Research from last week included reports from various vendors, including 6Sense, Cezanne, Deloitte, insightsoftware, Intuit, Kaseya, Matillion, Qualtrics, Quickbase, Redpoint Global, Syniti, Workiva, and Xero. NICE produced its annual ESG report, the second one it has published.
6Sense
6Sense published its The State of B2B Revenue in the Age of Intelligence report. It highlights the impact that AI has on B2B revenue growth. It identified that AI, correctly deployed, can provide the following benefits:
- 6% less effort is required to make $1M in revenue
- Deal sizes twice as large
- Deal velocity 91.3% faster
- Increased deal size and velocity for jumbo B2B deals ($150K+) by 1.9x and 230%, respectively.
Latane Contant, CMO at 6sense, commented, “Ten years ago, our founders believed that AI had the potential to change how B2B companies go to market. This report not only reveals the remarkable results our customers achieve leveraging AI, but also provides real-world examples and case studies we can all learn from and take action on.”
Previously sales team had access to huge amounts of data, but they often struggled to gain meaningful insights, let alone actions from them. Today, AI can access, understand and provide insights from that data. It is now a case of understanding what additional data organisations can add to improve those insights.
Cezanne
In a survey conducted by Pollfish, Cezanne looked to understand the state of employee satisfaction in the UK and Ireland. Nearly half of respondents are actively looking to change their jobs. This is at odds with some recent surveys showing the recent cost of living crisis has made some more reluctant to do so. Cezanne looked to understand why this was happening, and the top three reasons were:
- Dislike of core duties
- Lack of work flexibility
- Poor company culture
Other key findings from the report include:
- Only 48% of UK and Irish employees are satisfied with their roles
- Under half of employees in the UK and Ireland feel valued by their employer
- Poor workplace morale is affecting two-fifths of employees
- Nearly 60% of employees don’t know or align with their organisation’s values
- Nearly a quarter of employees believe their senior leader’s lack of communication harms their workplace satisfaction
- Only 55% of employees feel their efforts are recognised by their employer
Paul Bauer, Cezanne HR’s Head of Content, commented, “We’ve seen several negative and highly damaging trends sweeping through British and Irish workspaces over the past few years. The ‘Great Resignation’, ‘Quiet Quitting’ and more recently, the social media trend of ‘Bare Minimum Mondays’ have devastated productivity and caused huge headaches for people practitioners. We wanted to understand why these types of negative trends keep surfacing, and our latest report uncovers the answers.”
Deloitte
The Deloitte “The Future of Restaurants: The New Normal and Beyond” report, combines insights from the Future of the Consumer Industry analysis and a recent survey of 750 respondents to identify the changing dynamics in the restaurant industry. The key findings included the following:
- Restaurant dining rebounds as more than half of consumers (55%) say they are dining in restaurants as much or more than before the pandemic.
- 37% of dine-in guests and 40% of takeout guests want less expensive options alongside promotions and discounts.
- When placing a delivery or takeout order, 40% of customers prefer to do so directly through a restaurant’s app or website, compared to 13% who prefer third-party apps or websites.
- Consumers aged 18-38 are more likely to return to restaurants that use automation technologies than those aged 39+, signalling that these technologies will continue to be adopted over time.
Jean Chick, Principal of Deloitte Consulting LLP and U.S. Restaurant and Food Service Leader, commented, “The restaurant industry is emerging from the pandemic with a menu full of opportunities to serve its customers, both in the dining room and off-premise. With large-scale changes potentially on the horizon, driven by advanced technologies and ongoing shifts in consumer demands and preferences, restaurants could look dramatically different in 10 years. As a result, restaurants should consider implementing various offerings that enable consumers to maximize the dining experience and set up their operations for long-term growth.”
Deloitte also published “How employers can spark a movement to live longer, healthier lives,” report. The actuarial analysis showed that even though the average life span is 76.1 years, Americans are living just 65.9 years (or 85% of their years) in good health. Other findings included:
- All Americans could potentially live up to 95% of their years in good health and live to be nearly 90 years old.
- According to Deloitte’s analysis, the life span in the United States could increase by an average of 12 years, and the health span (the time spent living in good health) could increase by an average of 19.4 years by 2040.
- Black people and American Indians or Alaska Natives stand to gain 25 years and 28 years of health, respectively.
Andy Davis, Principal of Health Care Practice at Deloitte Consulting LLP, commented, “The impact of the actuarial analysis goes far beyond the numbers that my team found. We identified what it will take and how we can realize these gains because the science and knowledge already exist today. For each of us to live to our fullest and healthiest, it will require engaging with the average healthcare consumer differently and activating employers who can create momentum that will drive the ability to capture these healthy years.”
