Artificial Intelligence in Europe - Belgium & Luxembourg Outlook for 2019 and Beyond - Microsoft
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Artificial Intelligence in Europe Belgium & Luxembourg Outlook for 2019 and Beyond How 277 Major Companies Benefit from AI R E P O R T CO M M I S S I O N E D BY M I C R O S O F T A N D CO N D U C T E D BY E Y
Contents Preface Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 06 Executive Summary - ‘At a Glance’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 08 Setting the Scene About this Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Rich Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Executive Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Participating Companies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Bits & Bytes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Follow the Money . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Case Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Experts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Role of AI in European Business A Strategic Agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Among Friends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Push or Pull . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Ready, Set... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 AI Maturity Curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 State Your Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Case Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Business Benefits and Risks Another World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 AI Here, There, Everywhere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Case Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Use it or Lose it . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Making AI simple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Case Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Sector Benefits Landscape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Risky Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Learn from the Leaders Capabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 AI Competency Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Advanced Analytics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Data Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 AI Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Open Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Emerging Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Disclaimer Agile Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 This report has been prepared by Ernst & Young LLP in accordance with This report does not constitute a recommendation or endorsement by Ernst External Alliances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 an engagement agreement for professional services with Microsoft. Ernst & Young LLP or Microsoft to invest in, sell, or otherwise use any of the mar- Emotional Intelligence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 & Young LLP’s obligations to Microsoft are governed by that engagement kets or companies referred to in it. To the fullest extent permitted by law, agreement. This disclaimer applies to all other parties. Microsoft and Ernst & Young LLP and its members, employees and agents, do Case Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 not accept or assume any responsibility or liability in respect of this report, or This report has been prepared for general informational purposes only and decisions based on it, to any reader of the report. Should such readers choose What’s next for you? is not intended to be relied upon as accounting, tax, or other professional to rely on this report, then they do so at their own risk. advice. Refer to your advisors for specific advice. Ernst & Young LLP and Mi- How to Get Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 crosoft accept no responsibility to update this report in light of subsequent ©2018 EY LLP Limited All Rights Reserved. Who to Contact from Microsoft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 events or for any other reason. Contributors from EY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 2 3
AI is driving significant change in business and society as it increasingly becomes a part of everyone’s lives. Businesses must adjust as entire industries are reshaped due to AI. It is interesting to see in Luxembourg and Belgium that these adjustments are being driven not by the IT departments, but by leaders on the business side who are clearly seeing the great potential for AI technology to help their companies advance. —Harry Shum, Executive Vice President of Microsoft AI and Research Group 4 5
Preface Preface Foreword Human Ingenuity Technology for Humans The rise of artificial intelligence is unstoppable. I believe its evolution The printing press, the automobile & the Internet are just a few technolog- should not be hindered, despite its potential to have a profound impact on ical achievements that have advanced our world. All were driven by human jobs - including mine. ingenuity: our innate creativity that inspires us to learn, imagine & explore. This spirit is what pushes us to challenge the boundaries of the possible to Technology has always impacted the way we do business. A little less than go ever forward. two centuries ago, Belgium saw an opportunity in the development of rail- roads. Some jobs disappeared or changed, other jobs and industries arose. Today, AI is helping to amplify our human ingenuity, opening up exciting Belgium created a regulatory environment and became a world leader in new possibilities for how intelligent technology can shape our world. At coal mining and iron production. Microsoft, our goal is to democratize access to AI for everyone through in- novative & powerful platforms, & above all, we’re focused on ensuring that History always repeats itself. Consequently, I believe that countries and our AI tools & technologies are deployed responsibly & earn people’s trust. companies embracing AI will clearly create a competitive advantage and will grow at a faster pace than those who resist it. You will read in the And yet, we realize that AI is one of the lesser understood modern tech- report that companies in Belgium & Luxembourg are already laying the nological break-throughs. Many questions remain. How are companies foundations for the future, conducting pilot projects or releasing AI appli- applying this technology to empower employees, engage with customers, cations for their daily operations. transform their business and optimize their operations? Where are they seeing benefits, and what are their blockers? At Microsoft we believe in AI-driven technology that puts people at the center. I hope this report may inspire you to use AI to be even more cus- To provide answers, Microsoft commissioned this study to understand the tomer centric, transform your products and services, optimize your pro- AI strategy of major companies across 7 sectors & 15 countries in Europe. cesses and inspire your employees. We look forward to working with you It examines these companies’ readiness to adopt AI, how they rate the im- to create artificial intelligence that truly augments human capabilities. pact and benefits from AI implementations, and what they perceive as risks & keys to success. We hope you find these insights inspirational for your own journey toward adopting AI & realizing its benefits for amplifying human ingenuity. Vahé Torossian Didier Ongena President, Microsoft Western Europe 6 7
