Tech Giants Bet Big on AI as Data Shows Clear Winners

Companies embracing artificial intelligence (AI) are pulling ahead of competitors, with Bridgeline’s HawkSearch reporting new customers each week, IBM finding open-source AI users seeing higher returns, and MIT research showing advanced AI adopters outperforming industry peers. However, a Q4 loss at Bridgeline highlighted the sector’s uneven growth path.

Bridgeline Reports AI Growth Despite Mixed Q4 Results

AI-powered marketing technology firm Bridgeline reported that HawkSearch, its AI-powered search product, drove significant growth in 2024, despite posting a quarterly net loss of $432,000.

The company launched five new AI products under its HawkSearch brand and noted new customer installations nearly every week throughout the year. The company rolled out a conversational search feature powered by generative AI, as well as smart tools for analyzing PDF content.

“HawkSearch is the leader in AI-powered product discovery,” Bridgeline CEO Ari Kahn said in the release. “This year we nearly doubled our sales contracts and had better than 103% net revenue retention for HawkSearch.”

Total revenue for Q4 reached $3.9 million, up slightly from $3.8 million in the same period last year. The company reported signing 83 new license sales in fiscal 2024, adding $2.1 million in annual recurring revenue.

Bridgeline enters 2025 with what it calls the largest sales pipeline in company history, driven by growing demand for AI-enhanced search capabilities among eCommerce and B2B customers.

Companies See ROI From Open-Source AI

Companies using open-source AI tools are seeing better returns on their investments than those that don’t, according to a Dec. 19 IBM study.

The global survey of over 2,400 IT decision-makers found that 51% of companies using open-source AI reported positive returns, compared to 41% of those not utilizing open-source AI. The study indicates a growing shift toward open-source adoption, with 48% of companies planning to leverage these tools in 2025.

Despite ongoing economic uncertainties, 89% of organizations plan to maintain or increase AI investments next year. Nearly two-fifths of those increasing spending expect to boost their AI budgets by 25-50%.

“Companies continue to rapidly advance their AI strategies, with no sign of slowing down,” Maribel Lopez, of Lopez Research, who collaborated on the study, said in a release. “They are leveraging hybrid cloud strategies and open source to drive AI innovation.”

The research revealed that companies are focusing their AI investments primarily on IT operations, with 63% of respondents citing it as their top priority, followed by data quality management at 46%.

MIT Study Links AI Adoption to Higher Company Performance

Companies with advanced AI capabilities tend to perform better financially than industry peers, according to research released by MIT’s Center for Information Systems Research.

The study of 721 companies found that organizations in the two highest stages of AI maturity reported above-average financial performance, while those in earlier stages performed below industry averages.

Only 7% of surveyed companies were at the the highest “AI future ready” stage, where AI is embedded in decision-making processes. Most enterprises remain in early development, with 28% in the experimental phase and 34% building pilot programs.

“Enterprises can use the MIT CISR Enterprise AI Maturity Model to assess their current capabilities, identify gaps and create a roadmap for improvement,” Stephanie Woerner, MIT Sloan principal research scientist and MIT CISR director, said in the release.

The research team, led by Woerner, Peter Weill and Ina Sebastian, developed the model based on survey data and interviews with executives at nine companies. Their findings suggest enterprises should take decisive action in developing AI capabilities, regardless of their current stage.

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