Accenture has released a new report, revealing that artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming a potential driver of business growth and competitive differentiation in aerospace and defence industry.

Findings of the report, Accelerating Through Digital Turbulence, reveal that over the next three years:

·         Aerospace and defence executives expect to invest extensively in AI-related technologies such as robotics process automation (52 percent), natural language processing (48 percent), machine learning (42 percent) and video analytics (32 percent); 84 percent indicate that AI will revolutionize customer interactions, and 74 percent agree companies in this industry will deploy AI as a primary interface for customer interactions;

·         Nearly three-quarters (74 percent) cited productivity as a benefit to embedding AI in user interfaces; 65 percent identified data analysis and insight as a benefit; and

·         More than two-thirds (68 percent) believe AI will either significantly change or transform the aerospace and defence industry; 16 percent indicate AI will completely transform the industry.

The report also finds that the majority of surveyed aerospace and defence companies (68 percent) are comprehensively investing in digital technologies as part of their overall business strategy.

In this industry, use of digital is expanding far beyond engineering into the realm of big data, which are extremely large data sets that can be managed and analysed to reveal patterns and trends and generate insights about peoples’ behaviours.

The industry is increasingly using digitised big data to embrace every aspect of the industry value chain — from inflight passenger experiences, to airline operations, to design and manufacturing, to service and support. Big data is transforming the way these companies operate, interact and integrate with the world. Data is evolving from being a valuable resource to becoming the basis for entire business models.