AI was top of mind for businesses in 2023 – and this year is looking much the same.

New data from IBM found that 42% of enterprise companies have already actively deployed AI, and another four in ten are exploring or experimenting with AI at work.

The main use cases for AI were to reduce time spent on manual, repetitive tasks (55%), automation customer self-service actions (47%) and training and reskilling (34%).

IBM’s report discovered that over the next two years, interest in AI will continue to grow.

59% of those deploying or exploring AI plan to accelerate their investments – particularly in research and development (44%) and reskilling (39%), according to IBM’s survey of 8,500 IT leaders globally.

IBM found that the countries leading the way on AI investment were India, the UAE, Singapore and China – and those lagging behind the most were Spain, Australia, and France.

The research also identified that financial services was the sector was likely to be using AI, followed by telecoms.

The good news is that isn’t just IT leaders that are on board with AI, leaders in other departments and employees are also keen to leverage AI at work.

A global survey of over 5,000 individuals by Workday found that 62% of leaders and 52% of employees welcome AI.

Barriers to AI? Trust and skills

Despite these positive attitudes towards AI, there are many barriers holding organizations back from deploying automation at work.

IBM UK&I AI lead Michael Conway reminds UNLEASH that just one in four larger enterprises are actually using AI, meaning almost 60% are yet to implement it at work – and a major reason for this is “a lack of relevant AI skills”.

IBMs data found that one in five organizations did not have employees with the right skills, and 16% were struggling to find new hires to close the gap.

Conway calls on the C-Suite and HR leaders to think carefully about upskilling of current employees – this will mean “they can make use of the latest emerging AI tools and help them continuously learn as well as attracting talent with the technical skills and expertise needed to effectively operationalize AI within their organization”.

But companies cannot do this alone – “meeting the AI skills demand requires collaboration between the private and public sectors and academia to equip the workforce of the future”, concludes Conway.

Another major challenge facing AI’s successful use in the workplace is data complexity (25%) and ethical concerns (23%), according to IBM’s new report.

The IT leaders surveyed know that ethical, transparent AI practices are needed (85%), but under half are actually taking steps to improve the trust around AI in their organization, track data provenance and develop ethical AI policies.

These issues with trust and transparency around AI were also highlighted in Workday’s research.

Four in five workers said the organization is yet to share guidance on responsible AI.

Plus a quarter of employees aren’t confident that their organization is putting worker interests above the company’s when implementing AI (compared to 21% of leaders).

23% are also worried that their organization won’t ensure AI implemented in a trustworthy manner (compared to 17% of leaders).

Talking about this findings, Dan Pell, UK&I country manager at Workday, tells UNLEASH: “As businesses roll out AI, fostering trust and prioritizing employee interests are not just an add-on, but essential in realizing their ambitions for this technology.

“A striking 42% of leaders and 36% of employees, globally, view organizational frameworks and regulation for AI as key to establishing trust.

“This underscores the urgency for HR leaders to establish transparency around AI’s implementation across organizations, describing how it will be employed and regulated to ensure responsible and ethical practices, and positive outcomes for all.”