Most manufacturers have not yet adopted AI platforms, despite growing evidence that these technologies help firms work more closely with customers and adapt to changing needs. New research warns that those who delay adoption risk falling behind as the industry shifts toward personalised, service-led delivery.
The study, published in the Journal of Product Innovation Management, analysed product-level data from 570 Spanish manufacturers across sectors including food processing, plastics, chemicals, metals, electronics, textiles and furniture.
Led by Yancy Vaillant from TBS Education, Esteban Lafuente from the Costa Rica Institute of Technology and Ferran Vendrell Herrero from the University of Edinburgh Business School, the research shows that AI platforms strengthen collaboration during the diagnosis and implementation phases of solution delivery. These tools help firms understand client needs, coordinate actions and monitor outcomes more effectively.
Platforms such as Microsoft Azure AI, Google AI, and IBM Watson enable businesses and customers to exchange data in real time, enabling more targeted, efficient, and responsive service delivery.
Firms that use these platforms are also more likely to build what the researchers describe as situating capabilities. These include grounding, the ability to identify what matters in each customer context through deliberate AI-guided learning; bounding, the ability to define clear roles and responsibilities within the solution delivery ecosystem to mitigate opportunistic behaviours; and recasting, the ability to adapt solutions over time as client needs evolve.
The researchers emphasise that the value of these platforms lies not in automation, but in enabling strategic coordination across teams and with customers.
Most companies still think of AI in terms of automation, but the real value lies in enabling more intelligent, coordinated collaboration with customers. Firms that use these platforms become better at understanding what clients actually need, setting the right boundaries in the relationship and adapting as conditions change. Over time, that means stronger partnerships, higher customer satisfaction and a more resilient business model.Professor Ferran Vendrell Herrero
The research team is now exploring how these digital capabilities influence long-term outcomes such as customer satisfaction, business resilience and performance.
Ferran Vendrell-Herrero is our Senior Lecturer in International Management.