The report highlights the importance of and impact that employers can have on employee health.
insightsoftware
In the Finance Team Trends Report for 2023, insightsoftware identified senior accounting and finance professionals are becoming increasingly less efficient. The reason is that they have to do more with less resources. A reduced focus on automation and a talent shortage issue has exacerbated the issue. Growing tension between Finance and IT teams has not helped.
Other findings included:
- A significant drop in team growth expectations, down to 64% of respondents that expect to grow their team in 2023 compared to 73% in 2022. This statistic will likely widen an already sizable skills gap as more financial professionals retire.
- Only 68% of teams rating their tax management processes as efficient, compared to 84% last year. This reduction is likely the result of the increasing complexity surrounding global tax laws forcing organizations to navigate more regulations.
- One quarter (24%) of finance teams still find manual and time-consuming processes a key challenge, highlighting the need for increased automation across the industry.
Bryan Motteram, VP of Product Marketing at insightsoftware, commented, “CEOs are increasingly partnering with CFOs to guide companies through this current uncertainty. Accurate financial forecasting requires more frequent reporting, tapping the productivity of already lean finance teams. Interestingly, the research shows that accounting and finance professionals are prioritizing automation as a potential solution less than the previous year. Achieving predictability amidst uncertainty requires finance teams to enter a new stage of digital transformation. With the right technology, CFOs can build agility that drives the resilience needed to meet the demands of today’s economy.”
Intuit QuickBooks
Intuit QuickBooks published results from a survey titled “Top Investment Areas That Can Help Businesses Combat Economic Volatility and Catapult Their Growth”. The report found that 73% prioritise AI, financial technologies, and expanding e-commerce solutions with an average investment of $45,000 to $142,000 in technology tools to help drive growth and success — up an average of $10,000 from 2022.
The top challenges faced by businesses are:
- Managing finances and accounting (39%)
- Lacking time to complete important tasks (35%)
- Dealing with customer-related issues (33%)
To solve these issues, businesses are turning to AI, with the report noting:
- Common AI investments: The most common AI-based tools small business owners plan to adopt in the next 12 months include solutions for marketing and content creation (34%) and analyzing consumer trends and behaviours (32%), and customer service support (31%).
- Operational tasks ripe for disruption by AI: The top five business operations that owners wish to automate are: expense management (69%), invoicing (68%), completing payroll (51%), running financial health reports (47%), and conducting customer communications (30%).
- The AI payoff: The time saved by automating tasks allows businesses to focus on other key growth areas, and 43% plan to use the time to develop customer relationships and 36% aim to focus on developing more products and services.
Kelly Vincent, VP of Mid-Market Segment and Product at Intuit, commented, “The number one question I am asked by our customers is ‘How do I ensure the success of my business?’ The short answer is, know where to invest. If ever there was a time to tune in and understand how AI and technology can unlock prosperity for your business, it’s now. AI helps reduce the operational burden and automate low-level tasks, leveling the playing field for businesses by giving owners more time and resources to focus on what really matters.”
Kaseya
Kaseya published its 2023 IT Operations Report. The key insights included:
- Impact of economic uncertainty. Businesses want to stay cost-efficient and productive, so they are looking to outsource more IT services to managed service providers (MSPs) amidst increasing economic uncertainty to optimize their capabilities and spending.
- Essential automation and integration. Businesses seek to replace legacy tools with faster and more responsive solutions to evolving needs to stay competitive, tap into new markets and reduce operational costs. They also plan to allocate resources towards integration and automation capabilities to increase productivity and unlock growth.
- Pressing cybersecurity concerns. Organizations are placing a strong emphasis on cybersecurity. Despite economic conditions, they focus on acquiring talent in this area through internal hires or outsourcing to MSPs who provide cybersecurity services.
Notable statistics within the report included:
- 62% of respondents reported having to frequently work on holidays or weekends
- 40% admitted to working 50+ hour weeks consecutively
- While 40% say that IT budgets increased, the same as in 2022, 18% have seen decreased budgets, 8% higher than in 2022
- 40% of respondents cited cybersecurity and data protection as the foremost IT challenge in 2023
The report also has insights into where organisations prioritise and spend their budgets. In summary, overworked IT professionals invest more in automation and integrations, while many outsource more to MSPs, despite economic uncertainty. Meanwhile, budgets are being allocated to strengthening cybersecurity and updating legacy systems.
Matillion
Matillion published a new report titled “Data Productivity: A Survey of Data Experts.” The survey data offers insights from data team practitioners and leaders on managing the increasing complexity of unprecedented amounts of data, team workloads and overall performance at work.
- 84% of respondents described the volume of their workload as exceeding their capacity.
