“AI Maturity Index” Shows Three Chinese Companies In Top 20

GENEVA, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) — The world-renowned International Institute for Management Development (IMD) based in Switzerland launched its first “AI Maturity Index” earlier this week, with three Chinese companies ranking in the top 20. The ranking reveals which of the world’s largest 200 companies use AI technologies most extensively. Director of IMD’s Global Center for Digital and AI Transformation, Michael Wade told Xinhua that Chinese companies are catching up fast. “We have three Chinese companies in the top 20, one in the top 5. At number five, we have Alibaba Group, which of course, has done a lot of work in AI over the years and is one of the global leaders — very high AI maturity there,” he said. Number nine is Tencent Holdings, and at 17 is the manufacturing company Foxconn. When asked about the future trends in AI maturity, Wade said: “There is a massive amount of activity and investment in AI. But organizations are starting to find that that’s not necessarily translating into improved performance.” “The way we’ve measured AI maturity is in a holistic way, we look at investment, but we also look at how the organizations are using AI and making sure that they’re thinking about it from start to finish, all the way through talent, operations, and executive support. All these factors go into the index,” he added. Wade noted a surprising finding from the research: several non-tech companies have ranked, including Accenture, a global services company, in seventh place, Visa, a global digital payments company, in 12th place, and telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom in 15th place. “It’s no surprise that tech titans lead the way, but it’s the non-tech players that are proving AI is anyone’s game. The AI Maturity Index shows that there is a massive disparity both between and within industries in how organizations have invested in and leveraged AI technologies to improve their business operations,” Wade said. Tech companies dominate the top 20, with three tech giants – Microsoft, Alphabet, and Amazon — taking the top three spots. The Index, compiled by IMD’s TONOMUS Global Center for Digital and AI Transformation and launched at the Web Summit in Lisbon, serves as a barometer for assessing artificial intelligence leaders and laggards. It evaluates AI maturity across five key dimensions: strong executive support; technology and infrastructure; operational excellence; workforce development and culture; and ethics and risk management.