There is a growing urgency for Bermuda business leaders to keep pace with rapid technology advances and shifting customer expectations, a new PwC survey revealed.

PwC’s Digital Readiness Survey 2024: Fast Forward or Fall Behind found that only 42 per cent of executives questioned in Bermuda and the Caribbean thought technology was progressing quickly enough in their organisation.

Only a quarter of them strongly agreed that their company encouraged innovation and adaptability.

Zia Paton, digital solutions leader PwC in the Caribbean, said artificial intelligence was sharpening the focus – creating a catalyst for innovation and business model reinvention on the one side and a high degree of uncertainty and concern on the other.

“Well-targeted investments in systems and skills are clearly critical,” she said. “But they are not enough on their own to accelerate transformation and move out in front. The businesses reaping the digital dividend are marked by the boldness of their ambition, the readiness of their workforce to embrace new possibilities, and their agility and resilience in the face of continual disruption and change.”

About half of businesses surveyed (47 per cent) saw a return on their digital investments.

Forty-five per cent of respondents saw artificial intelligence as the most critical technology to their company’s strategy today.

More than a third of respondents (37 per cent) believed their organisation faced a survival-level threat from digital disruption.

Only 17 per cent reported that data analytics played a critical role in guiding decision making and processes.

The top three barriers to prevent workers from upskilling were lack of time, money and strategic focus.

Concerns about cybersecurity further highlighted the challenges of creating and running a digitally-powered organisation. Fifty-five per cent of respondents acknowledged that their ability to safeguard sensitive data and defend against emerging threats needed improvement.