Only 37 percent of organizations are prepared for AI

A new survey finds that while 94 percent of business leaders say AI is a top C-suite priority and 91 percent agree it provides a competitive advantage, only 37 percent are fully prepared to implement AI projects now.

The study from Riverbed of 1,200 decision makers globally finds that currently 54 percent of leaders say the primary reason for using AI is to drive operational efficiencies over growth (46 percent), however, by 2027 58 percent of organizations expect AI will primarily be a growth driver.

Trust in AI is also growing -- leaders say they would rather use AI to automate a major IT upgrade (61 percent), than sit in the back seat of a driverless car in the city (39 percent). 59 percent say AI sentiment in their organization is positive, 37 percent neutral and only four percent skeptical.

"AI is on the C-Suite agenda and a priority for IT leaders, as AI can deliver tremendous benefits for IT operations, and transform industries and how we work," says Jim Gargan, chief marketing officer at Riverbed. "Despite the enthusiasm, our study uncovered several gaps organizations must overcome to realize the full potential of AI. What leaders really want is to move from the AI hype to practical AI that works and delivers measurable results. At Riverbed, we're helping customers with a practical approach to AI that provides an enterprise-wide strategy to optimize digital experiences and improve IT operations. Riverbed's AI is safe, secure and accurate, and we're addressing enterprises' most pressing challenges: providing AI automation that works at scale; solving the data gap with comprehensive observability across all of IT using real data; and with acceleration solutions that support AI efforts by moving data to anywhere, fast."

Today, 66 percent of leaders say AI is a key strategic priority for their organization, and another 33 percent say it's at least moderately important. 94 percent think AI will help them deliver a better digital experience for end users.

When asked which generation is most comfortable with AI in the workplace, leaders say Gen Z (52 percent), followed by Millennials (39 percent), Gen X (eight percent) and Baby Boomers (one percent). However, in the US, Millennials are seen as AI natives (47 percent compared to 40 percent of Gen Z).

You can get the full report from the Riverbed site. There's a detailed infographic on it below.

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