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Almost all organisations recognise crucial role of AI , says Cloud Industry Forum research
AI ’ s promise shows little sign of slowing with 42 % of businesses also considering it their most important IT project .
Appetite for the potential of AI projects is at an all-time high , according to research conducted by the Cloud Industry Forum , which revealed that 42 % of businesses now consider it to be their most important IT project , ranking ahead of other considerations such as security , IT sustainability ( both 40 %) and controlling costs ( 38 %).
AI ’ s prominence in modern business is also supported by the finding that 96 % of organisations believe AI will be at least somewhat important to their organisation in the next five years . This figure is a significant increase from 2023 , when 86 % of organisations reported the same .
David Terrar , CEO , Cloud Industry Forum , said : “ The data from this year ’ s report indicates that much of the remaining scepticism ( around AI ) has entirely been quashed . Businesses are now further informed and fully on board with AI ’ s ability to reduce costs , save time and enhance their offerings .
“ Crucially , the past 12 months have served as a welcome opportunity for businesses to do some of the dirty work that often comes with AI implementation , before they can reap its rewards . It has long been clear that getting the best out of AI requires time , effort and resources . Collecting the right data and ensuring that enough of it is available to train models , for example , can be a long and laborious task . Most organisations seem to be wise to this now .”
Elsewhere , the research reveals , businesses have also had new legislation and regulations to contend with as lawmakers have made strides to keep the progress of AI in check .
“ Now though , businesses have had time to get to grips with these new regulations and are firmly on their way to AI implementation – if they haven ’ t implemented already ,” said Terrar .
Though AI projects are not limited to Gen AI , it remains a popular form of adoption . 94 % of organisations report that they are either planning to or are already using Gen AI . Specifically , 62 % of businesses report that it is already in use across at least some parts of their organisation .
For many businesses , the motivations for adoption are clear . Ninety-six per cent of respondents in this year ’ s report said that Gen AI will or has already benefited their organisation , including improving data analytics ( 46 %), customer service ( 45 %) and / or products and services ( 43 %).
“ For cloud service providers , Gen AI can and will be an important tool for improving their offerings in several ways . Not only will it assist in personalising offerings for users , but it will also help potential customers to better understand what cloud can do for them . For vendors , Gen AI will be vital in offering innovative solutions to challenges that have historically been complex , which will help optimise workloads and unlock new opportunities for growth ,” said Terrar . p
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