Big AI bets are being made globally

Searce, a modern technology consulting firm that empowers businesses to be future-ready, has released its 2024 State of AI report. It found organisations across the UK and US are making significant investments into AI this year with nearly one in 10 decision-makers in both the UK (8%) and US (7%) planning to spend over $25 million.

Searce surveyed 300 C-Suite and senior technology executives – including Chief AI Officers, Chief Data & Analytics Officers, Chief Transformation Officers, and Chief Digital Officers – at organisations with at least $500 million in revenue. The research examines some of the biggest trends, successes, and challenges facing businesses in their AI decision-making, strategy, and execution.

While the research shows significant investment into AI, there are still concerns around some challenges to AI adoption which differ across the UK and the US. For US decision-makers, data privacy and security were ranked as the number one hurdle (20%), whereas UK decision-makers ranked lack of qualified talent as their number one challenge (19%).

“As global investments in AI continue to rise, as our research has found, it is crucial for businesses to focus not just on spending, but on the tangible returns these investments can deliver. Strategic AI adoption can transform operations and drive significant growth," Julian Mulhare, Managing Director, EMEA, at Searce.

Mulhare adds, “From speaking with our European clients, we also know how much pressure businesses face to keep up with the latest technological demands. A lot of the findings in our research reflect some of those conversations including the challenges to AI adoption. Lack of qualified talent has been something we’ve been talking about since our inception in 2004 and is why many businesses come to us to help plug that internal skills gap – key for empowering teams by making work better, and people happier.”

Additional findings:

· One-third of businesses in the UK (31%) and the US (35%) are investing in AI to drive new business growth.

· The majority (96%) of UK participants view AI adoption as a key business priority with most (92%) rating the success rate of their AI initiatives as ‘successful’ and 31% planning to increase AI spend by 26-50%.

· When it comes to the build vs buy debate, over half (51%) of UK respondents said they had purchased solutions and partnered with external service providers when it came to fulfilling their AI needs rather than building the solution or servicing it in-house. This was similar in the US, with 57% saying the same.