Preface Preface At a Glance Noticeable potential for AI in many Companies in Belgium and Luxembourg beginning to explore corporate functions possibilities with AI The most widely reported adoption of When looking across the 21 companies that have participated in the AI (47%) was in the IT/Technology func- study in Belgium and Luxembourg, it is clear that they are actively ex- tion, followed by R&D with 36%, and ploring and pursuing possibilities with AI, with their current maturity customer service with 24%. Interestingly, roughly on level with their European peers. More companies from several functions are hardly using AI at Belgium and Luxembourg report that AI is currently an important topic all; most notably, the procurement func- to their C-suite than the European aggregate and 90% report that AI is While the hype of artificial intelligence Most impact expected from ‘opti- is almost as much as AI is expected to tion, where only 4% of the companies at least as important as other digital priorities, if not more important. (AI) and its potential role as a driver of mizing operations’, with ‘engaging impact the core of these companies’ cur- currently use AI, followed by HR with 7% Expected impact is high as well: the vast majority of companies from transformational change to businesses customers’ as a close second rent business with 65% expecting AI to and product management with 9%. This Belgium and Luxembourg report expecting AI to create some degree of and industries is pervasive, there are 89% of the respondents expect AI to have a high or a very high impact on the is perhaps surprising, given the many impact across all business areas – core, adjacent and new. limited insights into what companies generate business benefits by optimiz- core business. With AI presumably push- use cases and applicable solutions in are actually doing to reap its benefits. ing their companies’ operations in the ing companies into totally new domains these functional areas. This report aims at getting a deeper future. This is followed by 74% that ex- in the future, it is perhaps not surprising understanding of how companies cur- pect AI to be key to engaging custom- that AI is receiving attention as a key What sets the most ‘AI mature’ 8 key capabilities that are most im- rently manage their AI activities, and ers by enhancing the user experience, topic for executive management. portant ‘to get AI right’ companies apart? how they address the current challeng- tailoring content, increasing response es and opportunities ahead. Very few of the 277 companies con- When asking the respondents to rank speed, adding sentiment, creating sider themselves “advanced” with AI the importance of 8 capabilities to ena- experiences, anticipating needs, etc. To get to the heart of this agenda, we ble AI in their businesses, ‘advanced ana- They expect AI will be beneficial in ‘empowering employees’ (76% Despite the apparent sizable impact that received input from AI leaders in 277 lytics’ and ‘data management’ emerged of ‘more mature’ companies* vs. 42% of ‘less mature’ companies)*. C-suite respondents scored ‘engaging companies expect from AI, only a very companies, across 7 sectors and 15 as the most important. ‘AI leadership’ customers’ highest of the AI benefit small proportion of companies, consti- countries in Europe, via surveys and/or and having an ‘open culture’ followed. They report using a combination of structured and unstructured areas. Noticeably, 100% of the most ad- tuting 4% of the total sample, self-re- interviews. Below is the brief summary vanced* companies expect AI will help port that AI is actively contributing to data for AI (65% of ‘more mature’ companies vs. 15% of ‘less mature’ of what they had to say. When self-assessing the capabilities companies), and data from both internal and external sources (68% them engage customers, compared to ‘many processes in the company and where the companies are least com- of ‘more mature’ companies vs. 16% of ‘less mature’ companies). only 63% of the less mature companies. enabling quite advanced tasks today’ AI is a “hot topic” - but more so on petent, they point to emotional intelli- Using AI to ‘transform products and (referred to as ‘most advanced’ in this C-level than in daily operations gence and AI leadership - defined as the They expect AI will help them ‘engage customers’ (85% of ‘more services’ comes out slightly lower with report). (lack of) ability to lead an AI transfor- mature’ companies vs. 59% of ‘less mature’ companies). 71% of the companies respond that 65%, and ‘empowering employees’ mation by articulating a vision, setting AI is considered an important topic the lowest with 60% of the companies Another 28% are in the ‘released’ stage goals and securing broad buy-in across They see AI predominately being driven from a combination of on the executive management level. expecting AI-generated benefits in where they have put AI selectively to ac- the organization. technology push and business pull (61% of ‘more mature’ compa- This is significantly higher than on that area. tive use in one or a few processes in the the non-managerial / employee level company. The majority, 51% of compa- nies vs. 32% of ‘less mature’ companies). To summarize, the challenge ahead where AI is only considered an impor- AI is expected to impact entirely nies, are still only planning for AI or are appears to be as much about culture and tant topic in 28% of the companies. new business areas in the future in early stage pilots. 7% of companies leadership as it is about data, analytics, * ‘More mature’ defined as companies that self-ranked as 4 or 5 on the maturity Interestingly, Board of Directors also 57% of the companies expect AI to are self-rated as least mature, indicating 5-scale, and ‘less mature’ defined as companies that self-ranked as 1 or 2. and technology. came out lower with ‘only’ 38% of have a high impact or a very high im- that they are not yet thinking about AI at respondees reporting that AI is impor- pact on business areas that are “entirely this stage. tant to their board. unknown to the company today”. This Only 4% Percentage of companies that are still only in the planning or piloting stages: 71% of the companies 57% of the companies Share of companies that use acquisitions as a way to 80% of the most mature obtain AI capabilities: 61% 10% of the companies are actively respond that AI is considered expect AI to have a high impact companies expect that AI using AI in ‘many processes ‘an important topic’ on the on ‘business areas that are will be beneficial by and to enable advanced tasks’ executive management level entirely unknown today’ only ‘empowering employees’ 8 9