- 90% reported an increase in their workload over the last year, a challenge that will only grow if not addressed soon.
- For nearly 40% of respondents, this work takes between a day and a week to perform per project.
- 34% of respondents said this process takes 3 to 5 hours to complete per project — a sizable chunk of the typical 8-hour workday.
- Employees using slow, inflexible pipelines can’t get the right information when they need it.
Data professionals spend too long pulling data from many data sources. They are taking too long to build data pipelines. This increased workload also increases the risk of burnout and can also seemingly boost motivation. It is a fine balance. To help with the task, data professionals are turning to low-code and no-code tools.
Ed Thompson, CTO and Co-Founder of Matillion, commented, “This research highlights the data productivity pitfalls that modern data teams experience on a day-to-day basis. By taking note of these results — and partnering with organizations like ours to find solutions — businesses can empower their data teams to perform and prioritize impactful projects rather than the transformation of data; assure key decision makers with precision in their business decisions; and make it simple and cost-effective to deliver the right data to the right person at the right time.
“At a time where change is rapid, complexity is growing and the appetite for the right insights at the right time is voracious, addressing data productivity issues changes the game. If organizations don’t take these challenges seriously, not only will they cost money and time in lost resources, but will expose the talent pipeline to employee burnout and turnover.”
NICE
NICE released its 2021-2022 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) report. The report revealed that it achieved its goals in its first annual report last year and the new goals for 2023.
Barak Eilam, CEO of NICE, said, “This report outlines NICE’s clear long-term strategy and coordinated execution in cementing our leadership in the markets in which we operate. It is our core mission to make the world a better place. We are doing that through keeping people secure with our Public Safety first-responder solutions, preventing financial fraud and crime with our compliance solutions and driving exceptional customer experience with our AI and customer engagement solutions.”
NTT
NTT published its 2023 Global Customer Experience Report, identifying that CX remains a top priority. EX has also risen to a top three priority:
- 95% of organizations now have a named C-suite executive responsible for this business area. 91% of organizations agree better EX will directly affect their net profit; 92% say the same about CX.
- 56% of CEOs strongly agree that aligning CX and EX strategies maximizes their impact on business growth.
- 95% of organizations see cloud enablement as vital in enabling EX and CX outcomes.
- Top-performing organizations are twice as likely as underperformers to already be using AI-powered CX tools.
Amit Dhingra, Executive Vice President, Managed Network and Collaboration Services at NTT Ltd, commented, “Over the last few years, we have witnessed an increasing link between CX and EX and the need for them to be addressed through technology. Our data shows that companies that invest in technologies to improve CX and EX are significantly more likely to stay ahead of the curve, not just in financials but also in customer and employee satisfaction.”
Qualtrics
Qualtrics published research into the use of AI and chatbots. The survey found that ¾ of people are comfortable talking to an AI-powered chatbot for a customer service issue, and about 55% are comfortable with AI tech being part of their medical and financial matters. However, 88% of respondents want to know that AI is involved.
Ellen Loeshelle, Qualtrics Director of Product Management, commented, “AI has a lot of exciting potential as it’s moved from the realm of data scientists and academia to becoming one of the fastest growing consumer applications in history. As AI is integrated into businesses, leaders can strengthen customer trust and relationships by being transparent about its use and focusing on protecting data and privacy.”
Other concerns about AI remain:
- 58% are concerned about AI replacing workers
- 40% are concerned about data and privacy risks
- 36% are concerned about the spread of misinformation
Quickbase
Quickbase released its latest report, Roadblocks to the Dynamic Enterprise. The research reveals massive organizational time, revenue and productivity losses caused by outdated work processes and fragmented information systems, like spreadsheets and databases, project management and collaboration tools, point solutions, or developer platforms.
Quickbase found that nearly 70% of employees spend upwards of 20 hours a week chasing information across different technologies instead of doing their job. In other words, employees spend up to half the average work week on “gray work”, creating ad-hoc solutions and workarounds to fit their needs when they run into roadblocks caused by fragmented tools, systems and processes.
Ed Jennings, CEO of Quickbase, commented, “The way we work isn’t working. The promise of digital transformation isn’t happening the way it was intended, and employees are frustrated, and organizations are losing money. Work is more dynamic than ever before and most software tools just weren’t built to manage the influx of data, information and teams, which is impacting everything down to the bottom-line.”
Redpoint Global
Redpoint Global published findings from a survey of 1,000 U.S.-based consumers over 18 years of age conducted by Dynata Research. It revealed that 57% of healthcare consumers use digital tools to engage with healthcare payers and providers. 62% expect online communications from their healthcare insurer and provider to match the in-person experiences they receive regarding relevance and consistency. Consumers also stressed the importance of a seamless digital experience in their relationships with healthcare providers.
