Ascendion and HFS Research GenAI Report: Unlocking the Future with GenAI Skills Playbook

Workers with AI skills are a top need but with people with skills in “the classics” are more likely to be valuable in near future than those of software or prompt engineers.

After decades of development, AI has left the computer science lab and is now beginning to impact how business is conducted. And yet, no single technology advance in the past several decades has attracted more attention – or created more fear – than Generative AI. Between over-inflated expectations and doomsday predictions, business leaders have been left stranded without clear guidance, meaningful insight, or a playbook for the future of business.

HFS Research, in partnership with Ascendion, is now releasing Your Generative Enterprise™ Playbook for the Future,a first-of-its-kind applied research series offering enterprise leaders a head start in the race to succeed with GenAI technology. Data and insights provide practical guidance, real-world insights, and tactical recommendations honed from extensive quantitative surveys and in-depth interviews with executive business leaders and AI innovators from companies with $500+ million in revenue.

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According to HFS Research Executive Research Leader David Cushman, “Study respondents have effectively visited the future. They like what they’ve seen and want more of it. The next few quarters and years will be a rocket ride for companies correctly timing innovation with GenAI and balancing investment with return. Leaders sitting on the sidelines could face an extinction event.”

More than 120 early adopters interviewed call GenAI the most disruptive technology they have ever experienced and state the benefits for enterprises will swiftly move beyond quick wins and savings to impact revenue and market valuation.

Ascendion is on a mission to help businesses move GenAI from a test case to the fast track of how work gets done. “The key to generative AI isn’t bots, it’s brains. The right human skills empower us to harness its power. To build the last mile where enterprises will reap the most value depends on the intersection of technology plus talent,” said Prakash Balasubramanian, Executive Vice President and Global Head of Engineering Practices and Delivery at Ascendion.

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Some top highlights from the research include:

• We need more humans in the loop. A striking 75% of the surveyed cohort ranked having sufficient GenAI-skilled talent as a top obstacle for effective deployment, highlighting the talent gap as a significant challenge.
• Invest in humanities to meet the GenAI talent gap. Nearly 88% of respondents believe GenAI will make power skills like communication, empathy, curiosity, and emotional intelligence far more important, highlighting the evolving skillset required in the GenAI era.
• AI will deliver more than just cost savings.While initial benefits include cost savings and productivity gains, GenAI’s true potential lies in driving revenue growth and market valuation.
• AI will unlock value from every business function. Around 47% of leaders identify customer service as the key business function where GenAI will create high value over the next 12 to 18 months, illustrating its immediate applicability.
• Generative AI will re-shape business economics. The study finds that approximately 40% of respondents expect GenAI to deliver a more than 10% improvement in overall productivity, signaling the urgency for businesses to adapt.

“GenAI will deliver significant, if not spectacular, benefits for business economics in most companies. For companies not making the right moves right now, the velocity of this shift will likely become an existential threat,” says HFS Research CEO and Chief Analyst Phil Fersht.“ Based on our data, ignoring critical lessons learned and informed opinions from our GenAI pioneers is unwise.”

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