Setting the Scene Setting the Scene About this Report What’s new? Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not new. in AI, what they are investing in, and efit areas, how mature companies are Straight from the executives Contributions from open-minded It has existed for decades: processing how they are managing the compli- in terms of adoption, and examining and collaborative companies Where this report and extensive da- voice to text or language translation; cated process of adopting this new self-reported competence levels re- taset adds new insights is primarily We are extremely thankful for the time real-time traffic navigation; dynami- technology and deriving value across garding the capabilities required to into how leading companies are ap- and effort the many executives have cally serving targeted advertisements business opportunities. succeed when implementing AI. proaching AI on a very practical level. put into participating in interviews and based on personal data and browsing We hear straight from executives how providing data for this study. We’re par- history; predicting trends and guiding Perspectives, experiences, self- From the aggregate dataset we have their companies are addressing cur- ticularly appreciative of their willing- We are certainly working with investment decisions in financial in- assessment, and benchmarks been able to determine some bench- rent challenges, and how they apply AI ness to openly share experiences and AI. At some point it has to stitutions. The current developments From new surveys, interviews and case marks across the covered markets, to unlock new value pockets. provide their perspectives on where have been fueled by an exponential which we compare the individual the future is heading within AI. become the hub on which we studies gathered from approximately rise in computing power, increasing 277 companies, we provide a snapshot country with throughout the report. Based on the many interviews con- are running. accessibility and sophistication of pow- of the current state of AI in 15 European The report also covers a full spectrum ducted, this report reveals some clear While this indicate a general interest in erful algorithms, and an explosion in markets. This includes analyzing AI’s of industry groups which tend to reveal excitement and immense potential for the AI topic, it also speaks to the in- — TomTom the volume and detail of data available relative importance on the strategic interesting insights. using AI to bring new, improved prod- creasingly collaborative approach Navigation solutions to feed AI’s capabilities. agenda, its expected impact and ben- ucts and services to market, create many leading companies are taking company exceptional experiences for customers when entering new technology do- Reality vs. hype and employees, and create ways to mains and embarking on journeys operate that enhance performance into unknown territories. Only recently started to see more widespread, scaled adoption of AI across the board. across sectors, value chains and eco- systems. Yet AI technology is quickly We learned that regardless of which approaching a point where it is be- use cases the companies pursue and coming a critical element in enabling the role that AI currently has, taking a companies across sectors to drive AI will change how the game is strategic outlook to assess the implica- revenue, increase profits and remain played. Whether it is from an industry tions for the business and responding competitive. accordingly are increasingly seen as perspective, a consumer perspective or crucial for any executive agenda. employee perspective, it will disrupt the We hear many people in numerous companies talk about AI. While the industry. hype is pervasive, not a lot of people fully understand its technological — Alpro potential, where it can create value or Food company how to get started. This report aims at providing a practical understanding of why European companies are investing 10 11
Artificial intelligence in Europe Setting the Scene Rich Data Which sources of information is the study based on? We believe the biggest disruption from AI begins at, for example, being able to drive This report combines multiple sources of data to answer the questions of why, We also present case studies of specific companies, both local and internation- Recognizing and mitigating potential survey and interview bias a self-driving car. Will there be need for where and how AI is currently being used in business. It provides an inside view al, to provide an understanding of what they are doing with AI and why, draw- In terms of methodology, this report follows robust research design and personal insurance, if all cars are self-driving? across markets and sectors. It combines ing on lessons learned and obstacles to protocol. Doing so minimizes potential local and pan-European views, and adds overcome when putting AI to use for bias, but does not eliminate it, as it value through a quantitative perspective specific use cases and to derive value is inevitable in market research. One on how advanced companies are with on a strategic level. potential type is social desirability AI, and a qualitative perspective on how and conformity bias, as the topic of Proprietary AI investment data — Ageas Insurance company to develop the skills required to succeed AI receives lots of media and political with AI. We have received input from We have supplemented the prima- attention. Response bias, including over 300 people from 277 participating ry source input from the companies extreme responding, cultural bias, and companies. This has resulted in a range of with acquisition data from numerous acquiescence bias (“yea-saying”), are interviews and case studies as well as 269 sources, to take the pulse of the AI potential factors as we ask respondents company responses to our survey. investment market in Europe. These to self-report on their respective com- insights help provide a picture of the panies’ experience. Therefore, while Extensive online survey data from wider European AI ecosystem and its this report follows best practices, some business leaders in 269 companies development. bias is possible. We have surveyed people with a leading role in managing the AI agenda in all the AI expert perspectives Nonetheless, with the combination of companies that have contributed to the With this wider understanding of AI extensive survey data, interview data, study. This gives us an aggregate dataset start-up acquisitions, partnerships, and investment data, and expert perspec- that enables a perspective for each mar- investment funding, we outline how tives, we believe the report provides a ket and each sector, as well as compara- investments in AI are skyrocketing, solid foundation for an indispensable Use cases where we got the best results were tive insights for the respective company where AI investment is taking place view of executive experience with – types, sectors, and