Everest Group Survey

Majority of Businesses Consider Outsourcing Generative AI Development Amid Concerns Over Data Security, Privacy and Regulatory Compliance

Many companies are in the process of reviewing their first quarter results, and leaders are particularly focused on innovative ways to enhance customer experience (CX) through generative AI (GenAI) technology while balancing the need for return on their investment. Insights from a survey by Everest Group, supported by TELUS International (NYSE and TSX: TIXT), reveal several trends across industries: nearly half (47%) of the surveyed CX leaders across banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), telco and media, healthcare, retail and travel industries said that non-voice customer support channels will be a key deployment area for GenAI in the next six to 12 months.

However, many enterprises have been hesitant to move their GenAI applications from pilot to production. Data security and privacy, exposure risks and regulatory compliance are among the top worries, along with accuracy, fairness and bias. Each of these challenges carry ethical, legal and reputational risks. To help mitigate these issues, a substantial 76% are considering outsourcing their GenAI development to specialist third-party firms.

“Enterprises are confronting a trust gap around generative AI. That is why so many projects are getting stuck in the pilot stage and are not moving to production,” said Tobias Dengel, President of WillowTree, a TELUS International Company. “At WillowTree, we’ve helped large companies overcome the trust gap by customizing AI governance frameworks, introducing tools to address concerns about AI safety and security, and helping quickly build out generative AI enabled applications that deliver immediate value. By merging our deep CX expertise with the latest AI technologies, we keep 'humans in the loop' as GenAI programs roll out to users. Our clients have deployed both internal and public-facing generative AI solutions at scale by embracing an approach that tackles the core use case requirements while also attending to critical enterprise needs around performance, trust and safety.”

WillowTree was recognized as a notable provider in Forrester’s The Innovation Consulting Services Landscape for Q1 2024. The company’s GenAI Jumpstart Accelerator, part of its recently released Fuel iX beta program, supports scalable AI deployments, enabling seamless integration across enterprise systems. WillowTree utilizes a human-centered, systematic approach to assess and prioritize AI-specific risks, converting these into user and technical requirements that influence product roadmaps and architectures. The framework is rooted in the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Trustworthy AI Characteristics, which are operationalized to enable teams to proceed with greater confidence and a keen appreciation of the contexts and individuals impacted by the technology.