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As organizations in every industry attempt to gain a competitive edge with generative artificial intelligence (genAI), a sense of both enthusiasm and uncertainty is building.

More than 60% of business and technology leaders report “excitement” as one of their top sentiments with regard to genAI. That’s according to the most recent quarterly pulse survey for Deloitte AI Institute’s State of Generative AI in the Enterprise report. The survey included more than 2,800 AI-savvy leaders at major organizations around the world. Despite the sense of excitement for AI, 30% of leaders also rank “uncertainty” as a top artificial intelligence (AI) sentiment.

Targeting transformation

Almost 80% of survey respondents said they expect genAI to drive substantial transformation within their organization and industry over the next three years — with nearly a third expecting substantial transformation to occur now or in less than one year.

As organizations embark on these transformations and progress on their genAI journeys, three of the greatest and potentially most challenging areas for transformation will likely include governance, talent development, and equity. But by thinking proactively and strategically across each of these areas, leaders can get ahead of future needs and accelerate AI-driven business value.

Growing stronger with governance 

In Deloitte’s recent survey, 41% of leaders reported their organizations were only slightly or not at all prepared to address governance and risk concerns related to genAI adoption. Only 25% considered their organizations highly or very highly prepared.

So, what are organizations doing about it? The survey revealed that some are already actively managing  genAI implementation risks through actions such as monitoring regulatory requirements and ensuring compliance (47%), establishing a governance framework for genAI (46%), and conducting internal audits and testing on Generative AI tools and applications (42%).

One approach that can help strengthen governance: focusing on improving end-to-end processes rather than focusing narrowly on high-value use cases, point solutions and enterprise silos. Businesses should strive to build capabilities that can enable multiple use cases, accommodate new genAI models, and provide consistent governance and risk management across the enterprise — helping to ensure models produce safe, trustworthy outputs and content.

Building an edge with talent

Respondents in the Deloitte survey cited talent as their biggest barrier to genAI adoption. Less than half (47%) reported that they are sufficiently educating their employees on the capabilities, benefits, and value of genAI .

In pursuit of results, some leaders say they are making a high or very high effort recruiting and hiring technical talent to drive genAI initiatives (42%), educating the workforce about Generative AI (40%), and reskilling workers impacted by genAI I (36%).

Looking ahead, the talent market will likely remain highly competitive. But that should not deter you from pursuing people with the technical skills to develop and maintain genAI solutions — such as AI solutions architects and data scientists. Don’t stop there. To help your workforce get maximum value from genAI tools and improve productivity, invest in training and prioritize broad workforce education — to help allay fears and misconceptions about AI.

Factoring for DEI and trust 

As organizations embrace genAI  to perform or augment human work, there is the potential for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) considerations to fall through the cracks. A generative AI solution, for example, may fail to incorporate data that reflects certain populations. As a result, it might generate an output that is biased.

Embedding diversity into genAI initiatives — while also focusing on equitable and inclusive outcomes — will be essential for fulfilling the promise of AI. When AI excludes stakeholders, it can erode trust and create imbalances that go far beyond one output or one project. Many respondents in Deloitte’s survey noted they are concerned that the widespread use of genAI will concentrate power and increase economic disparity. Specifically, 52% expect widespread use of genAI to centralize power in the global economy, and 51% expect genAI to increase economic inequality.

Organizations may find themselves in a tough spot as they attempt to balance AI-related benefits and risks for the business and for society at large. Businesses operating across more regions and engaging with more diverse stakeholder groups will likely need to walk a fine line when it comes to ensuring that genAI benefits are broadly and equitably distributed, without overly hindering innovation or providing an unfair advantage in certain areas.

Looking forward: genAI can meet governance, talent and DEI needs

The future of genAI continues to be written and the sentiment of enterprise leaders will continue to shift. By continually examining governance, talent and DEI-related needs, organizations can get ahead of key challenges and generate new business value with genAI For additional insights that can help you understand where AI stands and where it is headed, explore findings in Deloitte’s latest quarterly pulse survey for State of Generative AI in the Enterprise.

Deborshi Dutt is a principal with Deloitte Consulting and currently serves as the U.S. Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategic Growth Offering Leader.  He specializes in AI, cloud, data management, governance and custom system development often in large complex, multi-country programs.