Six out of 10 middle-market companies recognized the need to introduce artificial intelligence (AI) to strengthen competitiveness.
According to the Middle Market AI Adoption and Utilization Status Survey released by the Federation of Middle Market Enterprises of Korea (FOMEK) on the 22nd, 59.1% of middle-market companies said AI adoption is necessary. The survey was conducted from Aug. 25 to Sept. 8 on 188 middle-market companies.
By industry, both manufacturing (59.7%) and non-manufacturing (57.7%) showed similar levels of demand for AI adoption.
Middle-market companies cited a lack of specialists (41.2%) as the biggest difficulty in the AI adoption process. A lack of technology and infrastructure (20.6%), initial investment expense (11.8%), and security and personal data protection (11.8%) followed.
While 26.6% of middle-market companies were found to be planning to introduce AI, 55.3% still had not drawn up adoption plans due to reasons such as high initial expense (31.7%), uncertainty about returns on investment (19.2%), low interest from management (19.2%), and a lack of in-house specialists (16.3%).
Middle-market companies said urgent policy support is needed for AI adoption and diffusion, including building AI infrastructure (22.9%), support for R&D and investment expense (21.8%), training AI specialists (21.3%), and providing incentives such as tax benefits for AI adoption (20.2%).
Lee Ho-jun, executive vice chair of the federation, said, "AI is the essence of future industrial competitiveness and a key driver that will propel the sustainable growth of all corporations, including middle-market companies," adding, "We will do our best to establish a comprehensive support system that can quickly turn on-the-ground intent for AI adoption into reality."
Meanwhile, only 18.1% of middle-market companies had adopted AI, but most of them (97.0%) evaluated that AI helped achieve results. They cited specific improvements such as improved decision-making accuracy and speed (41.2%) and enhanced productivity (38.2%).