‘Bring your own’ AI on the rise with workplaces sleeping on generative AI

German companies are looking to generative AI as a way to boost business performance, according to a new report from KPMG.

The study of 250 German managers found that 54% of firms have used generative AI and other technologies for greater process automation over the past three years, with 35% more intending to do the same in 2025.

The report also found that 59% of companies have opened up or optimized new markets in the last three years, while 23% plan to do so in the next year.

It’s a tough time to do business in the country, says Meino Müller, the divisional head of performance & strategy at KPMG AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft.

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“Companies in Germany have rarely had to master so many challenges at the same time as they do now. More intense competition, difficult financing conditions and a shortage of skilled labor are leading to a mixed situation in which business performance is becoming one of the most important issues,” he says.

It is little wonder then that generative AI is being seen as a savior to help companies compete, do more with less, and take the strain off burnt-out workers.

But according to other new research, most companies need to do better. Many employees aren’t properly educated or trained on AI, and as a result, are using it in ways that weren’t necessarily intended.

Employers think that implementing AI will help to support research for tasks and projects (62%), to help staff manage workflows (58%) or analyze data (55%). But 63% of workers themselves are mostly using generative AI to double check their work.

As a result, a disconnect is emerging, with 72% of companies thinking that employees are at least adequately trained on AI––however, only 53% of their employees would agree.

Another issue is the fact that data readiness is a significant stumbling block, with 64% of workers saying their company “doesn’t have AI experts on the team”, and 45% saying “my organization’s data is not ready for AI”. Another 37% point to the fact that organizations simply don’t have the tech infrastructure in place to implement AI tools.

A recent Deloitte report points to BYOAI, or bring your own AI to work, which is on the rise as companies struggle to be AI-ready.

BYOAI manifests itself in employees’ use of assistive tools like Gemini, Claude or ChatGPT. While these can be helpful for research, or to create document outlines, summarize a meeting report, or even compose emails, without proper guidelines in place, workers may be leaving themselves open.

Paul Lee, partner and head of technology, media and telecommunications research at Deloitte, points out that, “Employees are moving faster than their employers when it comes to adopting GenAI to transform how they work. While workers are signaling that GenAI can boost their output and save them time, many employees may not be supported, encouraged, or explicitly endorsed to use the technology by their organization.”

Employer buy-in when it comes to generative AI tools matters. Consider the 2023 case of the Samsung employees at the company’s semiconductor division who unwittingly used ChatGPT to check confidential source code.

Because generative AI tools generally use inputs as training data unless you specifically tell them not to, sensitive information may become publicly available. As a result, Verizon, Citigroup and Deutsche Bank have all banned usage of ChatGPT over concerns about private data being shared.

Deloitte’s research has found that users aren’t comprehensively aware of the risks of generative AI, including inaccuracies and biases. It found that 25% believe it is always factually accurate, and 26% think it is unbiased.

A new The State of AI at Work report from work management platform Asana agrees, saying that “as AI permeates organizations, a troubling reality emerges: most are dangerously underprepared”.

Asana’s research has found that only 31% of companies have a formal AI strategy in place, and that “dangerous divides exist between executives and individual contributors in terms of AI enthusiasm, adoption, and perceived benefits”.

And despite 78% of executives believing that combining AI with human expertise can result in better outcomes, only 13% of organizations have developed shared AI guidelines.

Ultimately, if you’re finding that your own organization has an unclear approach to the use of generative AI tools, it could be time to look for a role at a company which has a clear policy, guidelines and budget for the right generative AI tools for the job.

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