Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer a futuristic notion; it is part of our lives and its impact on business operations has started to be visible. According to the latest SEV Hellenic Federation of Enterprises special report, AI is a key transformation accelerator and has become an imperative for businesses that want to maintain a competitive edge.
Companies that deploy AI technology can achieve a 17% higher profit margin than their competitors.
As the report highlights, organizations across all industries can benefit from leveraging AI into their daily operations.
- Manufacturing companies can improve their production efficiency up to 5%, their profitability up to 13%, their fuel savings up to 12% and speed up their time-to-market up to 10%.
- Retail companies can achieve up to a 20% reduction in their inventory, up to a 30% reduction in the inventory management time, and up to a 30% increase in their online sales.
- Electricity distribution companies can increase both their energy production and profit up to 20% by using Machine Learning technology to overall optimize their system performance.
- In the public sector, the integration of AI technology can automate internal processes, while improving the quality of services provided and engagement with citizens.
Additionally, the research points out that AI can be used to address several societal challenges, like speed up the search for new treatments, improve the productivity of nursing staff (up to 50%), reduce health costs (up to 10%), and also contribute to environmental sustainability.
AI deployment in Greece can increase total GDP by about 200 billion euros in 15 years.
SEV’s Digital Transformation Observatory highlights that Greece is characterized by a ‘low digital maturity’, with the country ranking 26th in the EU’s Digital Maturity Index. As the report mentions, although 85% of the Greek CEOs invest significant resources in ICT, 54% state that AI is not considered an investment priority.
The lack of AI adoption in Greece is attributed to 3 main challenges:
- Lack of skills and experience (69%)
- Lack of IT infrastructure (49%)
- Low data quality (37%)
To conclude, in order to fill this ‘tech-gap’ and improve Greece’s international competitiveness, SEV pinpoints the need of a National Program, which should be based on 7 goals:
- Accelerate private investments in AI
- Strengthen digital and especially AI-related skills
- Leverage AI in the public sector, in order to improve the quality of the provided services
- Create a high performance computing and telecommunications infrastructure
- Create centres of excellence within universities, that will be focused on the development of AI oriented proposals
- Start an Open Data Initiative
- Establish a framework on ethical rules for AI, with respect for fundamental rights and laws
You can access the full report here.
