The more B2B companies use AI, the more it excites them.

That’s one of the core points made in a new report by management consulting firm McKinsey & Co. on B2B ecommerce technology and strategies.

“A notable 19% of respondents are already implementing generative AI use cases for B2B buying and selling, with another 23% currently in the process of implementing it through ongoing development or experimentation,” McKinsey says in the report.

But that 19% GenAI implementation mark rises to 57% for those companies that have already used GenAI to generate increased sales, the report says. McKinsey includes in that sales growth category companies that have reported market share growth of 10% or more.

McKinsey expounds on these GenAI developments in its ninth annual B2B Pulse Survey, which it released this week after surveying 3,942 B2B decision makers across the United States and 12 other countries. The report’s authors are McKinsey partners Candace Lun Plotkin, Jennifer Stanley and Liz Harrison and associate partner Victor Garcia de la Torre.

“Over the past couple of years, the euphoric buzz about GenAI has been replaced by questions about business adoption and value generation,” the report says, adding, “As we dive into the mindsets of early adopters in a B2B business setting, we see that excitement toward Gen AI becomes higher as companies move further along the adoption curve.”

McKinsey cites GenAI’s advantages

For example, the report says that 45% of those using a GenAI “smart research assistant” at scale rate this use case is “extremely beneficial,” a rating cited by only 30% of those who are experimenting with it, and 25% of those who have yet to explore it.

“This trend toward increasing bullishness signals a positive impact and experience among those who are embracing GenAI,” McKinsey says.

The report asserts that “GenAI can give an even more powerful boost to companies that are already generating growth through highly personalized marketing. Since advanced tools need robust customer data to connect the dots and be effective, those that are engaging in one-to-one personalization may have a head start when experimenting with GenAI.

“Our research bears this out, with 54% of companies engaging in one-to-one personalization already in the process of implementing GenAI. The dual deployment of GenAI and personalization can pay off: data-driven commercial teams that blend both approaches are 1.7 times more likely to increase market share than those that are not fully committed to either.”

McKinsey shows 7 GenAI use cases for B2B

In the following table, McKinsey lays out seven GenAI use cases that have resulted in increased productivity and B2B sales growth at companies it has observed within the past two years; it also lists “actions or stages that can benefit most from AI”:

Digital Commerce 360 asked the McKinsey partners involved in the study what they saw as the most useful and promising applications of GenAI and other AI forms for B2B companies. Liz Harrison, one of the report’s authors, replied via email:

“It’s still early days. We know that 20% of B2B companies are using generative AI at scale for sales and marketing purposes. And among those using it, they’re excited about the future and its current applications. Whether it’s to help expedite account planning or make predictions about current customers based on recent activity or real-time sales coaching.

“Of course, no one has a crystal ball, but I’d expect that 20% figure will grow immensely in the coming years.”

Paul Demery is a Digital Commerce 360 contributing editor covering B2B digital commerce technology and strategy. [email protected].

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