Businesses across the UK see artificial intelligence (AI) as a powerful innovation tool, but major challenges are holding back enterprises from realising the full potential of AI.
According to ‘The Innovation Race, Reducing Risk and Navigating the AI Frontier for Future Success’ report, published by technology firm Pure Storage, 78% of companies are concerned their infrastructure will not be able to meet the fast pace of AI.
As part of a survey of 1,500 global C-suite executives, there is a clear consensus from UK leaders (91%) that AI is a major opportunity to enhance their business. However, 88% believe that current data centre capability will soon not be able to cope with the growth of AI-generated data.
“UK IT leaders fear losing the innovation race. This research aims to help them understand all the risks to their organisation beyond the obvious cyber threats, enabling them to prioritise and strike a balance between security and innovation. Addressing rising energy costs and assessing AI readiness with a hybrid infrastructure approach can significantly benefit their efforts to harness AI for future success,” said Wes van den Berg, regional VP of UK & Ireland at Pure Storage.
A number of daily considerations, including the need to divert funding to cybersecurity, recruitment issues and increasing energy costs are hampering UK organisations as they seek to make the most of AI.
More than one in three (37%) of survey respondents in the UK say a lack of talent is reducing their innovation potential. Despite these barriers, businesses are driving forward with AI projects, as they are expected to enhance efficiency and automate many tasks.
Almost half (49%) of respondents believe that personalising the customer experience is a significant benefit of AI, alongside 45% saying improving the use of customer data usage is a core advance AI can bring.