countries in Europe. geographically, and which sectors are and future plans for – AI in business. when we had a strong lead on the business making bets. As we are on the cusp of Qualitative in-depth interviews with widespread change driven by AI, we senior business executives also reached out to AI experts from side to coordinate the work and act as ‘data In addition, we conducted deep-dive interviews to gain deeper, qualitative academia for an outlook of AI technol- ogies going mainstream, and to gain translators’ between the data scientists and insights into how AI is affecting the ex- an understanding of the macro scale ecutive agenda. Through conversations of business effects that they expect will with business leaders, we report on materialize when looking into a distant their own colleagues. where they expect AI will have an impact, how important AI is to their current and future. future business strategies, what benefits they hope to realize from implementing AI, and which capabilities they believe — Proximus Telecommunications company are key to advance AI maturity in their companies. 12 13
Setting the Scene Setting the Scene Executive Perspective Large group of respondents Surveyed companies are well represented across Who are the respondents that have contributed to the study? with a specific AI/digital role each of the 15 European markets Organizational function of respondents Number of online surveyed companies per country in the online survey The data approach used allows us to Functional diversity A combined annual revenue identify trends across industries and The respondents cover very different of $2.3 trillion countries based on input from various functions, of which the most common Participants come from both major N e th functional business areas. Consequent- are designated AI/digital department, listed companies, privately held com- 67 erlan nd ly, we have captured a range of in- followed by IT, and strategy/general panies, and in some case relatively small Ir e l a sights, learnings, and perspectives from ds management functions. This functional companies. In totality, they represent a 60 both strategic and technical points of diversity increases the breadth of the combined revenue of approximately N en or ed view. w report, with insights and perspectives $2.3 trillion. Despite covering a signifi- Sw ay 22 20 covering widely different aspects of AI. cant part of total European business, our 45 Respondents predominantly in selection criteria have also favored more 20 21 D e nm an d senior level positions ar k ze r l Surveyed companies span niche oriented companies with extensive 39 Swit To ensure that these insights and per- multiple sectors AI experience and capabilities. 27 25 20 26 spectives are relevant at the executive level, we surveyed and interviewed The participating companies are spread 269 fairly evenly across seven sectors, with Primarily listed companies online survey 21 20 high-ranking officers with a responsi- the majority of companies belonging companies Italy represented in data from Austria in total bility for driving the AI agenda in their to Industrial Products & Manufactur- 5 Belgium and Luxembourg respective companies. With 60% of ing, followed by Financial Services, and 22 The vast majority of respondents 22 respondents being either part of top Transportation, Energy & Construction. management or the executive man- in Belgium and Luxembourg are l Fin Services and Life Science are represented ga 15 20 lan major listed companies or compa- tu Digital/AI General Management, Strategy General IT/Technology & Business Development R&D & Product Management Customer Service & Marketing Admin & Finance Other 21 agement team, their input is likely well r d to a lesser extent. Po attuned to the general perspective and nies privately held by foundations. All the participating companies in Un ce & G overall strategic direction of the com- ain Fra ite Belgium and Luxembourg had a Sp panies they represent. Luxenbourg Belgium & n dK combined total annual revenue of i n g m a ny do over $241 billion in 2017. er m, More than 300 participants Majority hold a top management or executive position Number of participants interviewed Organisational level of person participating in the study and/or online surveyed in the study Seven major sectors covered in the study Representation of participating companies per sector category 26 of +300 are Belgian & Luxembourg companies C-suite/Executive 27% + 9% 21% 17% 7% 48% Top Management Life Science Industrial Products Finance Services (non-executive) 33% Pharmaceutical, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Banking, Insurance, Professional Services, Biotech Materials, Equipment Investments Hospitality, Public Services, Membership Organization 29% Management Level 37% 13% 16% 17% 19% Employee (non-managerial level) 3% CPR TMT Infrastructure 5% Consumer Products Technology, Transportation, Energy, & Retail Media/Entertainment & Telecom Construction, Real Estate 15 European markets Belgium & Luxembourg 15 European markets Belgium & Luxembourg 14 15
Setting the Scene Setting the Scene 277 Companies Indie Campers, Intesa Sanpaolo, ISDIN, ISS, Jansen AG, Julius Baer, Katoen Natie, KBC Group, Kemira, Kingspan Group, KLP Banken, Komplett, Kongsberg Gruppen, LafargeHolcim, LanguageWire, LEGO, LEO Pharma, Lerøy Seafood, Liga Portugal, L’Occitane, Lonza, A.P. Moller - Maersk, Acciona, Adamant-Namiki of Europe, Aegon, L’Oreal, Lusíadas Saúde, Luz Saúde, Länsförsäkringar, MAPFRE, Aena, Ageas, Agfa-Gevaert, Agrifirm Group, Ahlstrom-Munksjö, Merkur Versicherung, Metall Zug , Metro, Metso, M-Files, Millicom, AIB, AkzoNobel, Almirall, Alpro, ALSA, Amadeus, AMAG, Ambea, Mota-Engil, Mutua Madrileña Automovilista, Møller Mobility Group, APM Terminals, Aprila Bank, Arcelor Mittal, Ardagh Group, Neste, NH Hotel Group, Nilfisk, Nokia Corporation, NorgesGruppen, Arval BNP Paribas Group, Asiakastieto Group, Assa Abloy, Norstat, Novabase, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Novozymes, Assicurazioni Generali, Atea, Audi, Austrian Airlines, Austrian Now TV, OBI, Oesterreichische Nationalbank, OP Financial Group, Federal Computing Centre, Autogrill, BAM Group, Barco, BASF, Opportunity Network, Orion, Paddy Power Betfair, Peltarion, BAWAG P.S.K, Baxter, BBVA, Besix, Bolloré, BTG, BUWOG, C&C Pernod Ricard, PFA, Philips, Planeta DeAgostini, Poste Italiane, Group, Campbells International, Capio, Carmeuse, Carnival Posti, PostNord, Proximus, Pöyry, Rabobank, Raiffeisen Software, UK, CEiiA, Cermaq, Chr. Hansen, Cirsa, City of Amsterdam, Raiffeisen Switzerland, Ramada Investimentos SA, Randstad, Rexel, Colruyt Group, Com Hem, Combient, Comifar Distribuzione, ROCKWOOL Group, Room Mate Hotels, Royal College of Surgeons in Constitutional Court of Austria, Coolblue, COOP Nederland, Ireland, S Group, Saipem, Saint Gobain, Sakthi Portugal, Salsa, Saxo Bank, Cosentino Group, Costa Crociere, Credit Suisse, Crédito Agrícola, Sbanken, SBB Swiss Federal Railways, Schindler, SEB, SGS, DAF Trucks, Danfoss, Danske Bank, Dawn Meats, DFDS, DNA, Siemens