Companies that are successfully maximizing their AI investments are seeing at least a 25% improvement in their revenue growth rate, according to a new report from IBM.

The company surveyed 2,000 companies across the U.S., U.K, India, Japan, and Germany, and categorized 15% as AI Leaders who are ahead of their peers and the other 85% as AI Learners.

According to the report, there are four key factors that contribute to the success AI Leaders are seeing. 

Compared to their peers, AI Leaders:

  • Are more aggressive with their AI investments
  • Are more confident in their ability to access and manage their organization’s data
  • Have a C-suite that is fully aligned with IT leadership on what they need to do to achieve AI maturity
  • Can customize their AI efforts to achieve optimal value. 

“We discovered that Leaders don’t mindlessly chase trends. Instead, they look for the intersection of opportunity, need and internal capabilities to develop an action-oriented roadmap. They foster organization-wide alignment through clear and authentic communication,” IBM wrote in the report. 

The report also found that AI Leaders were 80% more likely to invest in the use cases of customer experience, IT operations and automation, virtual assistants, and cybersecurity. 

Overall, the conclusion of the report is that the success in AI comes down to the human element. “Yes, great technology is imperative, but so is visionary, decisive leadership that inspires experimentation, agility and persistence. Organizations must take stock of themselves while keeping a vigilant eye on an ever-changing AI landscape. AI is constantly in action; you should be too,” IBM wrote.