggle to translate these insights into actionable improvements or justify further AI investment. There is a clear need for better methods to assess and communicate the value of AI initiatives.
Skills Gap and Ethical Considerations
The report also highlights a skills gap, with 56% of self-proclaimed ‘AI experts’ lacking formal training. This overconfidence raises ethical and data-security concerns:
- 93% of workers are confident they used AI ethically in their last application.
- 90% believe they kept their organization’s data secure.
- However, only 28% of organizations have established best practices in AI governance and risk management.
Anna Wang, Head of AI at Multiverse, noted: “As AI evolves, organizations must become AI-native to harness its full ROI. Yet, the pace of technological change makes it challenging for many organizations to gauge their progress, leading to missed opportunities and potential risks.”
Recommendations
To address these challenges, Multiverse recommends:
- Developing standardized AI skills assessments.
- Creating industry-wide AI governance frameworks.
- Increasing investment in AI education at all levels.
- Conducting regular audits of AI systems and their economic impact.
Additionally, Multiverse plans to launch a global AI Readiness Index in Q2 2025, providing a standardized measure of organizational and national AI maturity.