Mobility, SimCorp, Skandia, Solvay, Sonae, Sonae Arauco, DNB, DSM, DSV, Dümmen Orange, Dynamic ID, DAA, Edison, SpareBank 1 SMN, SpareBank 1 Østlandet, Sportmaster, Statkraft, EDP - Energias de Portugal, Egmont, EQT, Ericsson, Erste Group Stedin, Steyr Mannlicher, Stora Enso, Styria Marketing Services, Suomen Bank, ESB, ESIM Chemicals, Esprinet, Europac, Fazer, FDJ, Terveystalo, Swedbank, Swisscom, Taylor Wimpey, TDC, Teamwork, Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss, Ferrovial, Telefónica, Telekom Austria, Telenor Global Shared Services, Telia, Fexco, Finnair, Fortum, Galp, Geberit, Genalice, Generali Versicherung, Tesco, Tetra Pak, The Navigator Company, TIM, Tine, Tokmanni , GetVisibility, Gjensidige Forsikring, Glen Dimplex Group, Globalia, TomTom, Tryg, TTS Group, TVH, Ubimet, UDG Healthcare, UniCredit, GN Store Nord, GrandVision, Grupo Antolin, Grupo Ascendum, Unilin, UPM, Vaisala, Valmet, Valora Group, Van Lanschot, Vattenfall, Grupo Codere Cablecom, Grupo Juliá, Grupo Nabeiro – Delta Cafés, Version 1, Visana, Vodafone Automotive, VodafoneZiggo, Voestalpine Grupo Pestana, Grupo Visabeira, GSK, GAA, H. Lundbeck, Hafslund, High Performance Metals, WABCO, WALTER GROUP, Western Bulk, Handelsbanken, Hera, Hostelworld, Husqvarna, IKEA Group, William Demant, Wind Tre, WIT Software, Wolters Kluwer, Zurich Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Company, Implenia, Impresa, Airport, Zurich Insurance, Öhman, Ørsted, Österreichische Post. Belgian & Luxembourg companies All companies, excluding Belgian & Luxembourg companies Note: Of all contributing companies, 14 chose to be anonymous, 0 of them being from Belgium & Luxembourg 16 17
Setting the Scene Setting the Scene Bits and Bytes Companies are using a mix of Data Sources and Storage Companies are using a combination Solution: How are you primarily dealing with the computing demands of on-premise and cloud solutions needed for AI? Data Source: 1.Are you currently using unstructured or structured data Companies are increasingly using What technologies and data solutions are within the scope of the study? cloud-based AI solutions for both types in your AI process? 2.Are you currently using internal or external data sources in your AI process? storage and on-demand computing power - 83% of companies reporting using Cloud technology to some ex- AI can be defined as the ability of a not in common use by companies in While companies historically have tent to enable their AI capabilities. Key machine to perform cognitive func- Europe. Companies surveyed are cur- primarily have used internal data for benefits of cloud solutions mentioned by many respondents are the flexibility Solution tions which are normally associated rently focused on narrower and more supervised Machine Learning, many with humans. This includes reasoning, specific use-cases that support existing have begun exploring the possibility of to swiftly scale systems up and down learning, problem solving, and in some business. These efforts will undoubt- combining internal and external data- to accommodate changing demand, a cases even exercising human behavior edly help companies build capabilities sets in order to produce even deeper variable cost structure, and access to 27% 17% 56% such as creativity. that are necessary to deploy more insights. larger data sets. However, many com- In Cloud On premise Both advanced AI solutions in the future. panies are still relying on on-premise Advanced AI applications are not Machine Learning and Smart Robot- solutions, not least due to existing data yet widespread Machine Learning ics were found to be the most useful. infrastructure. AI holds the potential to transform The most commonly used AI technol- It is not clear from the study if this is business in a radical way given its wide ogy among the surveyed companies because they are simply the most com- mon starting points before deploying Machine learning, smart robo- variety of use. Quite simply, business is Machine Learning. This is inarguably more advanced technologies, or if they tics and NLP most useful for leaders need to understand AI in order due to its wide-ranging applicabili- also longer term hold the most wide companies in Belgium and Lux- to grasp the opportunities and threats ty, making it relevant for a variety of and significant application potential. embourg the technologies pose. use-cases across the value chain. Of the Data Source different types of Machine Learning, On average, the underlying tech- 32% 7% 43% While companies acknowledge the the most common is supervised Ma- nologies that are most useful Structured Unstructured Both significant potential of broader, more chine Learning, where software is fed for companies in Belgium and advanced AI technologies such as structured data and finds patterns that Luxembourg are concentrated computer vision, speech recognition, can be used to understand and inter- in three areas: machine learning and virtual agents, they are currently pret new observations. (81%), smart robotics (62%) and natural language processing (48%). Smart robotics ranks con- siderably higher than the Europe- A broad definition of technologies are included in this AI definition an aggregate (44%). 38% 3% 44% Technologies included in the definition of AI used in this study Internal External Both Text Analysis Computational analysis of texts, Natural Language Processing making it readable by other AI or Biometrics Machine Learning and Smart Robotics found to be the most useful computer systems. Computer interpretation, under- Analysis of human physical and Which of the following technologies have you found to be most useful in your company’s deployment of AI? standing, and generation of written emotional characteristics – used natural human language. also for identification and access control. 77% 44% 40% 39% 39% 26% 21% 20% 6% Virtual Agents Computer-generated virtual personas Machine Learning that can be used to interact with people A computer’s ability to ‘learn’ in both B2C, C2B, and B2B contexts. from data, either supervised or 81% 62% 48% 43% 38% 33% 14% 24% 10% non-supervised. Speech Recognition Neural Networks and Deep Learning Enables computers to interpret spo- Machines emulating the human brain, ken language and to transform it into enabling AI models to learn like humans. written text or to treat it as commands for a computer. Machine Smart robotics Natural Neural Text analysis Virtual agents Speech Computer Biometrics Computer Vision learning language networks and recognition vision Gives computers the ability to processing deep learning Smart Robotics “see” images similar to how The combination of AI and robots to humans see. Affirmative responses, 15 European markets Affirmative responses, Belgium & Luxembourg perform advanced tasks compared to traditional non-intelligent robots. Note: Remaining percent ‘Don’t know’ responses 18 19
