Gartner Survey Shows 37 Percent of Organisations Have Implemented AI in Some Form
Announcement posted by Gartner 22 Jan 2019
Despite Talent Shortages, the Percentage of Enterprises Employing AI Grew 270 Percent Over the Past Four Years
STAMFORD, Conn., January 21, 2019 — The number of enterprises implementing artificial intelligence (AI) grew 270 percent in the past four years and tripled in the past year, according to the Gartner, Inc. 2019 CIO Survey. Results showed that organisations across all industries use AI in a variety of applications, but struggle with acute talent shortages.
“Four years ago, AI implementation was rare, only 10 percent of survey respondents reported that their enterprises had deployed AI or would do so shortly. For 2019, that number has leapt to 37 percent — a 270 percent increase in four years,” said Chris Howard, distinguished research vice president at Gartner. “If you are a CIO and your organisation doesn’t use AI, chances are high that your competitors do and this should be a concern.”
The purpose of the 2019 Gartner CIO Survey is to help CIOs and other IT leaders set and validate their management agendas for the coming year. Gartner gathered data from more than 3,000 CIO respondents in 89 countries across major industries, representing $15 trillion in revenue and public-sector budgets and $284 billion in IT spending.
Talent Shortage
The deployment of AI has tripled in the past year — rising from 25 percent in 2018 to 37 percent today. The reasons for this big jump is that AI capabilities have matured significantly and so enterprises are more willing to implement the technology. “We still remain far from general AI that can wholly take over complex tasks, but we have now entered the realm of AI-augmented work and decision science — what we call ‘augmented intelligence,’” Mr. Howard said.
CIOs have realised that sustainable digital transformation and task automation go hand in hand. AI has become an integral part of every digital strategy and is already used in a variety of applications. Survey results show that 52 percent of telco organisations deploy chatbots and 38 percent of healthcare providers rely on computer-assisted diagnostics. Other operational use cases for AI are fraud protection and consumer fragmentation.
The more enterprises work with AI, the clearer the deployment challenge becomes. Fifty-four percent of respondents to a Gartner Research Circle Survey view skill shortage as the biggest challenge facing their organisation.
“In order to stay ahead, CIOs need to be creative. If there is no AI talent available, another possibility is to invest in training programs for employees with backgrounds in statistics and data management. Some organisations also create job shares with ecosystem and business partners,” Mr. Howard said.
Gartner clients can get more information in “2019 CIO Survey: CIOs Have Awoken to the Importance of AI.”
Gartner analysts will be discussing the future of AI at Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo 2019. Follow news and updates from the events on Twitter using #GartnerSYM.
For Editors
This Gartner AI Development Strategies Survey was conducted online from April 5 to April 21, 2017 among 83 Gartner Research Circle members — a Gartner-managed panel composed of IT and business leaders.
About Gartner
Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) is the world’s leading research and advisory company and a member of the S&P 500. We equip business leaders with indispensable insights, advice and tools to achieve their mission-critical priorities and build the successful organisations of tomorrow.
Our unmatched combination of expert-led, practitioner-sourced and data-driven research steers clients toward the right decisions on the issues that matter most. We are a trusted advisor and objective resource for more than 15,000 organisations in more than 100 countries — across all major functions, in every industry and organisation size.
To learn more about how we help decision makers fuel the future of business, visit www.gartner.com.
“Four years ago, AI implementation was rare, only 10 percent of survey respondents reported that their enterprises had deployed AI or would do so shortly. For 2019, that number has leapt to 37 percent — a 270 percent increase in four years,” said Chris Howard, distinguished research vice president at Gartner. “If you are a CIO and your organisation doesn’t use AI, chances are high that your competitors do and this should be a concern.”
The purpose of the 2019 Gartner CIO Survey is to help CIOs and other IT leaders set and validate their management agendas for the coming year. Gartner gathered data from more than 3,000 CIO respondents in 89 countries across major industries, representing $15 trillion in revenue and public-sector budgets and $284 billion in IT spending.
Talent Shortage
The deployment of AI has tripled in the past year — rising from 25 percent in 2018 to 37 percent today. The reasons for this big jump is that AI capabilities have matured significantly and so enterprises are more willing to implement the technology. “We still remain far from general AI that can wholly take over complex tasks, but we have now entered the realm of AI-augmented work and decision science — what we call ‘augmented intelligence,’” Mr. Howard said.
CIOs have realised that sustainable digital transformation and task automation go hand in hand. AI has become an integral part of every digital strategy and is already used in a variety of applications. Survey results show that 52 percent of telco organisations deploy chatbots and 38 percent of healthcare providers rely on computer-assisted diagnostics. Other operational use cases for AI are fraud protection and consumer fragmentation.
The more enterprises work with AI, the clearer the deployment challenge becomes. Fifty-four percent of respondents to a Gartner Research Circle Survey view skill shortage as the biggest challenge facing their organisation.
“In order to stay ahead, CIOs need to be creative. If there is no AI talent available, another possibility is to invest in training programs for employees with backgrounds in statistics and data management. Some organisations also create job shares with ecosystem and business partners,” Mr. Howard said.
Gartner clients can get more information in “2019 CIO Survey: CIOs Have Awoken to the Importance of AI.”
Gartner analysts will be discussing the future of AI at Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo 2019. Follow news and updates from the events on Twitter using #GartnerSYM.
For Editors
This Gartner AI Development Strategies Survey was conducted online from April 5 to April 21, 2017 among 83 Gartner Research Circle members — a Gartner-managed panel composed of IT and business leaders.
About Gartner
Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) is the world’s leading research and advisory company and a member of the S&P 500. We equip business leaders with indispensable insights, advice and tools to achieve their mission-critical priorities and build the successful organisations of tomorrow.
Our unmatched combination of expert-led, practitioner-sourced and data-driven research steers clients toward the right decisions on the issues that matter most. We are a trusted advisor and objective resource for more than 15,000 organisations in more than 100 countries — across all major functions, in every industry and organisation size.
To learn more about how we help decision makers fuel the future of business, visit www.gartner.com.