The Study

Talent Reinventors: Delivering Value with and For People

by Accenture highlights an often-overlooked aspect: to achieve concrete business results, it is necessary to train workers in the use of AI. In practice, however, less than half of companies do so.

AI: Without training for staff, transformation projects remain experimental

We can now say that most people use AI, even in their personal lives. Anyone who has tried using this technology has seen its benefits: for those involved in publishing, the ability to transcribe interviews in a matter of seconds or to summarize and thoroughly analyze long sector studies has given an impressive boost to productivity.

Yet, when it comes to company-wide productivity, something is obstructing progress. The Accenture study, based on a sample of 1,320 executives and 4,560 employees in 12 countries, indicates that only 18% of organizations are moving beyond experiments to achieve measurable results from the adoption of artificial intelligence. These are what Accenture defines as “Talent Reinventors.”

Talent Reinventors are those companies that do not just invest in technology but also invest to create conditions for new technologies to have an impact on business. They rethink their approach to work, emphasize collaboration, and, above all, invest in specific training programs. According to Accenture, Talent Reinventors see improvements in corporate culture (7 times higher), employee experience (6 times), and workforce adaptability (4 times). All of this also impacts revenues, which grow by 1.8%, and profits, which increase by 1.4%.

The Importance of Leadership

Another aspect highlighted by Accenture's analysis is that companies often fail to capitalize on internal talent: 70% still primarily rely on external or ad hoc hiring, while 45% of employees struggle to identify growth opportunities within the company. This is an evident short circuit that inevitably slows workers' ambitions, making them feel sidelined. In contrast, companies considered Talent Reinventors emphasize internal growth, valuing their own workers and consequently increasing their satisfaction.

"The most significant statistic emerging from the study is that only 18% of companies today are able to convert investments in artificial intelligence into tangible value," comments Roberta Marracino, Talent Lead at Accenture Italia. "This demonstrates that the real challenge for leadership is not only technological but organizational: it concerns how companies rethink work, develop new skills, and drive transformation that cannot be viewed as a program with a start and an end but as a continuous reinvention. The organizations that will achieve results are those that integrate AI into the core of their processes and invest in people with the same ambition as they invest in technology."