PwC Ireland’s dedicated Generative AI (GenAI) Business Centre is helping organisations across all sectors to achieve returns on their GenAI investments in a safe, secure and responsible way. Enabled by Microsoft, the GenAI Business Centre aims to turn PwC’s AI experience into positive business outcomes for clients.
Explaining the rationale behind establishing the PwC GenAI Business Centre, David Lee, PwC Ireland chief technology officer, says it was a response to enquiries from clients and boards about what they should be doing about AI and GenAI. “There had been a lot of coverage of GenAI in the mainstream media but there was little clarity in terms of where companies should start their journeys with the technology,” he says.
“The Centre approaches it from a business perspective,” Lee continues. “The first thing it aims to do is to demystify the technology, to explain to our clients what it is and what it is not. The Centre gives our clients the opportunity to get hands on with the technology. They can experience it for themselves in a safe environment and see its power as well as its limitations. There really is no substitute for that. We also help to identify the right use cases for the technology – they vary depending on the scale of the organisation concerned and its sector.”
The need for the Centre was highlighted by the latest PwC CEO survey, which found that nearly two-thirds (63 per cent) of global CEOs believe that GenAI will significantly change the way their company creates and delivers value in the next three years. In addition, 60 per cent of Irish CEOs said that GenAI will increase the competitive intensity of their industry while 32 per cent expect it to boost revenues. Less positively, 76 per cent of Irish CEOs expect the technology to increase cybersecurity risks in the coming year.
Another survey carried out by PwC in the Irish market last year revealed that a significant proportion of Irish businesses were not confident in their ability to assess the return on investment in GenAI. “This is a barrier to adoption,” Lee notes. “GenAI is not a free technology. There are quite significant costs involved and businesses want to be sure that they will get a return on their capital. They are also concerned about the reputational risk of inappropriate adoption and use of AI. That’s why we start the adoption conversation with governance. We help to ensure that everything is done in a safe space. That alleviates some of the reputation concerns.”
In terms of use cases, realising value must be front of mind. “Tools like Microsoft Copilot are personal productivity aids,” he explains. “It can write reports of meetings and include notes on actions to be taken. It can also perform sentiment analysis which can be very useful for meetings which are part in-person and part remote. But how do you productively use the time saved for something valuable? That’s one of the things people are still working through.”
Climate action opportunities
He also points to other interesting use cases such as climate action. “Organisations are using GenAI to access previously unavailable data to help them to develop new sustainability measures. It is also being used to address gender balance issues and we have seen a number of organisations using GenAI to draft job descriptions that will be attractive to female candidates. These are among the many types of use cases we are supporting clients with.”
He is quick to point out that the technology is by no means the sole preserve of large companies. “Some people fear that it is widening the digital divide between big and small businesses, but we have seen smaller companies use it to enter new markets and territories by obtaining market insights that they couldn’t afford without the technology.”
‘Organisations need to learn by doing. Technology will always be better in six months’ time. If you followed that logic, we’d never have put a man on the moon’
Unlocking these benefits is a different question and Lee contends that GenAI adoption is as much if not more about the people involved as it is about the technology. “It really is a change management journey. This is especially important in the employment context. Organisations need chief technology officers and chief people officers to co-sponsor adoption. It needs to be addressed as a change programme.”
He also advises organisations need to learn by doing. “Technology will always be better in six months’ time. If you followed that logic, we’d never have put a man on the moon – there will always be a bigger, faster and more powerful rocket coming along and we’d still be waiting for the next one. You need to use the technology you have now and then benefit from improvements as they come along.”
In terms of reputational gains, opportunity knocks for the companies that adopt the technologies.
Regulatory challenges present opportunities
The PwC Ireland GenAI Business Centre is also helping organisations with regulatory challenges, most notably the EU AI Act. “This is a ground-breaking piece of European legislation that aims to protect consumers. It establishes obligations based on the potential risks and level of impact that AI can have,” explains Moira Cronin, risk and regulation partner with PwC Ireland.
She advises businesses to view the Act not just as a new piece of regulation but as an innovation opportunity. “The EU AI Act supports trust and transparency in AI, meaning companies can invest in the use of AI with confidence. Having a robust governance framework in place will allow teams the space to innovate using identified risks not as threats but as opportunities to push the boundaries of AI knowing they are protected by that framework. It will also push businesses to more intimately understand every element of the processes in their own business and, therefore, potentially identify more ways to use AI in those processes to further enhance the business.”
There are potential reputational gains as well. “There are benefits for the consumer to know they are protected by this Act as they engage with your business and there are benefits to your business in knowing it is protected in using and developing AI,” says Cronin. “The Act therefore allows companies the opportunity to focus on innovation and developing products rather than just focusing on the risks and how to manage them.”
Demand for PwC’s GenAI Business Centre’s services is strong, and Lee expects it to grow as the pace of adoption picks up. “Last year was all about curiosity in the wake of the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022; 2024 is going to be a year of learning to embed the technology. Businesses are adopting the technology in ever greater numbers and next year is going to be all about implementation and value realisation. We are working with clients on that journey and helping them to adopt the technology in a safe and controlled way with proper governance in place while not missing out on the opportunities it presents for their businesses.”
Discover how your company can innovate with AI at pwc.ie/genaicentre