Tech consulting firm Searce released its "State of AI 2024" report offering a look at enterprise artificial intelligence adoption in the U.S. and the U.K. The report surveyed 300 C-suite and senior technology executives from organizations with revenues exceeding $500 million and provides valuable insights into the successes, challenges, and investment trends shaping AI's future.
One of the key findings from the report is that while AI adoption is gaining momentum, success rates are mixed. Only 51% of respondents reported that their AI initiatives were "very successful," with an additional 42% labeling them as "somewhat successful."
Despite these challenges, a significant number of organizations remain committed to AI as a strategic priority, with 61% of respondents strongly agreeing that AI is central to their company's future.
“Across industries, AI is fundamentally changing the way organizations operate and is helping them prepare for the future,” said Vrinda Khurjekar, Sr. Director, Cloud Consulting, AMER, at Searce. “Yet, while organizations recognize the potential that AI can have, many are still struggling to adopt AI in a way that is most relevant for them and achieve real business outcomes.”
According to the findings, investment in AI is also set to grow. A quarter of the surveyed organizations plan to increase their AI spending by more than 50% in the coming years, and 8% anticipate doubling their investment. In 2024 alone, 25% of respondents indicated that their companies would allocate between $11 million and $25 million toward AI initiatives, while 7% expect to exceed $25 million.
The report also highlights the barriers to AI adoption, with data privacy concerns leading the pack. About 45% of respondents cited data privacy as a significant challenge, followed by legacy technology limitations and a shortage of qualified talent, each at 40%.
“To find AI success, businesses first need to identify and mitigate any existing limitations so that they can have the smoothest runway to adoption possible,” said Khurjekar. “The nuances within each business are different and require businesses to find partners that can help them address these concerns in the most effective way – whether that be collaborating with stakeholders to mitigate concerns around data privacy or proposing creative solutions to legacy technology issues. This allows businesses to home in on their biggest pain points, find consensus on the way to move forward, and most importantly deliver solutions that work for everyone.”
The study also reveals that nearly two-thirds of organizations prefer purchasing AI solutions rather than developing them in-house. Of these, 54% also partner with external service providers for implementation, while only 9% rely solely on internal resources.
“Organizations often pour money into their AI initiatives without a clear vision of what they want to achieve, leading to disappointing results,” said Khurjekar. “To truly generate ROI, organizations need to move away from blindly throwing money into these initiatives and hoping for the best, and instead embrace an outcome-centric approach underpinned by proper governance, measurable frameworks and change management processes. This will allow projects to be built from the outset in an accountable way with a clear set of end benefits in mind.”
Edited by
Greg Tavarez
