Riverbed Global Survey Shows AI Adoption Accelerating, But Gaps Remain
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Sept. 12, 2024 -- Riverbed, a leader in AI Observability, announced the results of the Riverbed Global AI & Digital Experience Survey, which found that organizations are at an inflection point as they accelerate their adoption of AI.
Despite high optimism, the report reveals this reality—while 94% of those surveyed say AI is a top C-Suite priority and 91% agree it provides a competitive advantage, only 37% are fully prepared to implement AI projects now, as organizations address challenges ranging from data quality to scalability that are impacting their ability to realize the full benefits of AI. However, the next three years are anticipated to be a period of rapid expansion as enterprises seek practical AI approaches and solutions, and by 2027, 86% of leaders expect their organization to be fully prepared to implement their AI strategy and projects.
Gain access to the infographic and full report here.
During that same time period, AI is expected to mature and become a growth driver. Whereas today, 54% of leaders say the primary reason for using AI is to drive operational efficiencies over growth (46%), those numbers flip in 2027, with 58% of organizations saying AI will primarily be a growth driver versus driving efficiencies (42%). Trust in AI is also growing—leaders say they would rather use AI to automate a major IT upgrade (61%), than sit in the back seat of a driverless car in the city (39%).
The global survey polled 1,200 IT, business, and public sector decision-makers across seven countries and seven industries, providing a comprehensive overview of how organizations are navigating the adoption and implementation of AI. The study explores: global sentiment around AI and generational attitudes; the adoption curve; AI benefits, gaps and strategies for success; and AI’s role to IT operations and the digital experience.
“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,” said Jim Gargan, Chief Marketing Officer, 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.”
AI Optimism is High Among C-Suite and Younger Generation Employees
With AI set to transform organizations worldwide, the survey found enthusiasm for AI is high among the C-Suite, younger generation employees and organizations as a whole.
- Today, 66% of leaders say AI is a key strategic priority for their organization, and another 33% say it’s at least moderately important.
- 94% agree AI will help them deliver a better digital experience for end users.
- 59% say AI sentiment in their organization is positive, 37% neutral and only 4% skeptical.
- When asked which generation is most comfortable with AI in the workplace, leaders said Gen Z (52%), followed by Millennials (39%), Gen X (8%) and Baby Boomers (1%). However, in the U.S., Millennials are seen as AI natives (47% vs 40% Gen Z).
The research also found that most organizations have moved past the stages of assessing and experimenting with AI—and today, 65% are accelerating their AI strategies with growing investment in infrastructure and talent; and another 23% are in the final transformative stage where AI is fully integrated into their business processes.
Despite AI Enthusiasm and Benefits, Several Gaps Exist
Despite wide AI enthusiasm, the research identified three major gaps that organizations must overcome to ensure their AI adoption results in benefits and enterprise success.
- Reality Gap: The vast majority of respondents (82%) believe they are ahead of their competitors (including 30% significantly) when it comes to AI adoption for IT services and digital experience, and only 5% say they are slightly behind. This gap between perception and reality indicates many leaders are overconfident about where their IT function is on their AI journey relative to their industry peers.
- Readiness Gap: As stated earlier, there’s a readiness gap as only 37% of leaders say their organization is fully prepared to implement AI projects now. Additionally, 72% say with AI still maturing, it’s challenging to implement AI that works and scales.
- Data Gap: Nearly all leaders (85%) acknowledge that great data is critical for great AI. However, of those surveyed, 69% are concerned about the effectiveness of their organization’s data for AI usage, and only about four in 10 rated their data as excellent for completeness (43%) and accuracy (40%), with 42% saying their data quality is a barrier to further AI investment. Furthermore, many surveyed had data security concerns about AI, including 76% of leaders who are worried about their proprietary data being accessible in the public domain.
Strategies to Drive Successful AI Initiatives
Enterprises are taking several steps to overcome challenges and drive successful AI strategies that deliver tangible results. To address AI preparedness, 57% of organizations have formed dedicated AI teams, and 45% observability and/or user experience teams.
When it comes to data, the vast majority of leaders (86%) say using real data, rather than synthetic data, is crucial in AI efforts to improve the digital experience. Additionally, 84% of respondents agree that observability across all elements of IT is important in an AIOps strategy, and at least 82% say observability to overcome network blind spots—including public cloud, remote work environments, Zero Trust architectures, and enterprise-owned mobile devices—is either extremely or moderately important.
The research also found several correlations between high-performing organizations’ (with 10.5% or higher revenue growth) successful adoption of AI, versus low-performing organizations (flat to declining revenue).
- High performers are prioritizing AI, with 74% reporting AI as a key strategic priority (and 26% as moderately important) compared to 56% of low performers.
- 67% of high performers are leveraging AI to its full potential today to improve the digital employee experience (DEX) vs 45% of low performers.
- 63% of high performers provide extensive AI training versus 41% of low performers.
The Riverbed Global AI & Digital Experience Survey polled 1,200 IT, business, and public sector decision-makers across seven countries, all with over $250 million in annual revenue (over $500 million in the US, UK, and France). Industries included manufacturing, financial services, retail, government/public sector, healthcare providers, energy and utilities, and transport and airlines. The survey was conducted by Coleman Parkes Research in June 2024.
Find out more about how IT, business and public sector decision makers are overcoming gaps and navigating AI adoption and implementation by diving into the full report here.
Source: Riverbed