Want to know why I’m so focused on AI? A recent survey by Techaisle found that Generative-AI is rapidly increasing within SMBs and midmarket firms, with 60% of SMBs and 84% of midmarket firms either using or planning to use Generative-AI within the next six months. The survey also found that SMBs initially use Generative-AI to automate repetitive and time-consuming tasks. At the same time, midmarket firms invest in Edge computing, Containers, Open-source technologies, app development, and analytics.
A KPMG survey found that 97% of respondents expect generative AI to positively impact their organizations in the next 12 to 18 months, with 80% anticipating increasing investments in the technology by more than 50% in the next six months to a year.
A recent survey by Gartner found that adopting an AI-first approach leads to better returns on investment.AI-mature organizations, defined as those that have used AI in more than five different ways across their business units for over three years, are more likely to consider AI for every possible use case and weigh risk as a critical factor when determining whether to move forward. Additionally, AI-mature organizations involve legal experts during the initial stages of AI projects and set measurable goals at the start of each AI project to better understand the impact of AI on their business and gain support from executives for new AI initiatives.
A McKinsey survey found that few businesses are prepared for the risks associated with AI adoption. Only 21% of those who reported using AI at work said their employers have implemented policies for how employees use AI, and just 32% said their company was working to mitigate the risk of inaccurate information. The report’s authors suggest that businesses need to consider not just business implications but effects on society at large when implementing AI.
Users of ChatGPT have concerns about its security, trustworthiness, and plagiarism, leading to a decline in user confidence. A report by HundredX found that ChatGPT’s reliability and security scores were below average, while user satisfaction was above average. Despite these issues, ChatGPT’s ease of use, performance, and value have made it successful, with over 35% of users under 40 planning to continue using and promoting it.
And to note – all this AI is expensive. Microsoft’s capital expenditures have exceeded $10.7 billion in the second quarter, up 23% from the same quarter a year earlier, primarily due to purchases of hardware and software to add capacity to its Azure cloud computing platform for customers seeking to train and run artificial intelligence applications. The company is aggressively buying more of Nvidia’s graphics processing units, which are optimized for training and running AI applications and are in high demand among developers, and has been renting server space from smaller cloud providers it typically competes with, including Lambda Labs and CoreWeave. The current capex build-out mirrors the first wave of cloud computing more than a decade ago when Amazon, Google, and Microsoft invested heavily in building server capacity amid rising cloud demand.
A survey by Action1 Corp. reveals that 73% of IT system administrators lack knowledge of leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) for company success.
The story starts with customers looking to use generative AI in their businesses and ends with their IT administrators not knowing how to do so. In the middle is evidence for why this is a complicated and expensive proposition. The entire story adds up to a complex problem with business benefits, precisely what we want in an opportunity. And that’s why we care and why I’m spending so much time here.
Smaller organizations have an opportunity here. Their larger compatriots must spend time on complex governance rules, intellectual property concerns, and protecting the value they have built by their size. Smaller organizations have far less of that – and far less to lose. They can lean into AI, knowing the risks are smaller. And many will want to.