(27.07.2022) Swiss companies are taking a keen interest in artificial intelligence (AI). The first Swiss AI report, published for the Swiss Artificial Intelligence Conference (AiCon), shows that almost four out of five companies have an AI strategy.
The report is based on a survey of 92 Swiss companies, half of which are startups (46), 21 are big companies (with over 250 employees) and 25 are SMEs. In terms of AI, start-ups are the most advanced. More than 80% have a strategy concerning AI and about half of them have already implemented it. Large companies show a similar momentum: 86% have an AI strategy, albeit a "rudimentary" one for 48% of them.
Among SMEs (i.e., well-established companies that are not in the nascent stage like start-ups), AI implementation is lagging slightly. A quarter of them do not use this technology and 4% say they are not looking to change this. While 67% have already implemented AI, only 21% already have an AI strategy in place within their operations.
In addition, budgets allocated to AI system development and maintenance differ slightly by company type. Overall, 69% of companies have at least a partially defined budget. For SMEs alone, this figure stands at 65%. Three-quarters of the companies surveyed plan to increase their investments in AI to an amount of CHF 1 million or less, while 19% will spend between 1 and 5 million over the next three years.
AI training for staff remains a less common practice among the companies surveyed (46%). Nevertheless, it could become more widespread in the future, since a significant proportion of companies (40%) plan to set up a relevant AI strategy.
Last modification 27.07.2022
