Nearly 7 in 10 ITDMs (IT decision makers) believe AI-based technologies will make teams more efficient, but 52 percent say their organizations do not yet have the necessary IT infrastructure in place.

A global IT survey shows that three in four IT decision makers are optimistic about the potential benefits of AI (from increased workforce efficiency to automated cybersecurity solutions) and more than two in three are increasing their investment in AI technologies. At the same time, the research shows that almost half of companies are not yet ready for AI.

Up to 86% of companies plan to prioritize AI “within five years,” indicating a large gap between current AI hype and enterprise-level reality. This is because IT decision makers do not have a clear roadmap for implementation, especially when it comes to hardware infrastructure.

Infrastructure readiness is one of the biggest concerns for IT decision makers. More than half (51%) say their organization lacks the IT infrastructure to effectively handle AI workloads.

Start early with AI

AMD commissioned the survey of 2,500 ITDMs around the world to understand how AI technologies are transforming the workplace, how IT decision makers are designing their roadmap for AI technology and related hardware, and what their biggest implementation challenges are .

Despite some concerns about security and the perception that training staff would be a burden, it is clear that organizations that have already implemented AI solutions are seeing a positive impact and those that delay are at risk of failure to stay on the route. 90% of companies that prioritize the use of AI report that they are already seeing greater efficiency in the workplace.

IT leaders recognize the benefits of AI-based solutions, but their organizations need to create a more focused plan for implementation.

Matthew Unangst, Senior Director, Commercial Client and Workstation, AMD

“There are benefits to being an early adopter of AI,” said Matthew Unangst, senior director, commercial client and workstation, AMD. “IT leaders recognize the benefits of AI-based solutions, but their organizations need to create a more focused plan for implementation. Otherwise they risk falling behind. Open software ecosystems with powerful hardware are essential. We believe in a multi-layered approach to delivering AI IP across our product portfolio for the benefit of our partners and customers.”

Key insights

The results of the study include, among others:

AI developments are outpacing the company even as global IT decision makers focus on a 5-year AI adoption plan.

• 86% of companies worldwide plan to prioritize AI within five years, while only 20% of European companies will do so in the next six months.
• 45.6% of European IT decision-makers in companies with more than 5,000 employees say their company is not ready/willing to implement AI, indicating a large gap between the current AI hype and the reality at the enterprise level.
• 86% of global IT leaders who prioritize AI see improved efficiency across their organization.

AI in practice

To ensure IT decision makers have the best computing platform available when implementing AI solutions, they must focus on how AI products work across the enterprise infrastructure. As a complement to cloud-based AI, it is worth looking for client solutions for AI on PCs and laptops. This offers several advantages:

• More personalized, safer work environments for employees by running AI models locally.
• Increased energy efficiency of laptops, meaning better productivity and connectivity for employees.
• Enables running next-generation software on laptops to increase an organization’s overall bandwidth for running AI workloads.

For companies that also want to run AI workloads in their on-premises data centers, up-to-date infrastructure is critical. By upgrading a data center to modern processors, customers can reduce the number of racks required in their existing infrastructure by up to 70%.

This is a commercial contribution in collaboration with AMD. You can find more information about their solutions here.