MGI Research

Visualizing the uses and potential impact of AI and other analytics

| Interactive

This data visualization shows the potential business applications and economic value for a range of analytics and artificial-intelligence (AI) techniques. It is based on a study of more than 400 use cases, covering 19 industries and nine business functions. The use cases are taken from a variety of sources, including thousands of engagements by McKinsey Analytics with clients around the globe. The data incorporate real examples of companies and public-sector organizations using a range of techniques, as well as some more theoretical applications where we assumed that use of analytics in one sector could be applied in another.

Definitions of what constitutes AI change as the technologies themselves evolve. For this data visualization and the accompanying discussion paper, we use AI as shorthand for deep-learning techniques that use three artificial neural networks: feed-forward neural networks, recurrent-neural networks, and convolutional-neural networks.

For definitions of the technologies and the classification techniques used in this visualization, as well as for our methodology, see the accompanying discussion paper, Notes from the AI frontier: Insights from hundreds of use cases.