AI is increasingly important, with 68% believing that AI has the potential to enhance healthcare, specifically when it comes to more efficient provider/insurer communications. However, 45% claim that AI should not be used if it will put privacy at risk.
John Nash, Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer for Redpoint Global commented, “With an increase in the use of digital tools, patients continue to expect relevant, consistent experiences from their healthcare providers and insurers across all channels.
“This underlines the importance for healthcare organizations to know everything there is to know about a consumer to meet the expectation for timely, personalized experiences, particularly as healthcare journeys become more complex. Redpoint works with some of the most trusted names in healthcare to deliver a comprehensive golden record for each healthcare consumer. A real-time, single customer view of each patient unlocks services and communication in the relevant channel at the cadence each person requires.”
Syniti
A Syniti study, “Perception Isn’t Always Reality: The Case for More Effective Data Management”, examined the strength of data governance and management in organisations worldwide. Syniti extracted data from Singapore and Australia, noting that the chief executive officer is setting the data objectives (58%). Still, the chief digital and data officers own them (60%), far higher than the global average (40%/35%).
Most organisations have a centralised, company-wide data management strategy. In Australia and Singapore, 70% of respondents have fully implemented data management, and 90% have a centralised company-wide data management strategy. 60% of respondents in Singapore and Australia have a governance office or team that supports cross-functional data governance, and 46% have a proactive governance model. 58% of respondents said that up to 50% of their data was bad or not consumable.
Gary Chua, Managing Director, Asia Pacific & Japan, said, “Rapid digitalisation has created a proliferation of data, and businesses still struggle to connect their data management to business outcomes. The good thing is that the C-suite is responding to calls to implement clear governance and data strategies. Organisations in Singapore and Australia are model examples, with stronger data governance and overall management globally. At Syniti, we are committed to helping companies realise the most value and maximise the opportunities of their greatest resource: data.”
Workiva
Workiva published a survey identifying the top challenges and opportunities for ESG practitioners. Nearly ⅔ of respondents feel their organisation is underprepared to meet ESG goals. The reasons include 72% don’t have confidence in the data currently being reported to stakeholders, despite 68% of businesses having appointed an ESG-specific role to oversee reporting.
Julie Iskow, President & COO at Workiva, commented, “ESG reporting requirements are constantly evolving, and businesses are faced with increasing complexity and risk when consolidating disparate financial and non-financial data to cohesively report on their ESG performance to stakeholders. The survey results indicate how ESG practitioners from a range of industries across North America, Europe, and APAC are tackling the challenges and opportunities around ESG reporting.”
The report also looks at the evolution of ESG reporting. It looks at who is responsible and the emergence of Environmental reporting as the biggest focus for reporting and investment efforts. Organisations see technology as a catalyst for better reporting but legacy systems restrict many, and others are unclear about what systems exist that can help them.
What is encouraging is that organisations are seeing business value from better ESG reporting.
- customer retention and recruitment (72%)
- cost savings (71%)
- insurance/credit agency engagement (71%)
- reduction of long-term risk (71%)
Iskow added, “While challenges around communicating ESG corporate value to stakeholders still exist, the findings show clear positive outcomes for businesses who prioritize ESG reporting. Organizations must implement actions that allow them to keep pace with the current and future demands from regulators, investors, and other stakeholders for trusted, transparent data and ESG forward-looking business goals.”
Xero
Xero published a report titled “Money Matters: navigating the impact of economic conditions on the cash flow of Australian small and medium-sized businesses”. The key findings included:
- 27% revealed they’ve had to use their personal savings to keep their business afloat.
- 34% of small business owners say they have been unable to pay themselves.
One cause, late payments have a domino effect on SMEs.
Leigh O’Neill, Executive General Manager, Money, Xero, commented, “Cash flow is a major challenge for many small businesses. Our research uncovers some troubling signs about how Australian small business owners are coping in the face of today’s volatile and uncertain economy, and the sacrifices they are making to keep their businesses going and employees paid.”
The report digs deeper into cash flow and what actions SMEs are taking to help improve the situation. SMEs are turning to setting reminders and scheduling payments (36%), setting up direct debits (36%), and eInvoicing (33%). However, only 38% of business owners use accounting software to track cash flow.
O’Neil added, “Business owners must constantly monitor cash flow to manage it. Planning and forecasting tools are a great way to identify cash shortages and consider all options, whether drawing down on a line of credit or increasing your prices. Giving customers flexible payment options or automating payment processing can ease cash flow pressures.”
These issues are increasing well-being issues, with business owners reporting feeling stress (57%), anxiety (50%) and having trouble sleeping (48%) over the last 12 months.