Setting the Scene Setting the Scene Follow the Money acquisitions, and is also much in line with what we’re seeing when compar- ing with the US and Asia. Over $110 million invested in AI start-ups in Belgium and Lux- TMT most active, behind private equity and venture capital Investments into AI companies per sector, How much is invested in AI in Europe? Finland embourg in the past decade mUSD (accumulated 2008-2018)* $24M Investment activity concentrated in In Belgium and Luxembourg, Norway 21 deals major European markets there were 14 transactions over $30M It comes as no surprise that a lot of the past decade involving com- A few big AI transactions 5 deals influencing the overall picture investment activity is in the UK, France, panies working with AI. Of these, Company AI investments in mUSD and and Germany, having attracted 87% of 10 reported deal value totaling $254M transaction volume per market 73 deals investment in AI companies over the $110 million, implying the ac- past decade. The UK leads significantly tual amount is even higher. Of $7,453M (accumulated 2008-2018) Sweden 1,027 deals in this regard, with 533 of the total the AI companies in Belgium Private Equity / 1,362 AI transactions in Europe. From and Luxembourg that received Venture Capital** an investment perspective, it is also investments or were acquired, $330M* 21 deals worth noting that in April 2018, the EU 71% focus on machine learning committed to a 70% increase in invest- technology, likely due to its wide $7262M Denmark Ireland ment in European AI by 2020, suggest- applicability across a range of 533 deals The Netherlands ing further growth and potential in the business problems and sectors. United Kingdom $39M region. $43M 37 deals 45 deals $110M $520M Belgium & 140 deals Luxembourg Germany Steady increase in European AI investment AI companies invested into, transaction volume, Europe (from 2008-2018)** $1,843M 220 deals $107M TMT 31 deals $75M 17 deals $1357M Switzerland 165 deals Number of $494M Austria transactions 17 deals France Industrial Products $3M 450 8 deals $368M 398 Portugal $47M 12 deals 29 deals 400 Infrastructure European Belgium & $131M Italy 350 327 markets Luxembourg 79 deals Total $254M UK bubble size not represenative 300 investment 21 deals *Universal Robots acquired for $285M $10.5bn Life Science Spain 250 228 The acquisition data from numerous alone. This trend is on track to con- tive investors and acquirers of AI than $70M corporates, accounting for 75% of deal 200 41 deals sources enabled us to explore the tinue, with an exponential increase Finance European AI ecosystem and gain in- in interest in AI driving more large volume in the last 10 years. This is an 148 indication that AI companies are in the 150 sights into investment activity. companies to invest in AI or acquire AI capabilities from innovative start-ups. early stages of high risk/high growth 100 88 $38M An exponential increase in AI in- Of the 15 markets surveyed, some in- dynamics. It also indicates that, for 10 deals 64 vestment over the past decade clude one or two transactions that are large corporates, acquiring or invest- CPR ing in external AI businesses in order 50 29 27 Looking at AI transaction activity significantly large deals. 14 11 to obtain AI capabilities is relatively across Europe, there has been a steep 0 $22M Majority of investments in AI from limited. This is confirmed by our survey 14 deals consistent growth trend over the past private equity and venture capital results where only 10% of companies 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Services 10 years, totaling 1,334 transactions are seeking to obtain needed AI capa- involving AI by 2017 – with a six-fold Private equity (PE) and venture capital bilities through external investment or increase in activity in the last 5 years (VC) firms are significantly more ac- Europe **Including governmental investment Note: Several transactions in the dataset did not have publically disclosed deal values, suggesting that actual total values are higher than what’s shown above *For all of Europe, 34 countries (not just the 15 markets focused on in this report) 20 21
Artificial intelligence in Europe ( Case Study ) Setting the Scene Ageas Expert Perspective What does the future look like according to AI analysts? Ageas is currently using various forms cars in insurance claims, which frees Ageas is also anticipating going be- of AI, while also investigating the po- Ageas from having to send investiga- yond pictures, towards AI that can tential to use even more. For its daily tors to assess the damage. This appli- interpret videos. Furthermore, Natural operations, AI models are used to cation of AI makes the process signifi- Language Processing (NLP) is being forecast many aspects of the business. cantly faster and more convenient for applied in call centers and will soon These forecasts are used by Ageas both the client and Ageas. The appli- play a pivotal role in transforming cus- employees to make informed tomer service. Ageas is imple- decisions. Ageas currently has menting Artificial Intelligence We also spoke to a range of leading AI Agile culture enables AI task is to educate and improve un- over 100 internal predictive in client-facing areas to re- analytics projects running Ageas is implementing Artificial In- spond quickly and accurately, experts from business and academia Culture was a recurring theme as well. derstanding, from C-suite leadership to gain insights into the kind of change teams to employees at the coal face. or in the pipeline for the telligence in client-facing areas to while freeing up employees which we are on the cusp, and the It can either stifle forward momentum This also ties in with the importance of in organizations, or be the silver bullet coming two years, of which respond quickly and accurately, while to focus on the most critical role AI is expected to play as part of a that enables the potential of AI to be partnering to get started and access more than 10 have already freeing up employees to focus on the aspects of the business. The broader transformational wave. realized from top to bottom. the expertise needed to use AI. While been implemented into the key problem it faces with business. most critical aspects of the business. many AI technologies is their partnering and collaborating solves AI is entering the mainstream Some of the experts even argue that the perennial AI challenge concerning dependence on language. and here to stay the scarcity of talent, the significant it’s not only technical skills that hold However, for Ageas the most For example, a successful sys- cost and substantial benefit that can One thing was clear from the experts up AI projects, it’s also the need for a interesting aspect of AI lies in its ability cation of image analytics started in the tem implemented in the UK cannot be be gained from AI means that organ- we spoke to: as far as the peaks and culture of experimentation. to process unstructured data. Ageas UK and is now being quickly rolled out simply transferred and implemented in izations also need to be cognizant of troughs of hype and technological has begun using AI to analyze custom- to its other markets due to its success. Belgium or Portugal. building capabilities in-house for