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STAMFORD, Conn., August 5, 2019

Gartner Says AI Augmentation Will Create $2.9 Trillion of Business Value in 2021

Decision Support and AI Augmentation to Surpass All Other Types of AI Initiatives

In 2021, artificial intelligence (AI) augmentation will create $2.9 trillion of business value and 6.2 billion hours of worker productivity globally, according to Gartner, Inc.

Gartner defines augmented intelligence as a human-centered partnership model of people and AI working together to enhance cognitive performance. This includes learning, decision making and new experiences.

“Augmented intelligence is all about people taking advantage of AI,” said Svetlana Sicular, research vice president at Gartner. “As AI technology evolves, the combined human and AI capabilities that augmented intelligence allows will deliver the greatest benefits to enterprises.”

Business Value of Augmented Intelligence

Gartner’s AI business value forecast highlights decision support/augmentation as the largest type of AI by business value-add with the fewest early barriers to adoption (see Figure 1). By 2030, decision support/augmentation will surpass all other types of AI initiatives to account for 44% of the global AI-derived business value.

Figure 1: Worldwide Business Value by AI Type (Millions of Dollars)

Source: Gartner (August 2019)

Augmented Intelligence Enhances Customer Experience

Customer experience is the primary source of AI-derived business value, according to the Gartner AI business value forecast. Augmented intelligence reduces mistakes while delivering customer convenience and personalization at scale, democratizing what was previously available to the select few. “The goal is to be more efficient with automation, while complementing it with a human touch and common sense to manage the risks of decision automation,” said Ms. Sicular.

“The excitement about AI tools, services and algorithms misses a crucial point: The goal of AI should be to empower humans to be better, smarter and happier, not to create a ‘machine world’ for its own sake,” said Ms. Sicular. “Augmented intelligence is a design approach to winning with AI, and it assists machines and people alike to perform at their best.”

Gartner clients can read more in the report: “Leverage Augmented Intelligence to Win With AI.” More information on how to define your artificial intelligence strategy can be found on the Gartner AI Insight Hub.

Additional analysis on what is driving the future of AI in the IT industry will be presented during Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo 2019, the world’s most important gathering of CIOs and other senior IT executives. IT executives rely on these events to gain insight into how their organizations can use IT to overcome business challenges and improve operational efficiency. Follow news and updates from the events on Twitter using #GartnerSYM.

Upcoming dates and locations for Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo include:

September 16-18: Cape Town, South Africa

October 20-24: Orlando

October 28-31: Gold Coast, Australia

October 28-31: Sao Paulo, Brazil

November 3-7: Barcelona

November 11-14: Goa

November 12-14: Tokyo

About Gartner

Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) delivers actionable, objective insight to executives and their teams. Our expert guidance and tools enable faster, smarter decisions and stronger performance on an organization’s mission critical priorities. To learn more, visit gartner.com.

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