Why you can’t afford to skip your AI maturity assessment
Executives across the world are ready to invest in Generative AI, but their businesses aren't necessarily ready to take advantage of AI technologies.
Reports from Google Cloud indicate that early adopters are beginning to see a return on their AI investments, with 77% of surveyed executives noting that their organisations have increased their AI spend. Organisations that delay, risk being left behind and experiencing a gradual misalignment between business strategy, market expectations, and technological capability.
While these signals are encouraging, we are still in the early days of the AI journey. While executives are ready to invest, a lack of clarity means most are simply investing in risk. Today, the only question that matters is: How quickly can your business move from ambition to measurable impact?
Willingness to embrace new technology doesn’t impact the bottom line but understanding how and where to start the journey to AI readiness can unlock results.
AI ambition vs reality
In Africa, 71% of CEOs are investing in AI, but 96% cite data readiness as a challenge. Without a clear plan of action and quantified goals,, it is difficult to align an AI strategy with a business strategy. For businesses to innovate with total confidence, an AI roadmap is essential.
Creating this roadmap requires a complete understanding of the gaps between the capabilities of the business and the ambitions of those who run it.
A starting point: Assessing AI maturity
Assessing the AI maturity of a business makes it clear what is currently feasible and what will require more time to implement. Firms generating returns on their AI investments in 2026 began with key use cases or pilot projects before expanding adoption across the organisation.
Data readiness is crucial in turning AI ambition into value. However, the majority of businesses are unknowingly operating with a weak data foundation, characterised by fragmented data silos, poor data quality and lack of proper governance. You cannot build a future on a fragile foundation. An AI maturity assessment helps businesses to identify these critical, value-eroding risks before they derail your investments.
The analysis provided by an AI maturity assessment can be used as a starting point for the development of an AI roadmap.
ADG’s AI maturity assessment
As experts in AI implementation, ADG has developed an AI maturity assessment to help people understand where their AI readiness ranks. The assessment is based on our proprietary framework, designed to help businesses benchmark their readiness across six critical parameters.
The assessment takes around 1-minute to complete and provides companies with a personalised report, outlining the state of their AI-readiness and benchmarks for growth.
The readiness of executives to invest in AI makes it essential for businesses to understand the realities of their AI-readiness. A maturity assessment can help put businesses on a pragmatic path to gaining value from AI.
Take the 1-minute ADGAI Maturity Assessment here.
