More than 50 years ago, the invention of silicon-based microprocessors catalysed the progress of automated instruction-led activities in industries. Gradually, that led to the adoption of computers in business, which was later followed by technology-led business transformations. What we see today as enterprise resource planning (ERP) system implementations and upgrades to cloud-based ERP systems in organisations – including those in Bangladesh – have been built on technological inventions like microprocessors and algorithms.

Technology-led business transformations provided businesses to lead in their respective markets and cater to the evolving customer demands. The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) – and more specifically, generative AI (GenAI) – in the recent years has created another opportunity to catapult growth, address concerns on bigger problems like climate change and create more value for the stakeholders.

To understand the thinking of business leaders in Bangladesh on GenAI, PwC asked the CEOs a few questions while conducting its 27th Annual Global CEO Survey.  About 62 percent of the CEOs in Bangladesh responded that GenAI will improve the quality of their companies' products and services in the coming years. More importantly, about three-quarter of the respondents in Bangladesh believed that GenAI is going to intensify the competition (72 percent), will significantly change the way their companies create, deliver and capture value (76 percent), and that GenAI will require most of their workforce to upskill themselves (78 percent).

Considering that the CEOs have already started thinking about the opportunities and challenges that would come with the proliferation of GenAI, one can be inclined to think positively with respect to the growth of businesses in future. The most significant point here is to understand that GenAI may also become a crucial factor that helps businesses stay relevant and survive in the future.

According to a PwC report, businesses have an enormous opportunity to improve their operating margin by adopting GenAI into their respective operations. The margin improvement can vary between 2 percent and 19 percent, depending upon the sector where a particular business operates.  For example, sectors like transport and logistics, energy and resources, and power and utilities are expected to see an improvement of 2-3 percent in their operating margins. At the same time, companies in the telecom, entertainment and software sectors are expected to see an improvement of 13-19 percent in their operating margins. Clearly, there are benefits to reap.

However, such gains are likely to erode over time with intensified competition and increased customer expectations. Thus, late adopters will likely gain by just staying relevant in the market while the early adopters are more likely reap the most benefits and shape the market of the future.

The business leaders in Bangladesh should be aware of the key elements of successful adoption of GenAI.  First, they should revisit their strategy and determine the course they would like to take for their business. If they want to be a disruptor in their market, they should move fast and be aware about the difficulties and downsides. Additionally, businesses that are already leading in their market and want to hold their leadership position should move fast too. Due to their pre-existing leadership positions in the market, their adoption journey may be easier with fewer downsides.

Secondly, business leaders must prepare a comprehensive skills transition plan. A significant part of the benefits will be derived by enhancing the efficiency of the workforce with GenAI adoption, so the upskilling process will be non-negotiable.

Finally, business leaders must have a robust risk management plan. Due to the limited understanding and continuously evolving nature of GenAI, there will be risks of unintentional propagation of societal biases that need to be addressed by formulating a responsible AI adoption strategy. Moreover, there will be concerns on sustainability due to GenAI's perceived higher demand for energy that needs to be benchmarked and communicated to the stakeholders. The stakeholders, including customers and employees, should also be managed from the risk of disinformation.

The time for GenAI adoption has come for the business organisations in Bangladesh. Therefore, organisations in Bangladesh should start laying the groundwork for business transformation using GenAI now in order to ensure steady growth and relevance in the future.

The writer is a partner with PwC. The views expressed here are his own