How Global Companies are Leveraging AI Strategies From small startups to large corporations, companies are racing to integrate AI into various aspects of their business, including operational management, research and development (R&D), training, drug discovery, and fraud prevention

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly becoming an integral part of every industry, transforming operations and driving innovation on a global scale. From small startups to large corporations, companies are racing to integrate AI into various aspects of their business, including operational management, research and development (R&D), training, drug discovery, and fraud prevention. This trend is evident in the recent earnings and annual reports of major companies like Salesforce, UnitedHealth, and Novo Nordisk, which have increasingly highlighted their AI initiatives, mentioning AI-related terms more than five times from the first quarter of 2022 to the first quarter of 2024.

The views about AI strategies of the world's major 11 companies were shared by Isabelle Selles in a CB Insight's research webinar. To understand the current AI strategies of the world's largest companies, let's delve into these four key sectors-

Financial Services & Insurance

Visa and MasterCard are heavily investing in AI technology to prevent criminal scams and fraud. Visa's clearest AI focus is boosting its fraud prevention efforts amidst a surge in criminal activities. AI has been a core part of Visa's technology strategy, and the company is expanding those fraud detection tools to a wider range of payment types, as announced in March 2024. Additionally, Visa launched a USD 100 million fund last year for generative AI and blocked USD 40B in fraudulent activity in 2023 which was double from 2022 when it blocked USD 23B. MasterCard shares a similar focus, having recently added new C-suite roles focused on data and AI.

"It really is an arms race out there, as we see fraudsters and cyber attackers leveraging these powerful techniques too. We have to make sure that we're making constant investments," said Ed McLaughlin, MasterCard CTO, to Fortune (March 2024).

UnitedHealth Group is also investing in artificial intelligence and machine learning to enhance operational efficiencies and the customer experience. The company has over 80 AI patents related to natural language processing, making it one of the leading insurers in AI patent activity to extract information from unstructured data sources like clinical patient notes.

Enterprise technology

Salesforce is investing in AI for its operational management to increase productivity and enhance customer satisfaction. Marc Benioff, Salesforce CEO, noted in the Q4 FY 2024 Earnings report, "As we look at productivity, as we look at higher-value customer relationships, as we look at higher margins, how do our customers get these things, how are they achieving these goals? It is AI. It is why every CEO and company knows they need to make major investments in AI right now. And I believe this is the single most important moment in the history of the technology industry."

Industrial and automobile

Toyota, after pumping billions into autonomous driving from 2015 to 2021, has shifted its focus to improving driver and vehicle safety through advancements in autonomy. The company's research report highlights the goal of creating a more intelligent vehicle that enhances the human driving experience, placing the driver at the center of a safer system.

"Human Interactive Driving is accelerating the path to building a much more intelligent vehicle that places the human at the center of a more evocative and safer driving experience," states Toyota's research report.

Along with this, Siemens collaborated with Microsoft to develop Siemens industrial co-pilot to work alongside manufacturing workers.

Pharmaceutical and healthcare

Novo Nordisk is targeting internal efficiencies with AI tools. It has developed an internal tool to automate the production of certain regulatory documents and has rolled out an internal version of ChatGPT for its employees that has already increased document production speed by 70 per cent. Eli Lilly is investing in AI to create its digital workforce and has partnerships with drug discovery companies that heavily use AI and machine learning. Earlier this year, Eli Lilly announced a deal with Isomorphic Labs to discover small molecule therapies. However, it is not launched in the market.

Johnson & Johnson is putting billions into R&D, supplemented by external collaborations. The company has hired approximately 6,000 data scientists and specialists with a focus on advancing AI for drug discovery.

The integration of AI and other advanced technologies across these sectors highlights a transformative period where the largest companies from all sectors are not just adopting but heavily investing in AI and advanced technologies to stay competitive, improve efficiencies, and deliver better products and services.