Tech Train | Study reveals global familiarity, investment and implementation levels of technology

• China and India dominate in all sectors, France and the UK lag behind
• Artificial Intelligence is the technology with which most leaders are most familiar
• India has the greatest appetite for increasing investment in technology

 

 Mazars publishes a report that reveals the degree of investment, implementation and familiarity of the C-suite in relation to five key workplace technologies: Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blockchain, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Internet of Things (IoT) and Robotic Process Automation (RPA).

 

October 8th, 2019: Mazars, the international auditing and consulting firm, announces the publication of its new report (Tech Train) : "Are you missing the technology train? Global investment and implementation in transformative technologies".  More than 600 C-suite executives based in six countries (China, France, Germany, India, the UK and the US) and working in organizations of different industries, sectors and sizes share their perceptions of these innovative technologies, their appetite for investment, the barriers that exist to implementing the technology - and how to overcome them.

CHINA AND INDIA LEAD, FRANCE AND UK LAG BEHIND

FamiliarityLeaders in China are the most familiar with these five key technologies (79%), followed by those in Germany (71%), India (69%) and the USA (64%). France and the UK (53% and 44%, respectively) are further behind. AI is the technology with which most respondents feel most familiar.

Tech Train: Levels of familiarity with the five technologies - AI, Blockchain, ERP, IoT, RPA - by country

InvestmentRespondents from India have the greatest appetite for increasing the budgets devoted to these five technologies. Respondents from France and the United Kingdom are the most reluctant to increase their budgets.

ImplementationChina and India are the countries most likely to have implemented at least one of these technologies and share the highest adoption rates for all five technologies. France and the United Kingdom are the least likely to have implemented any of the technologies.

Breakdown by sector

Insurance and manufacturing lead the sectors in which all five technologies have already been implemented. Public sector leaders are the least likely to have already implemented any of the five - 50% of respondents working in the public sector answered "nothing is happening" in relation to these five technologies.

Benefits and barriers

Reducing costs (27%), changing the business model (26%) and improving quality (24%) are the three main benefits expected from these five technologies.

At a global level, the most frequently mentioned barriers to implementing these technologies are: obtaining the necessary financial resources (25%), finding the talent and skills that can take advantage of and fully exploit this technology (23%) and market maturity (22%) - whether or not the time is right for an organization to adopt the technology.

Guillaume Devaux, Partner, Head of the Technology Sector at Mazars, comments: "Our findings show strong dynamics for these five innovative technologies - with China and India leading the way. In general, familiarity levels are high, leaders understand the impact of these technologies and have other projects to increase investment. But there are areas of concern and some sectors and countries that compare poorly with others."

Devaux adds"Leaders who feel they are falling behind need to figure out which technology will create significant competitive advantage in their organization. They should remember that a successful technological transformation requires broad support - from leadership to the entire company team. Leaders can set the vision - but they have to work with others to implement it."

 On the Technological Pace Survey of the Mazars

The Mazars Technology Pace Survey 2019 was conducted by YouGov on behalf of Mazars to assess familiarity, implementation and investment levels among technology decision-makers around the world. The study explored these trends with regard to five key workplace technologies: Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP).

The online survey was aimed at C-suite executives in China, France, Germany, India, the UK and the USA. More than 600 responses were obtained. The survey results were analyzed by Mazars.