Many top companies are eager to embrace AI, but their businesses are simply not ready for it yet
New research from Sales team Research has shown that more than four in five (85%) IT leaders expect an increase in developer productivity over the next three years thanks to artificial intelligence.
The news is very welcome, with two in five (39%) reporting an increase in IT requests over the past twelve months.
However, according to the company, it’s not all good news. Three in five (62%) have revealed that their business is simply not prepared to adopt AI, with many companies not having the necessary infrastructure in place.
Companies need to prepare before adopting AI
The scale of the problem is critical, with an overwhelming majority (98%) of companies experiencing some level of challenge during their digital transformation efforts. Four in five (80%) blame their problems on data silos, and almost three-quarters (72%) say the systems they use are too dependent on each other, resulting in technical limitations.
Summarizing the study’s findings, Salesforce highlights that integration is the top barrier to AI innovation. By addressing data silos and challenging existing solutions that impose technical limitations, companies can begin exploring the rollout of their own AI tools.
As organizations look to automation to alleviate some of the pressures that have been placed on IT teams, including skills gaps and compliance concerns, Salesforce revealed an overly cautious approach. Only one in five (22%) IT leaders say they have an up-to-date strategy to guide non-technical users in integrating apps and data sources via APIs.
According to the report’s figures, preventing employees from taking advantage of APIs can hurt efficiency and productivity. APIs reportedly contribute around 33% of all revenues, underscoring its sheer size.
Param Kahlon, EVP and GM for Automation and Integration at Salesforce, said: “AI is only as powerful as the data organizations can connect to it and the results they can get from it.”
Kahlon’s further comments show that Salesforce is quite optimistic about enterprise adoption of AI so far, but it is clear that companies can increase cost efficiency even further if they have the right systems and procedures in place.