CEOs rank HR as the lowest AI investment priority

2023 has been a big year for AI. 2024 will be even bigger, and HR leaders are preparing for it.

Of the 220 HR executives surveyed by Accenture last month, 97% intend to increase their technology spend in 2024, a 7% increase from 2023. Data and AI are the highest priority tech investments, with 79% of CHROs planning to invest in these areas next year, a 10% jump from this year.

HR leaders are generally optimistic about AI. The majority of respondents say the technology will enhance productivity by automating routine tasks, enable increased focus on creative and innovative tasks, and improve job satisfaction by, again, reducing time spent on mundane tasks. About half say it will allow employees to engage in more meaningful work.

All surveyed CHROs report already implementing some form of generative AI training in their organization. Seventy-four percent say they provide training on effectively using generative AI, and 56% plan to offer academic partnerships that provide AI skills training next year.

Accenture is one of them. The professional services firm recently announced a three-year, $3 billion investment in AI that will double its AI talent to 80,000. For Allison Horn, Accenture’s talent transformation lead, the company’s survey results provide a sigh of relief that her peers are also investing in the novel technology. 

“It’s reassuring. This is game-changing in a really good, positive, energy-producing way,” she says. “Generative AI is really going to get rid of some of the mundane work and get us to the parts of work that we all enjoy more.”

Interestingly, though, the top AI investment priority for HR leaders isn’t in their function. Rather, it’s in customer service (56%), followed by HR (45%), and finance (44%). That differs from CEOs’ AI investment priorities. Of the 429 CEOs polled, the top use cases for generative AI are in the supply chain, manufacturing, and customer service, while HR is the lowest priority.

It may surprise some that HR isn’t a top focus for chief executives or even their people ops leaders, but both functions agree that customer service is an area that will see quicker ROI in improving job quality. 

“When you see something like what generative AI can produce for things like customer service and call centers, it’s an obvious value case,” says Horn. “And it’s also one that usually has scale…If you’re talking about something like call centers, [that’s] hundreds or thousands of people. So you can start to see this value very quickly.”

Paige McGlauflin
[email protected]
@paidion

Reporter's Notebook

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Companies that said they would cover abortion care following the Dobbs v. Jackson Supreme Court decision last year received 8% more interest from potential job seekers, according to a new paper from researchers at Indeed, the University of Southern California, the IZA Institute of Labor Economics, and University of Maryland, College Park.

The jump was even more pronounced in states where the ruling led to an immediate abortion ban. Companies would otherwise have to increase posted wages by 12% to achieve a similar boost in candidate interest, researchers found.

Around the Table

A round-up of the most important HR headlines.

- The Biden Administration is expected to make an executive order next Monday requiring AI models to be tested before federal workers use them. Washington Post

- Ford and the United Auto Workers union reached a tentative deal on Wednesday that would increase wages by 25% over four years and includes cost-of-living wage adjustments, pension and job security gains, and the right to strike over plant closures. New York Times

- An off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot’s failed attempt at disabling the engines of an in-flight commercial plane last weekend has renewed conversations about mental health and the consequences of speaking out about it in the industry. Wall Street Journal

- Software company Autodesk lets managers have almost complete control over whether their teams work in-person or remotely, a policy the company’s chief people officer attributes to fewer exits over the past year. CNN Business

Watercooler

Everything you need to know from Coins2Day .

Winning policies. The top-ranked workplaces in this year’s Coins2Day Best Workplaces for Women list excelled in wage and promotion fairness, psychological and emotional health, healthy work-life balance, and a sense of meaningful work. —Ted Kitterman

Take notes. The CEO of Neiman Marcus believes sending thank you messages, a habit Gen Z hasn't picked up, was paramount to his success. Some hiring managers think it could make the difference between a job offer and a rejection. —Paige Hagy

The root of the problem. The senior manager of policy and insights at the think tank Economist Impact believes unnecessary meetings are what truly hinder employee productivity. Eliminating them and letting employees work flexibly could increase productivity and help companies recoup billions of dollars, she argues. —Jane Thier