Enterprise technology customers in 2023 hit a few common themes that revolved around data strategy, setting their companies up for generative AI applications, transformation, sustainability, customer experience and continuous optimization to pay for new initiatives.
Here’s a look at the big lessons from 2023 (Constellation Insights PDF library).
Without data strategy you don’t have an artificial intelligence strategy. Those enterprises with a strong data game are poised to lead in AI and generative AI. "We declared five years ago that data and AI was going to be fundamental," said Intuit CEO Sasan Goodarzi, speaking at a recent investor conference. "And everything starts with data." See: Intuit’s bets on data, AI, AWS pay off ahead of generative AI transformation
"We believe that AI and generative AI will transform healthcare," said CVS Health CEO Karen Lynch. "We're applying technology, data and analytics to every single aspect of our business. The effects will be positive and profound." See: CVS Health’s transformation rides on data, AI and customer experiences
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said: "The management team is getting better and better at using data to do a better job of reducing errors, to serve clients better and to have a salesperson with co-pilots. We simply have to do it."
- JPMorgan Chase: Why we're the biggest tech spender in banking
- JPMorgan Chase: Digital Transformation, AI and Data Strategy Sets Up Generative AI
More on how data drives transformation.
- How Wayfair's tech transformation aims to drive revenue while saving money
- Goldman Sachs CIO Marco Argenti on AI, data, mental models for disruption
- Starbucks’ new CEO: ‘We can enhance our tech stack to lower costs and reinvest’
- Uber aims to press its 'data advantage' for AI, model training
- PepsiCo has its technology, process game down
- Research: How Data Catalogs Will Benefit From and Accelerate Generative AI
- Research: Analytics and Business Intelligence Evolve for Cloud, Embedding, and Generative AI
- Research: Analytics and Business Intelligence Trends in Cloud, Embedding, and Generative AI
Management and business alignment matters. CXOs outlined their approaches to management, aligning to the business and managing through tech debt.
- BT150 interview: Wayfair CTO Fiona Tan on transformation, business alignment and paying down tech debt: "My leadership team is there to ensure we have the right platform and infrastructure from a technology perspective to enable us to grow in a flexible, scalable, lean way."
- BT150 Interview: Equifax's Manish Limaye on data architecture, transformation: "The ability to bring multiple datasets together seamlessly is an essential element of the architecture. Our transformation not only focused on the run of the mill cloud work, but really reimagining how we will bring the data together in our own data fabric. Prior to the cloud, if we have 10 data sets, they are sitting independently, and we join them together. It's a painful exercise. Now with the data fabric we built, we can tap the data at any point in the journey per the legal, regulatory and contractual obligations and really give deep insight to the customer. These are the business drivers behind every technical decision we make."
More:
- BT 150 interview: Nate Melby, CIO Dairyland Power Cooperative on data, digital twins, smart grids, sustainability
- BT150 interview: Doug Benalan, CIO Cure Insurance
- At Chevron, a CTO becomes CFO
- CXOs more optimistic, eye growth, optimization, automation, ChatGPT pilots
- Constellation Research Connected Enterprise 2023: What we learned
- Research: The Urgent Case for a Chief AI Officer
- 2023 H2 CxO Business Confidence Survey
- Greystone CIO Niraj Patel on generative AI, creating value, managing vendors
Transformation remains front and center (and is never complete). While the definition and focus of transformation evolves, the overall theme of future proofing remains.
- Walmart, Target highlight intersection of supply chain, customer experience Target COO John Mulligan said: "While there are many different ways our team is working to gain efficiencies and deliver value to the business, all of our projects have some things in common. First and foremost, they're all designed and implemented with a focus on our guest and continuing to build their engagement with Target. In keeping with that guest focus, we design processes and deploy technology and automation as a way to highlight the human element in our business rather than minimizing it."