the leaps surrounding AI go, there is no Companies that are more natively er photos to estimate the damage of long-term. doubt that we are living through a digital or have gone down that road particularly prominent peak, with no understand the value of experimenting indication that the buzz nor the po- and iterating. They don’t think in tra- Finally, as AI develops, we are also tential will fade away any time soon. In ditional terms of committing to year- going to see innovation and expertise spreading outside of the dominant What next? a world increasingly dominated, dis- rupted and driven by innovative tech long projects that need to produce specific outputs, but rather to explore clusters of the likes of Silicon Valley, powerhouses, large and small, it is no and test ideas before scaling. as governments, businesses and uni- Ageas is a Belgium-based insurance company, employing over Going forward, Ageas will expand its AI initiatives to scale early versities increasingly invest in building understatement to suggest that AI will 50,000 people globally to serve 39 million customers across 15 successful use cases with intelligent automation in the front- knowledge, resources and capabilities. be a chief protagonist in the change When it comes to AI, countries, predominantly in Europe and Asia. With over 3 million end and back-end of the business. The goal of this is to further transcending all elements of business knowledge is power clients in Belgium, almost 1 in 2 Belgians households are customers automate processes and increase the efficiency of employees in what has been labelled the Fourth Expert opinion also seemed unani- of Ageas, making it a market leader in life insurance and number on a large scale by empowering them with AI tools. Ageas is Industrial Revolution. mous in that most people not directly 2 in non-life. Its revenue in Belgium was over €5 billion in 2017. progressively rolling out an AI-driven system aimed at forecasting what employees need and pushing it to them. The system will involved with AI must still have quite a Ageas is also a major player in auto insurance and travel insurance Business-minded people will also play an important role in systemically mining the knowledge basic understanding of what AI is and in the UK. drive the transformation embedded in the company. what it can actually do. Therefore, the The AI experts confirmed some of the key ingredients necessary for AI in organizations: a combination of do- main and technical expertise, the ap- propriate technology, the right talent, and lots and lots of data. While letting tech-savvy individuals drive innovation Farmers and growers are still reasonably We believe that AI will bring significant You need experts that truly know the is great for building understanding, conventional, with an average age of 55 years. The disruptions, such as enabling self-driving cars. true transformation will not come until chances are that this will change significantly in the technological playing field. You have to work business people start suggesting prob- If cars can become self-driving, why would with PhDs that understand both technology future. It could just be that technology companies lems for AI to solve - not the other way there be a need for personal insurance? and semantics. These people are hard to find, round. will become the disruptors of our market. they know they are precious on the market and they are typically more willing to join — Royal Agrifirm Group Agricultural cooperative start-ups. 22 23
Setting the Scene Setting the Scene We believe that every organization is going to have to write their From the Horse’s Mouth* own AI manifesto: what they believe about AI, how they’re going to use or not use data, how they’re going to publish data, and *From the highest authority make the consumers of their products and services aware of that. The creation of those manifestos is going to become a gateway to the success of AI. — Norm Judah, Chief Technology Officer of Worldwide Services at Microsoft The full extent of the AI story remains in its early stages. What we do know is that big data, computing power and connectivity If you have a ton of data, and your problem is one of classifying pat- are changing the industrial landscape. The opportunity rests in terns (like speech recognition or object identification), AI may well accelerating the digitization of businesses, making them more be able to help. But let’s be realistic, too: AI is still nowhere near as data driven by building applications that deliver machine-assist- flexible and versatile as human beings; if you need a machine to ed insights. read, or react dynamically, on the fly, to some kind of ever changing problem, the technology you seek may not yet exist. Intelligence is a — Mona Vernon, CTO, Thomson Reuters Labs really hard problem. — Gary Marcus, Founder & CEO, Geometric Intelligence [acquired by Uber] professor, NYU, contributor to The New Yorker and The New York Times In some cases, there is too much hype, but paradoxically, the potential opportunities and benefits of AI are still, if anything, under-hyped. Often, the impact of new technologies is overes- AI is a general purpose technology, so will eventually affect all in- timated in the short term and underestimated in the long term, dustries. However, this impact can be slowed by the lack of data and while there is a lot of noise regarding AI, there’s been a lack in particular industries. There’s also more innovative cultures of in-depth discussion and analysis of how it’s actually going to inside different organizations, that can either drive adoption or transform businesses. prevent it. — Nigel Duffy, Global AI Innovation Leader, EY — Marc Warner, CEO, ASI Data Science 24 25
Artificial intelligence in Europe Role of AI in European Business A Strategic Agenda Where is the AI conversation currently taking place? Role of AI A good starting point to understand Active C-suite and Board of Direc- both pertain to job insecurity and to how large European companies are tors involvement the fact that AI is still a highly abstract handling AI is to look at who in the In 71% of the companies surveyed, AI topic for many when it comes to prov- organization is driving the AI agenda, is already an important topic on the ing day-to-day business value. whether it be the Board, the C-suite, C-suite agenda and across various managers, or employees. roles - from cost-focused CFOs looking AI an important topic among for efficiency through automation, to in European AI is particularly relevant at executives in Belgium and Lux- CDOs with customer-oriented ambi- higher organizational levels embourg tions as part of wider digitalization From driving strategic considerations efforts, to the CTOs who is often still At 90%, Belgium and Luxem- at the Board level to being a topic of in- responsible for a type of AI Center of bourg has the highest number terest or concern at the employee level, Excellence. of respondents that indicate AI the results are clear: AI is important is an important item among ex- ecutives. Conversely, companies