Juniper Networks has announced the findings of a global research project that shows a big increase in enterprise artificial intelligence (AI) adoption over the last 12 months, which is yielding tangible benefits to organisations. However, a shortage of human talent still exists and governance policies continue to lack in maturity – both of which are needed to responsibly manage AI’s growth when considering privacy issues, regulation compliance, hacking and AI terrorism.
Juniper partnered with Wakefield Research to conduct a survey of 700 senior leaders around the world with direct involvement in their organisation’s AI and/or machine learning (ML) plans or deployments, with 201 of those respondents based in Europe. The survey gauges sentiment around the value of AI, the perceived maturity of deployments and where challenges still exist.
This year’s survey found that enterprises have largely moved past proof-of-concepts and limited trials of AI and are now implementing AI across their organisations, thanks to pandemic-related digital acceleration and the maturation of AI tools available. While Juniper’s 2021 report previously showed only 6% of C-level leaders had reported adoption of AI-powered solutions across their organisations (citing technological, skillset and governance challenges), this year, 63% of company leaders surveyed say they are at least “most of the way” to their planned AI adoption goals.
European AI/ML leaders recognise that establishing oversight and control across the entire organisation is a key component for successful AI adoption. Also, 45% of the respondents in Europe think more needs to be done to effectively govern AI as it is applied to more facets of business and life. Additionally, 35% of respondents in Europe reported data availability as the most critical component to enable AI adoption across their industry, compared with North American respondents who ranked AI tool capabilities as the most critical component.
However, globally, only 9% of IT leaders (10% in Europe) consider their AI governance and policies, such as establishing a company-wide AI leader or responsible AI standards and processes, to be “fully mature.” At the same time, more global leaders see governance as a priority: 95% agree having proper AI governance in place is important to stay ahead of future legislation, up from 87% in 2021. Despite leadership recognising the importance of AI governance and having policies in place to manage, govern and maintain, almost half of respondents (48%) think more needs to be done to effectively govern AI.
“In recent years, many European governments have stepped in to regulate the collection, storage and usage of data, spurring organisations to take a more proactive approach to internal AI governance to stay ahead of legislation and allow their AI solutions to expand safely. As a result, organisations are developing comprehensive AI and data governance policies to protect against financial and reputational loss. As AI use continues to grow, we will see more being done to effectively govern and secure it,” explained Laurence Pitt, Global Security Strategist, Juniper Networks.
For more information, visit: www.juniper.net