- 38% would leave their job if their organisation did not invest in emerging technologies like AI
- Nearly a quarter do not feel adequately trained to make the most of such technologies
- Key IT areas of focus for the year are IT service desk, cybersecurity solutions and cloud infrastructure
- Cloud adoption across enterprises now at 85% – an increase of 8% on 2023
- 67% of IT leaders who have adopted cloud are worried about cloud security threats over the next 12 months
- Three-quarters say a cloud outage would have a catastrophic impact on their business
Dublin, 14th March 2024 – A new survey from Irish IT services provider Auxilion, and supported by Hewlett Packard Enterprise, reveals that 62% of IT leaders in Ireland believe Artificial Intelligence (AI) will make their company’s services redundant in three to five years.
The research – carried out by Censuswide and involving more than 100 IT leaders and decision-makers in large enterprises across Ireland – also found that nearly two in five (38%) would leave their job if their organisation did not invest in emerging technologies like AI.
Some three quarters (75%) of IT leaders are using AI to do their jobs and overall, a similar proportion of organisations (78%) are currently deploying same. Despite this uptake, nearly a quarter of IT leaders (24%) do not feel adequately trained to make the most of emerging technologies like AI.
That may explain why more than a third (36%) identified AI and machine learning as a key area of focus for the next 12 months. In terms of the IT areas that are being prioritised this year, IT service desk (49%) was most cited, followed by cybersecurity solutions (45%) and cloud infrastructure (42%).
Cloud remains key
In fact, the survey found that 85% of enterprises surveyed are now using the cloud – an increase of 8% compared to similar research conducted last year. On average, companies who have adopted cloud are using it to host nearly half (47%) of their workloads, applications, and processes.
Of the companies who have already made the move to cloud, 84% say their strategy is meeting their expectations – a marked improvement of 12% on the previous year. However, almost two thirds (65%) think their current cloud strategy is limiting business goals and 61% believe it is limiting staff.
As for the technology itself, 71% say cloud is a more cost-effective approach for their business and of those who have adopted cloud, 83% feel it is more secure for their business. Even still, over two thirds (67%) are worried about cloud security threats over the next 12 months, with 80% providing regular cloud security training to staff.
As well as concerns over security threats, three-quarters (75%) of respondents who have adopted cloud admitted that a cloud outage would be catastrophic for their business and have a serious impact on service delivery.
Commenting on the results, Donal Sullivan, Chief Technology Officer, Auxilion, said: “There’s no doubt about it, AI is here to stay. What remains to be seen is if, and how, Irish businesses leverage it. Our research suggests that those who don’t will lose out in terms of both talent and customers.
“Meanwhile, those that do will get ahead of the curve by using AI to enhance their offering and drive growth. In other words, their services won’t become redundant, but be elevated and in demand.
“Similarly, companies who lack a solid IT foundation or fail to adapt their cloud strategy are throwing away the advantage that technology offers. It’s a differentiator and innovator for businesses, but only for those who act, and react, fast enough.”
