Generative AI is revolutionizing IT across all industries, but it's still a relative unknown. Discover how 226 IT specialists across the world are working on AI adoption and governance in our LeanIX AI Report 2024.
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is now an everyday reality. 80% of respondents to our LeanIX AI Report 2024 tell us they're leveraging the technology to some extent.
Most expect it to improve their productivity and the quality of their work but are concerned about security risks and legal implications. Three-quarters of respondents say their organization is, therefore, limiting the use of AI to ensure the technology is being implemented safely by employees.
Whatever their opinion of AI, 90% of the IT experts who responded to our survey agree that it's important to have a comprehensive overview of how employees are using the technology. Worryingly, however, only 14% have clear insight into AI usage information, with more than a third not even having a business unit nominated to monitor AI.
With almost all our respondents agreeing that AI governance is a priority for them, still only 15% believe they're currently able to comply with existing and emerging regulatory guidelines for the use of AI. All this suggests urgent action is needed to track and monitor AI use to comply with regulation.
To find out more about how IT experts across the world are handling AI adoption and governance, download our report:
INTERNATIONAL STUDY: LeanIX AI Report 2024
The Potential Of Generative AI
Forrester analysts believe the rise of generative AI will be as transformative as previous technological innovations like the internet, the smartphone, and social media. They expect annual growth rates of 36% from AI technology by 2030.
Meanwhile, Gartner found that CIOs have set their sights on an AI future. Their recent survey discovered that three quarters of CIO respondents intend to increase their investment in AI, and 80% of CIOs say they're fully committed to a plan to adopt the technology in the next three years .
Yet, this is dangerous territory, as the legal ramifications of AI usage remain undetermined and there are still ethical concerns. Until the outstanding questions have been answered, we don't know what the AI regulatory landscape is going to look like and every step into AI adoption must be taken knowingly and with care.
To support you in this, we surveyed more than 200 IT experts from around the world to discover what their plans are for AI adoption and the precautions they're taking. Let's look at the key results of the survey and discover what the market has in mind for AI.
80% Of Companies Already Use Generative AI
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) use is already prolific. Only 20% of the respondents to our LeanIX AI Report 2024 told us they weren't officially leveraging the technology at all.
73%, however, are limiting the use of AI in their organization until technology is better understood out of concern for the risks involved. 72% of respondents are concerned about data security, despite only 21% prioritizing overcoming these concerns.
59% are also concerned about the legal consequences of using the technology, while almost half worry that employees lack experience and training with AI tools. Lastly, ethical concerns and high costs were cited as hurdles by 22% and 16% of respondents, respectively.
Despite all these issues, 75% of survey respondents are working to implement AI tools into their products and services or just to improve efficiency. Barely any of our respondents, however, are looking into the use of AI for sustainability, or preparing themselves for approaching AI regulation.
Not leveraging AI for all its expansive use cases seems like a wasted opportunity, but it's not being ready for regulatory scrutiny that is most concerning. Without a clear overview of what's happening in their organizations with AI, it seems like 80% of organizations are heading for disaster.
The Urgent Need For AI Governance
While AI regulation is rapidly intensifying in the USA, the European Union has already passed a world-first AI act. This legislation will see companies that fail to provide precise information about their AI use fined up to 7% of their annual turnover.
With the EU AI Act coming into force soon and US President Biden driving forward legislation in America, it's clear that worldwide AI regulation is on its way. Gartner predicts that half of all governments will regulate the use of AI in some way by 2026.
Despite this, only 15% of respondents to our survey believe they are fully prepared to comply with this regulation, and 33% admit to not being ready. Perhaps more disturbing, 20% of IT experts told us that they don't know whether they are prepared for AI regulation or not.
The EU AI Act is likely to come into force any day now, with the US increasingly ramping up for adoption. It's clear that companies need to get ready for AI regulation, and they need to do it fast.
The Missing Piece: A Clear Overview Of AI Use
The key to preparing yourself for artificial intelligence (AI) regulation is having an AI governance framework in place that ensures AI use is logged and conforms to guidelines. 97% of the IT experts we surveyed agreed with the need for an AI governance framework, but only 19% have implemented one.
52% of organizations are in the process of developing a framework for AI, but a staggering 26% have no plans to implement an AI framework at all. Some of our respondents mentioned a lack of clarity regarding AI use cases and regulations, but the EU has already passed legislation that other countries are likely to use as a template, so coming regulation is unlikely to be a surprise.
The truth is that the concern about lack of clarity is not related to AI regulation or potential use cases, but to how AI is being leveraged within your own organization. Coming regulation will likely be predictable, but without understanding your own "shadow" AI landscape, you can't know whether you will be able to comply.
To implement controlled AI adoption, however, you need the right toolset. Supported by software solutions designed specifically to support enterprise architecture, you can provide clarity on AI adoption throughout your organization.
To learn more about leveraging enterprise architecture tools to support AI adoption, download the full LeanIX AI Report 2024 for free now:
