Investors on AI: Speed up, but drive carefully

Given the rapid expansion of AI’s capabilities and availability, it may not come as a surprise that 86% of the respondents to PwC’s 2023 Global Investor Survey consider companies’ accelerated adoption of AI to be moderately, very or extremely important. That finding aligns with an overall investor emphasis on technological change, which was ranked as the factor most likely to influence how businesses will create value in the next three years. But before C-suite leaders rush to deploy AI, they should be mindful of another finding from the survey: a commanding majority of investors think companies are exposed to AI risks like misinformation, bias and data breaches to a moderate, large or very large extent.

How should executives respond to the competing signals investors are sending? Another finding from the survey points the way forward: 77% of respondents consider effective reporting on the use and deployment of new and emerging technologies to be important or very important for their investment decision-making. For businesses embracing the opportunities that AI creates, this means it’s imperative to establish a set of principles and best practices for responsible AI use—from creating safeguards against misinformation and cyber breaches to establishing accountability and governance structures—and then develop mechanisms for transparently reporting progress against those principles. With standardised rules around AI still in flux, business leaders should strive to get ahead of regulation with a focus on AI and data governance, controls over AI development, and ongoing monitoring. 

Business leaders seeking to reap the benefits of AI will have to keep a close eye on the rapidly changing and increasingly complex regulatory environment and the actual and reputational costs of errors. Investors recognise the benefits that AI can bring, but will only attribute full value to the use of the technology when companies make their objectives clear and manage the risks.