All companies are keen to show off their AI prowess, but which are driving their industries forward through the use of this technology.
Free Whitepaper
A comprehensive guide to cross-border commerce
Is your business ready for the cross-border payments boom? The chances are that your brand is broadening its horizons, lured by the appeal of high-growth markets in South America, Asia and Africa. This means courting both opportunity and risk. Successful firms will adapt quickly to currency fluctuations, regulatory divergence and unfamiliar payment media. Struggling ones will see costs climb as they stumble over technical hurdles and conversion rates slow to a trickle.
Businesses needn’t swim against the tide of cross-border payment flows. Creating a speedy, compliant, cost-effective solution is possible – and an experienced partner can help. Worldline have created a comprehensive guide covering the latest developments in the global payment landscape and how brands can create a seamless cross-border payment solution. Fill in your details to find out more.
By Worldline
Thank you. Please check your email to download the Whitepaper.
Artificial intelligence (AI)is one of the biggest areas of focus in almost every industry in the world, presenting both challenges andopportunities.
The companiesthat invest in AI and integrate it as part of their growth strategy willbenefit the most from the AI-related disruption that is either happening now or is yet to come.
GlobalData has aggregated hundreds of thousands of recordsfromits proprietary themes, jobs, deals, patents and company filings databases to identify the most active companies in AI in different sectors, such as tech, pharma and defence.
Here are the leaders of each sector and how they got there.
Amazon
Industriesit leads in:Tech, cards and payments, healthcare
HQ: Seattle, US
Runners-up(tech): Alphabet, Microsoft, IBM
Runners-up(cards and payments): Alphabet, Apple, Z Holdings
Runners-up(healthcare): Microsoft, Alphabet, IBM
Why it leads:Amazonhas builtAI into both its ecommerce business and intoAmazon Web Services, its cloud computingdivision.The company has even bought AI into consumers’ homes with its popular Amazon Alexavirtual assistant,which had sold more than 100 million devices byJanuary 2019.
Amazon isnowextending its reach into the healthcare sector by offeringservices thatstandardisepatientdata and makehealthpredictions.
Alphabet
Industryit leads in: Retail bankingandlending
HQ:Mountain View,US
Runners-up:Amazon,DBS,Apple
Why it leads:Alphabet – the parent ofGoogle, YouTube andautonomous drivingcompany Waymo – is oneof theAI leaders across the tech sector, cards and payments, and retail banking and lending.The company uses AI and machine learning across nearlyall ofits offering, fromserving relevant ads to users andidentifyingspam emails toresearchingadvanced AIin itsDeepmindsubsidiary.
Alphabet has come in for criticismrecently,dismissingseveral of its AI researchersafter theypublished work claiming that the company was not careful enoughin how it deploys AI.
DBS
Industryit leads in: Wealth management and private banking
HQ:Singapore
Runners-up:HSBC,UBS,OCBC
Why it leads:Singapore’s DBS Bank has invested huge sums in‘intelligent banking’ since the beginning of 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic spread through the world.The bank uses its large trove of data to buildmodels that offerhyper-personalisedmessagesto its users; for example,if they willhaveenough money for upcoming purchases.
AI has allowed DBS todifferentiate itself in a crowded and highly advanced market such as that ofSingapore, with the number oftransactions through itsiWealthappmore than doubling since the introduction of the lender’sintelligent banking capabilities.
Novartis
Industryit leads in: Pharmaceuticals
HQ:Basel, Switzerland
Runners-up:Johnson & Johnson,AstraZeneca,Bristol Myers Squibb
Why it leads:The Covid-19 pandemic hasacceleratedthedigitalisation ofthepharmaceuticalssector. Clinical trials havebecomeremotely monitored, AI algorithmscan diagnose skin conditions from images andchatbots can now help patientsdeal with heart issues.Novartis and Microsoft jointly createdan AI Innovation Labin 2020, hoping to achieve fastertimes to market,to reachtwice as many patients twice as fast andto cut billions of dollars from their R&D spending.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella saidthe collaboration will“bring AI capabilities to every Novartis employee so they can unlock new insights as they work to discover new medicines and reduce patient costs”.
Johnson & Johnson
Industryit leads in: Healthcare
HQ:New Brunswick, US
Runners-ups:GE,Apple,Medtronic
Why it leads:Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, Johnson & Johnson’smedical devices networkcontinued to grow, in part due to investments inrobotics andautomation.The companyshared details about itssurgical robotic platformOttava,an operating table equipped withsix armsthat wouldprovide more control and flexibility in surgery.
Johnson & Johnson has also partnered withOptellum, a lung health AI company,to identify and track at-risk patientsand diagnose and suggest optimal treatment forpatients ata pre-cancerous stage.
Unilever
Industriesit leads in: Beverages, packaging
HQ:London, UK
Runners-up(beverages):Suntory,Asahi Group,Molson Coors
Runners-up(packaging):Procter & Gamble,Tetra Laval,Essity
Why it leads:Unileveris the company behind more than 400 brands, ranging from foods and beverages to packaging and cleaning products.To process theroughly 1.8 million job applications it receives every day, Unileveremploys a platform that uses a combination ofin-browser games, natural language processing andmachine learningtoidentify the best candidatesto move forward.
InShanghai and Hangzhou, Unilever has partnered with Alibaba toinstallrecyclingmachines that automaticallyidentifyand sortdifferent kinds of plastic.
Firmenich
Industryit leads in: Food
HQ:Geneva, Switzerland
Runners-up:Unilever,Givaudan,Symrise
Why it leads:Perhaps one of the best examples of AI applications isFirmenich’slatest flavour: alightly grilled beef taste for use in plant-based meat alternatives, created entirely by an algorithm based on a specific request.
