FICO & Corinium’s study reveals AI demand soaring up amid COVID-19

By Pavithra R

FICO, a leader in predictive analytics and financial crime prevention along with Corinium has released a new report that has found the increased demand for AI, data, and digital tools in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Conducted by Corinium and sponsored by FICO the report ” Building AI-Driven Enterprises in a Disrupted Environment report’ surveyed over 100 c-level data and analytic executives and conducted in-depth interviews to understand how organisations are developing and deploying AI capabilities.

The survey revealed that the uncertainties caused by the pandemic has forced many organisations to adopt a more committed, disciplined approach to becoming an AI driven enterprise, with more than half (57%) of the chief data and analytics officers saying that COVID-19 has increased demand for AI, digital products and tools. The report also put forth the central role AI has in shaping the future as global markets work through and begin to recover from COVID-19, as well as how to mitigate future risk and disruption going forward.

Key findings of the survey include:

• Majority of data-driven enterprises are investing in their AI capabilities; almost 63% of respondents have started scaling AI capacity within their organisation.
• 93% of respondents said that ethical considerations represented a barrier to AI adoption within their organisations. Other hurdles include: building a team with the right skillset (66%), integrating new technology with legacy systems (62%), regulatory and compliance risks (60%).

Half of the survey respondents said that having strong model governance and management rules in place to support ethical AI usage, can tackle the challenge. However, more work is needed to ensure ethical AI usage as 67% of AI leaders don’t monitor their models to ensure their continued accuracy and ethical treatment.

“Being ethical is not being blind to what’s in the model. Organisations need to ensure that AI is designed robustly and is explainable, transparent, built ethically and governed by auditable, recorded development process that is referenced as data shifts over time,” said Dr Scott Zoldi, chief analytics officer, FICO.

From better customer experiences and reducing financial crime to automating business processes and improving risk management, respondents believe AI can help their organisations secure a competitive advantage.

Recently, FIS partnered with FICO to build a new financial crime management solution.

Established since 1956, FICO is an analytics company helping businesses take better decisions which drive higher levels of growth and success. The company’s use of Big Data and mathematical algorithms to predict consumer behaviour has transformed entire industries.