Organizations worldwide show significant interest in Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) and are investing substantial resources in its adoption. The question arises: which regions and countries are leading in the use of GenAI? According to a global study conducted for SAS by Coleman Parkes Research Ltd., China leads in the application of GenAI, while the United States leads in full implementation of this technology. In China, 83% of organizations use GenAI, which is more than in the United Kingdom (70%), USA (65%), and Australia (63%). However, American organizations are ahead in terms of maturity and complete implementation of GenAI technologies at 24%, compared to 19% in China and 11% in the United Kingdom.

Economists estimate that GenAI could have a significant economic impact. A 2023 report by McKinsey estimates that GenAI could add between $2.6 trillion and $4.4 trillion annually across various sectors, comparable to the GDP of the United Kingdom in 2021. This assessment increases the overall potential impact of artificial intelligence by 15% to 40%.

Regional Differences in GenAI Adoption
SAS and Coleman Parkes conducted a study among 1,600 decision-makers from various industries including banking, insurance, public sector, life sciences, healthcare, telecommunications, manufacturing, retail, energy, utilities, and professional services. The smallest organizations participating in the study employ between 500 and 999 people, while the largest employ over 10,000.

Different regions have shown varying rates of GenAI policy implementation. North America leads with a full adoption and implementation rate of 20%, followed by APAC at 10% and LATAM at 8%, while Europe lags behind at 7%. In APAC, 71% of organizations have implemented GenAI policies, compared to 63% in North America. Europe records 59%, and LATAM 52%. Regarding dedicated budgets for investing in GenAI in the next fiscal year, APAC leads with 94%, followed by Europe at 91%, North America at 89%, and LATAM at 84%.

“While China leads in GenAI adoption rates, higher adoption does not necessarily mean effective implementation or better returns,” said Stephen Saw, Managing Director at Coleman Parkes. “In fact, the USA leads the race with 24% of organizations fully implementing GenAI compared to 19% in China.”

Industries and Functional Departments Embrace GenAI at Different Rates
Data shows that banking (17%), telecommunications (15%), insurance and professional services (11%) lead other industries in incorporating GenAI into daily business operations across various metrics. Retail stands at 10%, while the public sector, for example, is at 9%, as is healthcare, and manufacturing at 7%. In everyday use of GenAI, telecommunications (29%), retail (27%), and banking (23%) are the leading industries, followed by personal services (23%) and insurance (22%), while others are below 20%. Within organizations, sales (86%), marketing (85%), and IT departments (81%) most utilize or plan to use GenAI, followed by finance and manufacturing at 75%.

“With any new technology, organizations must go through a phase of discovery, separating hype from reality, to understand the complexity of actual implementation. We've reached this moment with Generative AI,” said Bryan Harris, Executive Vice President and CTO at SAS. “As we move beyond the hype cycle, it's now about purposeful deployment and delivering repeatable and reliable business outcomes through GenAI.”

Early Adopters Encounter Many Challenges in GenAI Adoption and Implementation
Top of the list of challenges organizations face in routine GenAI use is the lack of a clear GenAI adoption strategy.

Only 9% of leaders participating in the survey say they are extremely familiar with GenAI adoption in their organization. Among respondents whose organizations have fully implemented GenAI, only 25% say they are extremely familiar with GenAI adoption strategy. Even decision-makers responsible for technology investment decisions are not familiar with AI - including those in organizations ahead of the adoption curve.

Nine out of ten senior technology decision-makers acknowledge they do not fully understand GenAI and its potential impact on business processes. Leading in knowledge of AI adoption strategy in their organizations are CIOs at 45%. However, only 36% of Chief Technology Officers (CTOs) say they are fully familiar.

Despite this lack of understanding, most organizations (75%) say they have allocated budgets for investing in GenAI in the next fiscal year.

Other challenges include a lack of data for fine-tuning large language models (LLMs) and suitable tools for successful AI implementation. IT leaders of organizations are most concerned about privacy (76%) and data security (75%). Only a tenth of organizations say they are fully prepared to comply with upcoming AI regulations.

Meanwhile, some early adopters are already seeing significant benefits: 89% report improved employee experience and satisfaction, 82% save on operational costs, and 82% cite higher customer retention.