Survey: Large companies are cautious about using AI

TALLINN - The larger the company, the more cautious it is about using artificial intelligence (AI), a survey by KPMG reveals.

Nearly half of Estonian companies with an annual turnover of at least 20 million euros have implemented a local AI, a rate almost double the average.

The extent, methods, and impact of AI use among large Estonian companies were revealed in a survey conducted by KPMG Baltics in cooperation with Norstat. The sample included companies with an annual turnover of at least 5 million euros whose employees use AI tools.

"In 69 percent of the surveyed companies, only a limited part of the workforce uses AI to perform work tasks. However, in one out of every five large companies, AI use is already widespread, meaning it is used by over 50 percent of employees. The use of AI is slightly more common in the information technology sector, healthcare companies, and in the fields of publishing, broadcasting, and content production and distribution," commented Martin Käärik, an IT consultant at KPMG.

Text-based AI tools are by far the most common, used by nearly all large companies with very few exceptions.

Although locally implemented AI is not as capable as the top models from Google or OpenAI, it helps reduce the risk of data leaks, as all conversations with the artificial intelligence take place under the company's own control. There are numerous examples worldwide of these risks materializing. On the other hand, the field is developing so rapidly that new and better open-source models, more efficient than the closed models currently available, may emerge within just six months.

The implementation of AI has brought measurable benefits to companies. Ninety-three percent of respondents assess that the speed of work has improved, and 84 percent believe that their employees' ability to solve problems independently has also improved. Notably, all companies with a turnover exceeding 40 million euros report time savings and an increase in work speed from implementing AI.

"As AI implementation skills develop within companies, new winners and losers will emerge in the economy. Over the next ten years, we will see a wave of creative destruction that will leave no company untouched," Käärik noted.