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A new survey from Salesforce has revealed that AI and automation will be critical drivers for enterprise IT teams as they face the increasing demands of a turbulent macro environment.
THE research, conducted between February and April 2023, involved 4,000 IT decision makers from North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific and Europe. He examined the mindset, top priorities and pain points of these leaders in today’s business conditions and found that there was an urgent need to improve efficiency and productivity, with AI And automating stakes.
The results highlight the critical role of artificial intelligence, including Generative AIcould play in streamlining IT operations in the near future.
Challenges
As customer and business needs evolve, IT leaders tasked with configuring stakeholders for future success strive to better meet expectations while demonstrating value. However, the stakes are so high that nearly two-thirds (62%) of them struggle to meet the demands of business.
Even more worrying is that these numbers are only expected to rise, with 74% of respondents expecting requests to increase further over the next 18 months.
“IT departments continue to be challenged to do more with less, reduce costs, deploy products faster, and deliver better customer and employee experiences. It is therefore essential that CIOs and IT managers focus on operational efficiency and process excellence,” said Param Kahlon, executive vice president and general manager of automation and integration at Salesforce. “By doing so, teams will be more productive and successful in the future.”
AI and automation to the rescue
While AI and automation have been helping businesses for some time, today’s IT needs are positioning the technologies for mainstream adoption. In the survey, 78% of IT leaders said the role of AI in their organization is already well defined, with top uses being service operations optimization, new AI-powered products, customer service analytics, and customer segmentation.
Respondents said automation can save them an average of 1.9 hours per week per employee. They automate workflows including order management, IT operations management, IT service management, IT asset management and customer service.
According to IT leaders, generative AI, a key component of consumer AI, is expected to be a key driver for these applications. A separate investigation made in March suggested that 57% of IT managers considered Generative AI be a “game changer” with the potential to improve the customer and employee experience. The latest research shows that sentiment has strengthened, with 86% of IT leaders now expecting generative AI to play a prominent role in their organizations in the near future.
Notably, a large majority of them even suggested that their staff and business stakeholders have a clear understanding of how it can be used effectively.
Reservations about AI and automation
While both AI and automation are on the right track to address the challenges IT teams face, there are also many reservations about them.
For example, the survey found that nearly 64% of IT leaders are concerned about the ethical implications of generative AI, while 62% remain wary of its potential impact on their careers. Likewise, automation was found to be associated with barriers, including security and privacy issues, compatibility of existing systems, inadequate budget, competing priorities/lack of team capacity, and difficulty finding the right technology.
Currently, only 42% of IT managers are satisfied with the state of automation in their organization. And 87% expect more investment in the region over the next 18 months.
Meanwhile, IDC forecasts global AI spending will grow by 26.9% in 2023 alone.
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