Cambridge Business Association
How AI Startups Can Become Trusted Business Transformers
Article

How AI Startups Can Become Trusted Business Transformers

François Candelon, Rémi Lanne and Clément Dumas
Boston Consulting Group, 2023
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As AI start-ups aspire to disrupt industries, many incumbents are hesitant to partner with them, preventing start-ups from achieving their full potential as business transformers. A survey of AI start-ups and incumbents from Boston Consulting Group’s Henderson Institute sheds light on the collaboration blocks AI start-ups are facing today, and what leaders can do to build competitive collaborative ecosystems despite these challenges. Gain actionable insights into how to guide incumbents toward understanding your value proposition, and learn more about the ways AI has drastically changed the nature of competition.

Summary

Incumbents struggle to grasp AI transformers’ value proposition – work to change this.

Despite the fact that leaders at many AI start-ups believe they offer a clear value proposition to established industry leaders, many struggle to form partnerships with incumbents. According to research from Boston Consulting Group’s Henderson Institute, 80% of AI start-ups report difficulties getting product visibility. The vast majority attribute collaboration blocks to incumbents’ lack of understanding of the value transformers can bring. Indeed, of the incumbents who haven’t pursued collaborations with AI start-ups, nearly half admit that they don’t yet understand the emergent AI players’ value propositions.

However, after surveying 600 AI scale-ups and start-ups and 600 incumbents, the Henderson Institute found that when AI players share their talent pools, incumbents follow suit, reciprocating by sharing data. Additionally, when transformers helped incumbents by upskilling their workforce through providing training support, the...

About the Authors

François Candelon is a Paris-based managing director and senior partner, as well as a global director at Boston Consulting Group’s Henderson Institute. Rémi Lanne is a Paris-based project leader and a BCG Henderson Institute ambassador. Clément Dumas is an external consultant, as well as a Paris-based BCG Henderson Institute Ambassador.

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