When it comes to artificial intelligence initiatives, business leaders are feeling pressure to act — and act fast. However, neither their organizations nor technology infrastructures are ready for the surge in AI applications.
A survey of 7,985 senior business leaders, released by Cisco, finds 98% report increased urgency to deliver on AI and 85% believe they have less than 18 months to act. More than half (59%) give it only 12 months.
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However, at this point, only 13% say they are fully ready to capture AI's potential — no better than the paltry 14% reporting such readiness last year. They lack skilled staff, higher-capacity infrastructures, and AI-ready data.
Doubts about AI's ability to deliver returns remain on the list tool. While 50% of respondents cite pressure from the CEO and their leadership team to get moving with AI, there has been somewhat of a waning of enthusiasm about the transformative power of AI at this level. This year, 66% of respondents report that their organizations' boards are "receptive" and 75% say their leadership teams are "receptive" — down from 82% for both last year, the survey shows.
"A large number of respondents in our survey noted that their AI investments have not yet delivered the gains they expected," the survey's authors report. Nearly 50% of respondents reported not seeing any gains or gains below expectations in areas such as assisting, augmenting, or automating a process or operation. The results highlight that while companies are keen to adopt and deploy AI, the ability and readiness to fully leverage it remains limited. The lack of visible results also may be due to organizations not having the right processes in place to accurately measure the impact of AI, with just over a third (38%) of respondents saying they have clearly defined metrics to do so."
The money keeps flowing to AI technologies and projects. At least 50% of those surveyed say as much as 10% to 30% of their current IT budget is dedicated to AI.
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AI skills are a major concern for companies wanting to move forward with AI. Only 31% of organizations claim their talent is at a high state of readiness to fully leverage AI. Twenty-four percent say their organizations are under-resourced in terms of in-house talent necessary for successful AI deployment.
This shortage has had another unintended consequence, the survey finds. Intensified competition for skilled talent is driving up costs, cited by 48% of respondents as a major challenge.
About 54% are allocating more budget to hire new talent, and 40% say their organizations are investing in upskilling and reskilling existing talent. Another 51% report hiring external vendors to train their staff, compared to 39% who say they have internal training programs.
Infrastructure readiness — or the lack thereof — for AI is another concern. Only 21% report having the necessary GPUs to meet current and future AI demands. Only 30% have the capabilities to protect data in AI models with end-to-end encryption, security audits, continuous monitoring, and instant threat response.
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"The low readiness levels when it comes to infrastructure are worrying, especially as 93% of respondents predict that the workload of their organizations' infrastructure will increase with the deployment of AI-powered technologies," the report's authors point out. Meanwhile, 54% acknowledge their infrastructure has limited or moderate scalability and flexibility to accommodate these increasing needs.
Plus, only one-third (32%) of respondents report high readiness from a data perspective to adapt, deploy, and fully leverage AI technologies. Most companies (80%) report inconsistencies or shortcomings in the pre-processing and cleaning of data for AI projects. This remains almost as high as a year ago (81%). Additionally, 64% report that they feel there is room for improvement in tracking the origins of data.
Measuring AI's impact on growth and revenues is another problematic area. While 87% of executives say their organization has a process in place to measure AI's impact, only 38% have clearly defined metrics. In terms of financial preparedness, 81% (down from 84% last year) have a financial strategy to support AI deployment in place, but only 43% say they have a long-term financial plan.
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The report's authors make the following recommendations to bring organizations and technology up to speed with burgeoning demands for AI:
- Invest in scalable, adaptive, and secure infrastructure: Scalability and security are the watchwords to successful AI planning. "As generative AI tools become more accessible, companies should have technology and policies in place to ensure they safeguard themselves from unauthorized data sharing and loss, and are able to defend against prompt injection, data and model poisoning, and other AI-specific attacks."
- Enhance data management, integration, and governance: There are two key aspects that organizations need to look at: data quality and governance. "Implement comprehensive governance frameworks to ensure that data flows across the organization, as needed, are in compliance with relevant regulations.
- Focus on talent development and retention: "The hype around AI is creating a shortage of talent with the right skill sets, and increasing the cost to hire." The Cisco authors urge investing in existing talent pools. "This includes creating continuous learning opportunities for staff, encouraging cross-functional teams to collaborate and share knowledge on AI projects, and most importantly, looking for skills that can be transferred from an existing role to one focused on AI, to expand the available talent pool."
- Foster a supportive organizational culture and AI vision: Periodically revisit and reassess the AI strategy to ensure it aligns with the company's overarching business goals. In addition, "organizations should ensure that as they adopt and deploy AI across areas of their business, they not only highlight its potential benefits but also acknowledge any concerns employees might have on the impact on their jobs and roles." Encourage employees "to push boundaries and contribute to the company's AI-driven goals, ensuring sustained growth and competitive advantage."