Firmenichhas applied the same approach to creatinglaundry detergent fragrancesand even launchedan onlineAI-enabledplatformfor fragrance creation.
Domino’s
Industryit leads in: Food service
HQ:Ann Arbor, US
Runners-up:Yum! Brands,Chipotle,McDonald’s
Why it leads:Domino’s uses AI toautomatically check the quality of its pizzasand ensure that the company’s standards are respected across restaurants in Australia and New Zealand.The new addition has reportedly improved pizza qualityby about 15%.Even before the pizzas are cooked, Domino’s isusing AI to make better predictions of when the they will be delivered, improving the order experience.
In 2021, the company partnered withmachine learningplatformDatatronto furtherimprove its in-store operations, generate revenue and improve the customer experience.
LVMH
Industryit leads in: Apparel
HQ:Paris, France
Runners-up:GlaxoSmithKline,Johnson & Johnson,Unilever
Why it leads:LVMHis the French company behind brands such as Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior, and is one of the most innovative fashion brands in the world.The company partnered withAlphabetto enhance demand forecasting and inventory management and help better recommend targeted products to clients.
The Covid-19 pandemic has pushed a lot of luxury fashion spendingonline. AI is helping companies such as LVMHget accustomed to spending money digitally by making their experience more fluid.
Home Depot
Industryit leads in: Retail
HQ:Atlanta, US
Runners-up: Lowe’s, Wayfair, Amazon
Why it leads:It is not just luxury fashion brands that had to adapt to new spending patterns; companies such as Home Depot used to rely onbig spending bursts on public holidays, habits that have subsided since the Covid-19 pandemic.Instead, Home Depot is using AI togroup all the products that form a collection, provide products more suited to a customer’s budget and offer new features such as image-based search facilities.
Leidos
Industryit leads in:Aerospace anddefence
HQ:Reston, US
Runners-up:Boeing,GE,L3 Harris Technologies
Why it leads:While Alphabet is making progresson self-driving cars, Leidos istesting the limits of AI onSea Hunter, anew type ofwarshipthat replaces the crew with an algorithm.Autonomous vehicles are one way in which the US Navy is hoping to address the threats posed to the country’s security. This approach also saves money. An estimate by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency found that the cost of running one of Leidos’s autonomous ships is$20,000 per day, compared with $700,000for the equivalent fully manned ship.Leidos is now committed to expanding its AI expertise acrossallofits solutions.
Shell
Industryit leads in: Oil andgas
HQ:The Hague, Netherlands
Runner-ups:ConocoPhillips,ExxonMobil,Aker BP
Why it leads:Shell operates across theentireoil and gassupply chain and uses AI to make the process more efficient.One example isShell’s use ofmachine learning algorithms trained onpast drilling records to help make drilling more precise, faster and reduce damage to the equipment.
Another way Shell uses AI is by encouragingelectric vehicle owners to charge at specific times of the day in order tobest use available power resources.
As AI investment ramps up, the companies that do it most successfully willbenefit the most from therapidly changinglandscapes in their respective industries.Meanwhile, regulators are paying attention, and the ethical implicationssurrounding the useof AI arecoming into the spotlightmore often, potentially limitingthe extent to which AI can help companies grow.
This article is based onGlobalDataresearch figures as of10November 2021. For more up-to-date figures, check theGlobalData website.
This article forms part of GlobalData’s AI week. For other articles in the series, please visit:
- Opinion: AI warfare is coming and businesses need to be prepared– Investment Monitor
- Financial sectors look to AI in site selection– Investment Monitor
- Index shows US is winning the AI race – but for how long?– Investment Monitor
- Weekly data: How China became an AI powerhouse– Investment Monitor
- AI could make oil and gas a little less dirty– Energy Monitor
- AI is coming – and you can take that to the bank– Verdict
- Alibaba-backed institute achieves “another Sputnik moment” in China’s battle for AI supremacy– Verdict
- Japan is leading the way into the elderly-population future. Its solution? AI-powered ‘Society 5.0’– Verdict
- Why is AI an obsession for business insiders?– Verdict
- Big Tech leads the AI race – but watch out for these six challenger companies– Verdict
- AI in apparel supply chains could force reshoring– Just Style
- By leveraging AI for forecasting, RBC delivers next gen digital advice for Canadians– Retail Banker International
- How is AI impacting the automotive industry?– Just Auto
- Tackling the shipping container crisis with help from AI– Ship Technology
- Canada’s major banks optimise AI to drive growth, enhance customer experience– Retail Banker International
- AION Labs Q&A: driving innovation in pharma AI– Pharmaceutical Technology
Free Whitepaper
A comprehensive guide to cross-border commerce
Is your business ready for the cross-border payments boom? The chances are that your brand is broadening its horizons, lured by the appeal of high-growth markets in South America, Asia and Africa. This means courting both opportunity and risk. Successful firms will adapt quickly to currency fluctuations, regulatory divergence and unfamiliar payment media. Struggling ones will see costs climb as they stumble over technical hurdles and conversion rates slow to a trickle.
Businesses needn’t swim against the tide of cross-border payment flows. Creating a speedy, compliant, cost-effective solution is possible – and an experienced partner can help. Worldline have created a comprehensive guide covering the latest developments in the global payment landscape and how brands can create a seamless cross-border payment solution. Fill in your details to find out more.
By Worldline
Thank you. Please check your email to download the Whitepaper.
