AI Use by Japanese Firms: Descriptive analysis using RIETI’s questionnaire survey

With the development of new AI technologies such as generative AI, the use of AI in business is progressing in companies. However, it is said that few companies are achieving concrete business advantages from AI. In order to fully realize the potential benefits of AI implementation, companies require complementary management resources such as skilled human resources implementation and data utilization, in addition to organizational changes through digital transformation (DX), but the lack of company-wide AI utilization strategies is thought to be the cause of insufficient investment in these resources.

With this problem in mind, the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry conducted the "Survey on AI and Data Utilization" from January to March 2024. Here, using the results of this survey (a postal survey of 5,000 companies, responses were obtained from 650 companies: response rate 13%), we will present the results of an analysis using descriptive statistics focusing on the management resources that are necessary to achieve concrete organizational benefits of AI implementation.

The results revealed that companies that have introduced AI are relatively young companies, and that the adoption rate is not necessarily high among large companies. In terms of the skills required for data utilization personnel, companies that have introduced AI tend to place more emphasis on knowledge of their business domain, while companies that have not introduced AI tend to be more focused on information processing and programming skills.