Accenture Technology Vision for Chemicals 2018

ACCENTURE
TECHNOLOGYVISION
FORCHEMICALS
2018
Copyright © 2018 Accenture. All rights reserved.

2Copyright © 2018 Accenture. All rights reserved.
Accenture’s 2018 Technology
Vision for Chemicals delves
into how executives can
leverage technology that is
available now to reimagine
what’s possible tomorrow.
Today’s chemical industry appears
to be in good shape on the surface.
However, hidden pressures and
risks are mounting, and change
is necessary.

Chemical companies need to make the
technological, portfolio and business-model
pivots that are required to survive and thrive
in a competitive global marketplace.
The opportunities are
tremendous, particularly
when the concepts reach
scale. Acting now will be key
to keeping up in an industry
landscape that is being
reshaped by technology.

CITIZEN AI
Raising AI to
Benefit Business
and Society
4
EXTENDED
REALITY
The End of
Distance
DATA
VERACITY
The Importance
of Trust
INTERNET
OF THINKING
Creating Intelligent
Distributed Systems
TECHNOLOGY TRENDS ARE
SHAPING THE FUTURE OF BUSINESS.
How will the chemical industry respond?FIVE
Trend 1 Trend 2
FRICTIONLESS
BUSINESS
Built to Partner
at Scale
Trend 3 Trend 4 Trend 5

Trend 1
CITIZENAI
For the chemical industry, artificial intelligence (AI) is
increasingly becoming part of the workforce and only
expanding in scope. From interactions with customers
to manufacturing processes and R&D, the power of AI
is both awesome and alarming, considering the
potential implications of one bad decision. Chemical
companies must recognize this impact and build AI
with accountability, fairness and transparency.
With growing capabilities and impact, AI
must be “raised” to be a responsible,
productive member of society.

6
WHAT DO SURVEYED CHEMICAL INDUSTRY
EXECUTIVES THINK ABOUT CITIZENAI?
indicate that they have
a good understanding
of how AI decisions are
made.
said that their employees
have a full understanding
of how AI systems work—
higher than the cross-
industry average of 16%
but still low.
shared that they are
confident that their AI
systems will not be
biased.
92% 34% 24%
Source: Chemical industry respondents in Accenture Technology Vision 2018 survey.

Trend 2
EXTENDED
REALITY
Chemical companies see a great deal of potential in
extended reality (“XR”), which includes virtual and
augmented reality technologies that make immersive
experiences commonplace. There is particular interest in
using XR in the plant to deliver information to workers
that helps them do their jobs more effectively. Another
relevant use of XR is with customers, helping them
imagine their products in real-life applications.
Virtual and augmented reality technologies
remove the distance between people,
information and experiences.

8
EXECUTIVES THINK ABOUT EXTENDEDREALITY?
85% 55% 52%
believe that extended
reality solutions will
pay for themselves
within one year.
expect that customer
service will be the most
relevant area for extended
reality in their organization
over the next two years.
agree that extended
reality will be widespread
and impact virtually every
industry over the next
five years.

Trend 3
FRICTIONLESS
BUSINESS
In the chemical industry, legacy systems were not built
to support partnerships at scale and the rapid expansion
into new ecosystems. However, those systems will
hinder future growth. Microservices and blockchain are
two technologies that may help, removing friction from
intercompany interactions. They can make it easier for
chemical companies to track, trace and audit contracts,
assets, joint molecule development and more.
Technology-based partnerships are required
for growth, so new architectures are needed
to enable ecosystem expansion.

10
EXECUTIVES THINK ABOUT FRICTIONLESSBUSINESS?
43% 88% 79%
agree that blockchain-based
ledgers and smart contracts
are reinventing the way
businesses engage with new
partners.
agree that microservices
are critical for scaling and
integrating ecosystem
partnerships.
report that the number of
partners their organization
works with has doubled or
more compared to two
years ago.

Trend 4
INTERNET OF
THINKING
Robotics, AI and connected devices are improving the
technological sophistication of the chemical industry.
Companies are working to use the data generated in
production and the supply chain to optimize operations
and enable real-time decision-making. However, to take
full advantage of this trend, computing power must be
pushed to the edgethat is, closer to the equipment
and assets that are generating the data.
To bring intelligent environments to life, a
balance is needed between centralized
infrastructures and edge computing.

EXECUTIVES THINK ABOUT INTERNETOFTHINKING?
87% 90% 83%
say that organizations need a
renewed focus on custom
hardware and hardware
accelerators to support real-
time insights and actions.
expect their investments in
edge computing to pay for
themselves within two
years.
agree that real-time
insights from large
volumes of data will
require computing at the
edge, where data is
generated.

Trend 5
DATA VERACITY
For the chemical industry, autonomous, data-driven
decision-making is increasing as AI is used for
manufacturing operations, R&D and customer
interactions. However, AI is only as good as the data
used to train it. Without establishing the veracity, or
accuracy, of data, companies leave themselves
vulnerable. And, these vulnerabilities can do great
harm because data underpins maintenance, safety
and even manufacturing process decisions.
In a data-driven world, new vulnerabilities
mean trust in data is imperative.

EXECUTIVES THINK ABOUT DATAVERACITY?
38% 68% 94%
agree that their organizations
are not prepared to confront
impending waves of
corrupted insights from
falsified data.
indicate that they are
confident in the integrity
(truth/quality) of the data
their organization collects
and uses.
indicate that their company
has not been the target of
adversarial AI attacks (while
28% believe they have but
are unable to verify it).

Chemical companies are beginning to
embrace new tools and plan how to take
part in the digital revolution.
MARK PINTAR
Managing Director, Chemicals and
Natural Resources Technology Lead
Accenture

accenture.com/chemicalstechvision
INTELLIGENT
ENTERPRISE
UNLEASHED:
A perspective on the
Accenture Technology Vision
2018 for the chemical industry
READ OUR
REPORT

17
CONNECT
WITH US
MARK PINTAR
Managing Director, Chemicals and
Natural Resources Technology Lead
Accenture
www.accenture.com/chemicals
Accenture Chemicals
@AccentureChems
mark.a.pintar@accenture.com

Accenture Technology Vision for Chemicals 2018

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Accenture Technology Vision for Chemicals 2018