How CEOs view country's economic prospects

The cautious optimism expressed by company chief executive officers (CEOs) across a broad spectrum of business and industries highlights both positive developments and the uncertainty about the required pace of technological transformation for the future. A survey, in fact the 29th edition of CEO Survey, carried out by the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Bangladesh finds that the company chiefs are quite optimistic about the medium-term prospects of economic growth but not confident enough about long-term technological transition. They duly recognise that technological transformation is the key driver of robust business and economic growth. That one in five CEOs claims that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) is propelling business and contributing to revenue growth while one in four of them discloses that it is reducing operational costs confirms the  medium-term brighter outlook of economy.

However, the company chiefs are not sure of the sustainability of these medium-term gains. This is because they think that the pace of technological transformation is not up to the mark. In fact, AI is going through a rapid development process and controversy surrounding this phenomenon shows no sign of coming to an end soon. True, the algorithm-based AI can process inputs at a phenomenal speed but that cannot be a panacea for all ills prevailing in business and industries. At the centre of data processing lies automation which essentially means dispensability of manual work. Yet it must be admitted that automation has not yet reached the level where it can replace human inputs in terms of decision making. Sorting out information and data is not all, there is a need for a human brain to use them as conveniently as possible. On that count, use of automation should be limited to a level where it can assist the managements of companies and industries to arrive at decisions on diversification of products, expansion of business and exploring newer markets.

With virtually no research base, it is hardly surprising for Bangladesh to lag behind countries like USA and China where AI competition is fierce. Google, OpenAI and Nvidia are locked in the fiercest AI competition. Other companies such as Microsoft, Anthropic, Meta and Amazon are no pushovers in this respect. OpenAI's ChatGPT has got an upper hand over Google's Gemini. Countries like Bangladesh should embark on research on AI in order to expedite development of sector-specific digital systems or AI suitable for domestic use.

The fact that 20 per cent of CEOs in this country have applied AI to a large and very large extent is a testimony to their effort at remaining updated in this regard. Close to one in five CEOs have reported extensive use of AI in demand generation and strategic decision-making and this places the country ahead of some Southeast Asian peers. So there is nothing to rue over. Future viability of business and industries will depend on how the fruits of 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) are shared following their suitability for specific countries. The shared knowledge has to be discreetly and meticulously used for speeding up production and economic growth. There is no point lamenting over a lack of a uniform application of AI in all productive areas. It is not too late to join the bandwagon of AI-assisted business and manufacturing entities.