London, UK – Qlik®, a global leader in data integration, analytics and artificial intelligence (AI), today launched research of 250 C-Suite executives and AI decision makers in the UK, revealing what is hindering AI progress in the UK and how to overcome these barriers.
A lack of trust in AI, regulatory challenges and governance issues are all hindering successful AI deployment, causing many projects to get stuck in the planning stages. Ready-made solutions are a preferred way for UK businesses to start working with AI solutions, and see return on investment in the technology.
AI projects are stuck in planning, or getting scrapped
The importance of AI in achieving organisational success is not underestimated, with Qlik’s research finding that 91% of senior decision makers feel AI is absolutely essential or very important to achieving success – including reaching strategic goals and increasing profits.
Despite this recognition, few AI projects make it out of the planning stage to completion or implementation, with many getting scrapped. In fact, 11% of UK businesses have between 50 to 100+ AI projects in the planning stage, which are not yet live projects. And 20% have had up to 50 projects progress to planning or beyond, only to have to pause or cancel them entirely.
Being able to progress more AI projects from planning to successful deployment will be vital for UK organisations to see a return on investment made into the technology, and to better serve customers against competition. Given the struggle to bring AI projects to fruition, many AI decision makers [79%] are opting for ‘ready-made’ AI solutions as a good foundation to enhance AI development.
Data governance, regulation and a lack of trust in AI are the culprits
There are multiple factors slowing down or totally blocking these AI projects, with the most significant being challenges around data governance [28%], regulation issues [22%] and nobody within the business taking responsibility for the AI projects to be seen through to completion [20%].
Whilst there is an overwhelming level of understanding around the need for AI, with almost all respondents [98%] saying they know what types of AI could be used in their business, trust from elsewhere in the business appears to be holding some companies back.
Almost half [41%] of AI decision makers say their senior managers lack trust in AI, 17% say their customers also don’t trust the technology, and 58% say this lack of trust is significantly reducing AI investment in their business. Better knowledge sharing across a business and its customers can help to increase that trust, and subsequent investment, as 78% are looking to promote the benefits of the technology more within their organisation and to their customers.
How can the UK be a leader in AI?
Another way to build trust and ensure AI projects get beyond planning and into successful deployment is by building more AI skills within UK businesses. More than three quarters [76%] of AI decision makers think the UK has the potential to lead the world in AI skills in the next five years – but over a quarter [27%] say a lack of data analytics capabilities and tools is stopping them from reaching AI goals.
To overcome this, 83% believe UK industries need to be better at nurturing and upskilling staff for AI to achieve this, and 82% think the UK government needs to provide more funding and training in AI.
“Our research confirms that UK businesses know the value of AI, but barriers still exist to widescale successful deployment of the technology. Understanding the value of sharing insights and benefits of AI across the business and senior management team, will help to limit the number of AI projects getting stuck in planning or being forced to cancel,” said James Fisher, Chief Strategy Officer at Qlik. “Generative AI offers new potential for businesses to take full advantage of the data available to them. The simplicity of focused, tailored solutions provides businesses with a rapid, yet reliable foundation for their AI projects which can help address challenges around trust and governance by reducing risk and complexity, whilst ensuring businesses are reaping the benefits that AI can offer.”
To explore how Qlik is supporting customers to get their AI solutions off the ground, learn more about Qlik Answers – self-service AI solution with the power of GenAI here: https://www.qlik.com/us/products/qlik-answers
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Media Contact
Craig Brophy
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