Can the board of a company afford today not to have any member with technological experience? The answer would seem obvious, yet the 33% of European companies (compared to 19% of those in North America) it does not have technological expertise within your own board of directors. The data is even more relevant when analyzing the skills of top management figures: in Europe only 11% of managing directors have significant technological experience. This is what emerges from the study “Innovate or Fade” realized by Accenture, which draws a comparison between European and North American companies. Among these stands out one technological gap which, if filled, could generate up to $3 trillion in revenues for European companies in 2024.
Until recently, boards of directors and CEOs used to think first about the company strategy and then about how technology could support it,” he explains Jean-Marc OllagnierCEO of Accenture Europe. “Today, it is critical to integrate technology from the outset in the development of new products, services or business models, otherwise companies risk losing billions in additional revenues”.
Only 8.4% of Italian companies have technological expertise on the board
However, not all European countries are the same. It is significant to observe how the Netherlands stands out at the top of the ranking for greater technological experience, with a percentage of 19.1%. Much higher than that of Portugal, last in the standings with only 4.5%. Italy, on the other hand, ranks among the last positions with 8.4%, overtaken by Germany (16.6%) Spain (15.6%) and France (13.5%).
European companies invest little in research and development
Compared to US companies, however, European ones are more attentive to updating tech skills of their talents: 28% carry out internal technological training, compared to 18% of those in North America. However, if the Americans allocate a large part of their revenues to technological innovation, the European ones do not have the same inclination to invest in research and development.
The Accenture Europe CEO said: “Technology can also play a crucial role in accelerating research and development activity. Cloud, AI e Quantum they can, for example, help accelerate the discovery of medicines in the pharmaceutical sector and create more sustainable materials in the chemical sector. What counts is not so much the absolute amount invested in R&D, but the portion of revenue destined and, above all, the way in which it is used”.
European companies rely less on generative AI than US companies
Finally, Accenture’s photograph shows that only 60% of European companies have filed patents related to artificial intelligence, compared to 77% of North American companies. It is also significant that, if more than half of European companies seem ready to focus on artificial intelligence, only 34% of these have filed patents to develop theAi generativecompared to 60% of US companies.
“The mastery of technologies such as AI, next generation networks, edge computing and the ‘digital twin’ will be fundamental for the industrial re-invention that many European governments are promoting”, concludes Ollagnier.