With all of the buzz in the marketplace surrounding AI, generative and traditional AI is now the top priority for chief data & analytics officers in 2024. CDAOs see endless opportunities to drive efficiencies and business outcomes, but they say the quickly changing landscape, limitations within their data foundations and a lack of skills across the enterprise are posing challenges to AI adoption.
Last year, we surveyed members of Evanta’s CDAO communities about their thoughts on generative AI as it took the world by storm. Today, they are sharing how their approach to AI has evolved and where they stand today.
Here is a snapshot of what over 150 CDAOs had to say about AI adoption at their organizations.
What is the status of AI Implementation?
More than one-third of data and analytics leaders (36%) reported a focus on developing AI use cases or piloting projects today. Nearly 30% of CDAOs say they have already achieved some measurable results from AI implementation.
In the comments, many CDAOs shared that they are predominantly focusing on internal use cases. One data executive explained, “There are a lot of internal use cases being explored from a generative perspective with some generalized ones in production. I don't believe we will go customer facing with it until we are really convinced we can be transparent enough and know how the next government will take their stance as a regulator.”
How does their organization approach technology adoption?
As for their approach to new technology adoption, CDAOs rated their organizations as either being an Innovator, Early Adopter, Early Majority, Late Majority or Laggard. The highest percentage of data executives cited being in the Early Majority. A quarter of the respondents reported their organization as either an Early Adopter or in the Late Majority.
Are they taking the same approach to AI adoption?
In terms of AI adoption, 78% of data and analytics leaders say their organization is taking the same approach as they do to all technologies – with many landing somewhere in the middle.
Twenty-two percent of CDAOs are taking a different approach to AI, with some adopting it earlier compared to other technologies. One CDAO commented, “The CEO made an exception, and said that generative AI would be a priority, and we would be early adopters – although we have found we are innovators.” Another said, “We are actively trying to win with AI.”
Other data leaders expressed caution, and are approaching AI more slowly. One CDAO commented, “AI is not proven yet when it comes to care delivery decisions. Also, there are legal/privacy/compliance concerns for the ethical and responsible use of AI.”
What might be slowing their adoption?
As CDAOs implement new use cases, their purview of AI risks is increasing. Compared to their survey responses in 2023, their concerns about AI have surged. The majority of CDAOs expressed concerns about AI in three distinct areas: if data privacy is rigorous enough to meet their standards (70%), if they can govern its use internally (70%) and if they can deploy it securely or manage the security risks (69%). Less than a quarter of CDAOs were worried about these same three issues last year.
What’s their outlook on AI?
Regardless of their concerns, data and analytics executives still have an overwhelmingly positive attitude about the future of AI, with 91% of respondents saying they have either a very positive or somewhat positive outlook. Only 9% have a neutral opinion, and no one said they have a negative viewpoint. This is similar to what they reported in last year’s survey, but today, more CDAOs cite having a “very positive” outlook.
How are they implementing AI tools?
More than half of CDAOs say they are equally buying and building AI tools. Another 22% percent of data and analytics leaders report mainly buying new AI tools, while 18% cite primarily building new AI tools.
One CDAO commented, “We are building where it is a core competency of our company. We are evaluating build/buy for other areas.”
Current Sentiments About AI
We asked CDAOs to further discuss their inclinations toward AI and share insight into their adoption journey. Here is a sample of their comments:
I feel there are so many low-hanging fruit opportunities for cost reduction that it's a no brainer to adopt.”
Cautiously positive. It's headed in the right direction, though I wished I could be more involved in how things are trained.”
It's not a golden bullet, the foundations still need to be there.”
Traditional AI has a much clearer path to delivering business value, while generative AI still needs to overcome technical limitations even before addressing the business challenges.”
Very excited about the possibilities. We have already built an impressive roadmap of potential projects. On the downside, the rapid pace of change in tech is exponentially growing demand on the data engineering teams, and we are not able to be met with a level of funding that matches the business enthusiasm to build AI-enabled tools.”
In general, we are very bullish on AI from the capability perspective, but we are still unsure how the company will make money from it. To this point everything feels like table stakes, but the payout is still unclear.”
If you are a CDAO navigating AI adoption at your organization, explore an opportunity to discuss it with your peers by joining an Evanta community near you. If you are already a member, sign in to MyEvanta to find your community’s next gathering.
Based on 150+ responses to Evanta’s Community Pulse Survey, June 2024.
by CDAOs, for CDAOs
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