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Writer's picturePiers Linney

AI Leader or Laggard?



McKinsey reports that AI leaders are generating up to 6x higher shareholder returns.  Are you going to be an AI leader or laggard?


In its article Rewired and running ahead: Digital and AI leaders are leaving the rest behind. McKinsey highlights the growing divide between digital and AI leaders and laggards, emphasising that companies with strong digital and AI capabilities are significantly outperforming their peers. This performance gap is attributed to the compounding value generated by effectively implementing digital and AI strategies. While most companies have yet to fully capture the expected value from digital transformations, leaders who invest in hard-to-copy capabilities are pulling ahead, creating a competitive advantage that laggards will find challenging to match.




The McKinsey research highlights a stark reality: companies with leading digital and AI capabilities significantly outperform the competition, achieving two to six times higher total shareholder returns. This disparity is not just a temporary advantage but a widening gap that laggards may find insurmountable.


AI is no longer an optional add-on but a fundamental component of strategic planning and operational excellence. The benefits extend beyond mere automation to include predictive analytics, enhanced decision-making, and personalised customer experiences, among others. Companies that fail to recognise and act on this shift risk not just falling behind but becoming irrelevant.

The journey begins with a commitment to understanding and implementing AI: This involves cultivating a culture of innovation, investing in training, talent and technology, and developing a strategic roadmap that aligns AI initiatives with business goals. Moreover, it requires an agile approach to experimentation and scaling, leveraging data to inform decisions and adapt to changing market dynamics.


The journey does not stop at implementation: Continuous learning and adaptation are crucial, as AI technologies and their applications evolve. The leaders in this space are those that not only adopt AI early but also continue to innovate and refine their approaches to maintain their competitive edge.


SME experience: Although, reports like the one published by McKinsey are based on the analysis of larger companies, the same applies to SMEs which are often better placed to effect change with less friction.  The time to act is now. Implementing AI before your competition does not only offer a temporary advantage; it sets the stage for sustained growth and success. The race is not just towards AI adoption but towards redefining business models with AI at their core – what we call your AI Operating System (AI OS). Your AI OS is a platform for growth, innovation, talent acquisition and retentions, improved customer satisfaction, cost optimisation, increased profitability and higher M&A synergies.



Implement AI’s clients are already leveraging the power of AI to transform how they do business – from avatars and data analytics to voice agents, call analysis and automated prospect qualification.


Leader or laggard?: The divide between AI leaders and laggards will widen as many business leaders approach AI like cloud transition or more general digital transformation, but it is not a project that you can return to in several years. The competitive landscape is being redrawn, and the stakes are high. By embracing AI, companies not only enhance their operational efficiency and customer offerings but also secure a place in the future of business.


The question is no longer if AI should be integrated but how quickly and effectively it can be done to ensure long-term competitiveness, success and survival.


Thanks for reading.



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