Guest blog: AI adoption - what’s the state of play?
There's a new face in the IT department, ready to step in to help tackle the increasingly complex challenges caused by modern hybrid on-prem and multi-cloud environments. Overstretched technology teams always appreciate an extra set of helping hands, but what happens when this new team member isn’t human—but artificial intelligence (AI)?
As they become more advanced, AI systems are increasingly stepping in to fill the voids left by limited resources, budgets, or time by automating mundane and error-prone processes and delivering real-time and predictive insights.
A new 2024 SolarWinds IT Trends Report offers insights into how IT professionals are adjusting to rapid technological changes, particularly their reactions to AI as its influence grows. Based on insights from the nearly 700 IT professionals who participated in the 2024 SolarWinds IT Trends Survey, here’s how today’s technology teams are thinking about AI today. And what does this really mean for long-term AI adoption and its benefits?
Strong and varied expectations for AI adoption
AI adoption is off to the races: nearly nine in 10 companies already adopted AI or have plans to. What’s more, 56% of IT professionals want their companies to invest more in AI, and 46% wish their organisations would implement AI faster.
AI solutions are becoming more accessible and affordable with each new invention, and we will see more and more use cases. With this, comes greater adoption for smaller entities and those with leaner budgets, like the public sector.
For example, the UK Government has recently announced a £4 million investment into artificial intelligence to help teachers mark work and plan lessons, allowing teachers to focus on the children in the classroom and free up their admin time. It shows that public sector organisations are not afraid to use AI in a range of different settings. For it to work properly though, a structured onboarding process for those using AI solutions will be critical, to better integrate these powerful tools and realise their potential.
This push for accelerated AI deployment highlights the critical role AI is expected to play in transforming enterprises. It’s not going away anytime soon, but its lasting impact on daily operations remains to be seen.
Pros - see the benefits of AIOps, but want to see a longer track record of success
Integrating AI into IT teams is not just about filling gaps with new technology but also understanding how it can align with existing workflows. While many organisations are utilising AI-powered tools, they’re still working toward being able to rely on their efficacy and reliability.
Most IT professionals surveyed indicated that their organisations are adopting AI, with nearly nine out of ten companies either already using AI or planning to. Organisations already using AI-powered solutions reported substantial benefits such as improved data analytics (68%), automated routine tasks (67%), and increased efficiency and productivity (70%).
Although nearly a third (31.6%) of respondents are very confident that AI has significantly enhanced their efficiency, the majority (53.6%) acknowledge AI’s potential but remain skeptical, awaiting more evidence of its true impact. This cautious optimism underscores the importance for organisations to implement robust metrics and clear policies for evaluating AI's performance.
Privacy and security concerns are the top barrier to AI adoption
In the realm of IT, security no longer just leads the conversation—it is the conversation. There is overwhelming optimism around AI, with 89.9% of respondents holding favorable views toward AI and more than 91% at least somewhat trusting its data quality and training. However, concerns remain about privacy and security, which respondents cited as the single most significant barrier to AI integration. When asked about their challenges with AI, four out of 10 (41%) respondents said they’ve had negative experiences. Of those, privacy concerns (48%) and security risks (43%) were most often cited as the reasons why.
Additionally, nearly nine out of 10 (88%) respondents said they support increased government oversight of AI. Their top priorities for regulation? Security (72%) and privacy issues (64%).
Privacy should always be front of mind when it comes to AI. Whether you work in the public or private sector, citizen data and customer data should always be treated with the highest care. That means steering clear of free AI models when working with sensitive information.
All organisations that can should look at ways to integrate AI into their ways of working. They should allow employees an opportunity to test the AI technology in a shielded way to keep the data secure. If organisations don’t give their employees direct access to AI models, the risk is that they will find a way to use it anyway, most likely using free versions, putting organisations’ data at risk.
Are digital assistants the future?
We now seem to be in a place where we are steering away from the fear-mongering and hysterics around AI and are ready to make great use of it. And we must ensure the public sector is not left behind the private sector when it comes to adoption. If the UK is to become an AI superpower, for example, it must do it together.
Many public sector organisations unfortunately will not yet have the funding to be able to deploy AI initiatives, but there is no harm in drawing up plans to see what could be possible with their allocated budgets. By the time the proposals reach the top of approvals the technology may be much cheaper and more mature than it is right now.
Much like welcoming anyone (or anything) new into a tightly-knit team, it may take some time for IT pros to warm up to their new digital assistants. Today’s AI systems are essentially a promising new teammate that’s yet to be onboarded: everyone is excited about the promise they hold, but similarly wary of the unknown factors. By aligning AI systems with business objectives and consistently reviewing their performance, organisations can supercharge their productivity and increase teams' confidence in the advantages of AI, enabling them to push the envelope of innovation even further.
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