Global CIO study shows AI adoption is a pressing issue

Lenovo's latest annual global Chief Information Officer (CIO) study, "Inside the Tornado: How AI is Reshaping Corporate IT Today", has unveiled that the desire to adopt and progress with Artificial Intelligence (AI) is more pressing than ever before. However, it flags that this ambition is grappling with significant organisational challenges amidst the AI excitement. The study involves ten markets: Brazil, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Singapore, UK, and USA, and it provides in-depth information to assist businesses in understanding AI adoption in the digital age.

From the collected data, it emerged that AI is the top priority for IT and considered an urgent issue to address by 51% of respondents, alongside security. This marks a shift from past trends where CIOs were adopting non-traditional IT functions; now, they appear to be revisiting core duties. The rationale for this adjustment seems to be rooted in AI's potential, as IT leaders are increasingly assessed on business metric outcomes.

The road to AI deployment is not without obstacles; speed of implementation and security were marked as the most significant barriers to adopting and scaling AI. Additionally, less than half (49%) of global CIOs believe their technical skills are prepared for AI. The anticipation of investment in AI also comes with the hurdle of demonstrating Return on Investment (ROI). Among those surveyed, 61% find it challenging to showcase ROI from tech investments. Furthermore, 42% don't anticipate a positive ROI from AI investments for at least 2-3 years.

Interestingly, a large number of CIOs admitted that their organisations are not AI-ready. The study found that 76% of CIOs believe their organisations lack an AI-ready policy on operational or ethical use, and 74% feel their supply chains are not prepared for AI. However, these leaders remain optimistic about the long-term impact of the technology.

Ken Wong, President of Lenovo's Solutions and Services Group, highlighted how AI is driving CIOs back to their core mandates and noted, "AI adoption combined with the pressure that IT leaders face to prove the value of these investments and deliver measurable business outcomes."

The study also unveiled that the challenge to measure impact remains consistent as previous years. With 96% of CIOs likely to increase their investments over the next 12 months, 42% do not expect to see positive ROI from AI investments for at least two to three years.

Beyond the financial implications, AI is also seen as a net-positive for sustainability. Despite 38% of participants acknowledging that sustainability has been de-prioritised due to resources being allocated towards AI, 78% hold the view that leveraging AI will facilitate meeting their organisations' IT sustainability goals.

Further, while CIOs report their IT departments as being AI-ready, they caution that continued investment in AI could lead to human and financial resource gaps. Some 89% of CIOs warned that as AI technologies continue to scale, the role of human capital will become even more essential. However, budget constraints and a lack of overall IT budget growth could pose difficulties in meeting these demands. Expected AI investments are diverting resources from other key IT areas, such as cloud adoption, digital transformation (48%), sustainability (38%), and employee compensation (38%).

In conclusion, Wong added, "Our customers are already leveraging AI to advance sustainability, security, and digital transformation efforts. We can help them deliver further outcomes by developing cohesive deployment strategies that address CIOs challenges".