Business and resides across all levels at many of Companies more advanced in AI tend the organizations we interviewed. to have stronger involvement of the in Belgium and Luxembourg are C-suite and the Boards of Directors among the lowest in Europe that Only a few companies stated that AI is than the rest. They focus less on the report AI is an important topic not currently an important topic at any technology itself and more on the busi- among the managerial level and level of the organization - while the ness problems that AI can addresses. non-managerial employees, sug- vast majority of companies view AI as gesting that AI initiatives are pri- generally important regardless of how Relatively speaking, the AI topic seems marily driven by the C-suite. advanced they are, or how much AI is to not yet having reached the same being considered for deployment in level of importance at the non-mana- the near future. gerial level (employees) than at the top. Speculating about the reason, it could There is a lot of hype surrounding AI at the moment, and few doubt its potential. We examine how important is AI compared to other digital priorities and where AI fits on the strategic agenda. AI is an important topic on the C-suite level in particular On what hierarchical levels in your company is AI an important topic? AI is in particular an im- portant topic at the Execu- tive Management level We look at the impact of AI on the company’s core business, as S T R AT E G I C L E V E L well as adjacent and new areas of business. Board 38% of Directors 38% level 90% Executive We also examine the current AI maturity levels across sectors and Management level 71% markets, the potential drivers for deploying AI, and where AI is 43% Managerial 56% applied within organizations, across customer-facing functions, level operations, product development, and internal business support. Employee (non managerial 19% 28% level) O P E R AT I O N A L L E V E L Affirmative responses, 15 European markets Affirmative responses, Belgium & Luxembourg 26 27
Role of AI in European Business Role of AI in European Business Among Friends Push or Pull What is the importance of AI against other digital priorities? How is AI predominately deployed into the organizations? To understand the drivers behind Business drives AI advancements in companies in Belgium In a business era driven by innovation The participating companies are gen- AI seen as slightly more impor- the adoption and deployment of AI and Luxembourg and tech-led disruption, AI is obviously erally in the process of understanding tant vs. other digital priorities in the companies, we took a closer Among companies surveyed in Belgium and Luxembourg, AI not the sole priority. the potential of existing data, includ- in Belgium and Luxembourg look at how AI is approached in a top deployment is more frequently driven by pull from the business ing to what extent it can be used, down-bottom up management con- Many companies surveyed are as opposed to push from IT. In addition, 38% of the companies AI as a digital priority what it can be used for, and how to text, and from a functional tech- vs. engaging in successful pilot pro- manage AI bottom-up while 29% use a top-down approach. This When asked on a scale of 1 to 5 how capture and leverage it. business driven dynamic. jects or have AI initiatives that are result was confirmed in the executive interviews: some respond- important AI is to the business relative released into production. When ents highlight the high-level focus AI has in their companies while to other digital priorities, the majority Furthermore, many of the companies AI driven from a combination of it comes to their prioritization, others mention that different employee teams developing digital of respondents told us that it is about are focused on building the appropri- technology push and business pull respondents in Belgium and Lux- projects are in charge of driving AI. equal. Very few organizations said it ate data infrastructures or modern- The contributing companies are quite embourg on average consider was their most important digital priori- izing legacy systems as a top digital evenly split across deploying AI as a AI slightly more important than ty, or not formalized as a digital priority priority, both being prerequisites top down process, as a bottom up, or other digital priorities, a ranking at all, with the spread of responses for introducing AI into the company. as a combination of the two. However, AI deployed and managed in a balanced way above the European aggregate. leaning slightly towards the upper end Considering that AI is heavily reliant when looking at the self-reported most How would you characterize the way AI is being managed in your com- However, none of them report of the importance spectrum. on data as its fuel, this development advanced companies, they are more pany? How would you characterize the way AI is being deployed in your AI is the most important digital suggests that the foundations are top down than bottom up in their ap- company? priority. Respondents are also This slant is likely to increase as many being laid for further AI integration in proach. It was clear from speaking with focusing on collecting and storing companies expect AI to become more the years to come. them, that this is partly a result of AI the right data and building their important, as the technology develops general digital strategy. These being increasingly important enabler and use-cases become more clear to results suggest that, although AI in the company, and playing an in- Top Down Bottom up Both companies. is not the highest digital priority, creasingly significant role in the overall they are taking the steps neces- strategy. sary to move their AI initiatives forward. AI driven from a combination of technology push and business pull According to a large part of the com- Deployment Approach panies. and despite still being a techni- cally complex thing that requires many 34% 29% 29% 38% 28% 24% specially skilled employees, AI is most AI is seen as one of many digital priorities - but rarely the most important The majority consider AI to be important often deployed as a combination of How important is AI relative to your company’s other digital priorities? business pull and technology push. This resonates well with one of the Business Pull IT Push Both Avg. Score most consistent inputs from the execu- 44% 52% tives on the most sought after AI pro- 38% 28% files which centered in on the hybrid 9% 12% 3.4 3.1 5% 5% 7% profile that understand the business needs and the ability to match them to 0% the technological possibilities. 1 2 3 4 5 24% 48% 23% 19% 45% 33% Not important Important Most important AI is not formalised AI is one of many AI is the most important as a digital priority digital priorities digital priority 15 European markets Belgium & Luxembourg 15 European markets Belgium & Luxembourg Note: Remaining percent ‘Don’t know’ responses Note: Remaining percent ‘Don’t know’ responses 28 29
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