More:
- Retailers hope business, digital transformation efforts pay off for holiday shopping 2023
- Ba da ba ba ba: McDonald's digital experience efforts paying off
Sustainability is good business. Nate Melby, CIO of Dairyland Power, said sustainability, efficiency and transformation overlap.
"Sustainability is one of our largest goals. It intersects with technology, efficiency, and the data that we need to effectively manage the grid. Sustainability for us is also about the sustainability of our utility for the people that need us. We provide power in rural areas. We were created to solve the quality-of-life issue where it couldn't be profitable to provide power to rural areas. Our whole mission is to provide power at the lowest cost possible as efficiently and into the future with diverse resources. It's evolving as our industry has been changing, and we're seeing this energy transition happen."
- Walmart Chief Sustainability Officer: ESG is integrated into operations, business
- How Baker Hughes used AI, LLMs for ESG materiality assessments
It’s always about optimization and costs (and that includes generative AI).
John Stankey, AT&T CEO, said generative AI is driving cost savings at the company. He said during the company's third quarter earnings call: "While we're still in the very early stages of Generative AI, we're already seeing tangible AI-driven improvements in productivity and cost savings. Measurable progress has been made with lowering customer support costs, unlocking software development efficiencies, and improving our network design effectiveness. We expect these capabilities to play a key role in our continued efforts to achieve our future cost savings objectives." See: Enterprises seeing savings, productivity gains from generative AI
- Cloud customers still optimizing spend and should forever
- Software development becomes generative AI's flagship use case
- Research: The New 2023 Cloud Reality: A Rebalancing Between Private and Public
- Research: 2023 Trends in Incident Management
But it’s also about innovation (and of course generative AI). Multiple companies are looking to large language models that can be customized with proprietary knowledge.
Domino's Pizza CEO Russell Weiner said: "As you look back in the history of Domino's, we certainly have built more things internally when it comes to competitive points of difference. I think we've always said, you can't outsource a competitive point of difference. There's going to be a competitive point of difference with generative AI solutions, and we think we've got the resources and the pizza expertise internally." See: Domino's Pizza eyes generative AI, Microsoft and Uber tech to drive growth
- A look at Tesla's method to the innovation madness
- AI Meets Mental Health Assessments: How Futures Recovery Healthcare, Aiberry Co-innovated
- How JetBlue is leveraging AI, LLMs to be 'most data-driven airline in the world'
- Hyundai Motor's innovation strategy: What we can learn
- AI is everywhere including your supermarket, homebuilder and soup
- How 4 CEOs are approaching generative AI use cases in their companies
- Zillow, Redfin aim to use OpenAI ChatGPT-4 to find your next house
Cybersecurity is front and center courtesy of new disclosure rules. In 2023, enterprises started disclosing security incidents regularly, due to Securities and Exchange Commission requirements.
- Cybersecurity confession parade led by Clorox, MGM, Caesar's Entertainment
- CISOs need to reposition as cybersecurity becomes boardroom issue
- Clorox hit with cyberattack, sees financial hit, product shortages
- Research: Applied Threat Intelligence: Its Emerging Central Role in Cybersecurity and Zero-Trust Architecture
And customer experiences matter. Enterprise initiatives revolved around data, generative AI, optimization and other themes, but the common thread between all of those projects were digital and customer experiences. The takeaway: Every company needs to provide good experience. Research: Connecting Experiences From Employees to Customers
Cenlar's Chief Digital Officer Josh Reicher on automation, AI and staying ahead
- Bank of America: Why 'digital superiority' matters
- Rivian: AI, data power customer experiences
- Enterprise tech buyers wary of generative AI hype, security
- Walmart, Target highlight intersection of supply chain, customer experience
- Starbucks’ new CEO: ‘We can enhance our tech stack to lower costs and reinvest’
- Uber aims to press its 'data advantage' for AI, model training
- AI is everywhere including your supermarket, homebuilder and soup
- Research: ChatGPT: Hype or the Future of Customer Experience?