International Data Corporation (IDC) has published a new assessment profiling 12 providers of artificial intelligence (AI) services worldwide.
The IDC MarketScape report uses a framework to assess the vendors relative to a set of criteria that explain success in the AI services market and highlights the factors expected to be the most influential for success in both the short term and the long term. A significant component of this evaluation are the perceptions of AI services buyers surveyed by IDC of both the key characteristics and the capabilities of these providers.
The 12 AI services providers profiled in this report are: Accenture, Atos, Cognizant, Deloitte, EY, Fujitsu, HCL Technologies, IBM, Infosys, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Tata Consultancy Services, and Wipro.
“While the rate of AI adoption is on the rise, concerns around AI ethics and its implications on business processes and people and underlying data challenges such as data curation, migration, governance, and security continue to be key barriers to adoption. Vendors that are addressing these two concerns up front in addition to providing the necessary domain, industry, and technology expertise required to deliver AI solutions for customers will be more successful in helping enterprises take on AI initiatives,” said Ali Zaidi, research director, IT Project Based Services at IDC.
In evaluating the 12 providers, IDC found several areas of strength across all the firms, including platform strategy, innovation and R&D strategy, and strategy to increase revenue per employee ratio. The firms also shared a strong set of core capabilities – breadth of services, customer service, and growth sustainability. Because buyers’ top measure of success for an AI services engagement is achievement of their desired business outcomes, the ability to align their AI services capabilities to address these business priorities was a critical factor in each firm’s assessment.
“As the AI services market continues to mature, customers will need partners that not only demonstrate expertise in AI-enabling technologies but also develop solutions that achieve customers’ business objectives and address the human impacts of AI adoption. Success in this rapidly evolving space will require services providers to continue to invest in skills, IP, and alliance ecosystems to remain competitive,” said Jennifer Hamel, research manager, Analytics and Intelligent Automation Services at IDC.