New Foundry for AI by Rackspace (FAIR™)
2024 AI Research
Report sponsored by AWS and commissioned by Rackspace
Technology® (NASDAQ: RXT), a leading end-to-end hybrid, multicloud,
and AI technology services company, finds that more than 60% of
participants have advanced their Artificial Intelligence (AI)
strategies beyond the ideation and proof-of-concept stages and are
now transitioning to the initial phases of adoption. The research
report results also revealed that nearly one-third of respondents
have successfully integrated AI into their business operations,
highlighting AI’s exceptionally rapid adoption and evolution.
When asked where they currently are in their AI journey, 29% of
respondents reported that they have fully integrated AI strategy
for use in employee productivity, with an additional 33% at the
early stages of development. Companies are also seeing internal
benefits, with 29% saying they have fully integrated AI and 31% at
the early stages. The most fully developed use of AI is customer
products and services, with 33% having fully integrated AI and an
additional 34% in the initial stages of implementation. Nearly half
of respondents reported being “operationally ready” for AI.
“Unlike previous technological disruptions that were years in
the making, such as the mainframe, client servers, and cloud
computing, there has been little to no, ‘wait and see’ period for
AI. Instead, companies across the board have jumped in with both
feet,” said Srini Koushik, President AI, Technology, and
Sustainability, Rackspace Technology. “As AI becomes increasingly
commoditized with easier consumption models, it is establishing
itself as a ubiquitous tool that can fit almost anywhere, with a
broad-brush impact across all aspects of the organization.”
In June 2023, Rackspace Technology launched FAIR, a global
practice dedicated to helping organizations accelerate the
responsible and sustainable adoption of AI across all industries.
FAIR provides three distinct service offerings: Ideate, Incubate,
and Industrialize which are designed to meet the needs of
organizations as they execute their AI transformation. FAIR Ideate
and FAIR Incubate are available on AWS Marketplace.
Investment in AI Continues to Rise The survey
findings reveal a continued surge in AI investment, with companies
anticipating doubling their budgets in 2024 as compared to 2023.
Moreover, respondents say their investments are yielding
significant returns, with 86% reporting that their companies have
seen tangible benefits from the implementation of AI – a notable
increase of 10% over Rackspace’s 2023 survey.
Among the leading use cases for AI/Machine Learning (ML)
initiatives, respondents highlighted efficiency as the primary
motivation and advantage, with intelligent search (62%), document
processing (61%), and fraud detection (56%) emerging as the leading
cases.
When asked about the driving force behind their company's AI
strategy, 57% of respondents cited their IT departments as taking
the lead. However, IT teams are also receiving support from various
other departments across their organizations. Specifically, 46% of
respondents mentioned that customer service played a role as an
early adopter in driving their AI strategies, while 44% reported
involvement from functional departments such as marketing, sales,
and finance. In addition, approximately half of all respondents
also say they are achieving their goals in executive sponsorship of
AI initiatives, business unit alignment, strategic alignment, and
product management.
“The doubling down on AI investment over the past year is akin
to progress at the speed of light,” said Nirmal Ranganathan, Vice
President of Engineering and Chief AI Architect, Rackspace
Technology. “But it’s not merely the magnitude of investment that
is worth noting. The widespread adoption of AI across various parts
of businesses indicates that organizations recognize it as a
profoundly impactful technology with transformative
capabilities.”
Security & Ethics Remain a Concern Despite
the widespread and rapid adoption, organizations remain cautious of
AI-associated risks, including ethical and security concerns
associated with the technology. Fifty-eight percent of respondents
ranked cybersecurity as the biggest risk their organization sees in
AI adoption, while just 51% of respondents report that they follow
proper data management and retention policies to manage
compliance.
Alongside security, ethics emerge as a key concern, with over
half of respondents considering the responsible and ethical use of
AI as being a part of their approach for AI governance. The key
considerations for what respondents considered to be ‘Responsible
AI’ were data privacy (55%), accountability (52%) and transparency
(48%).
“Despite concerns regarding data breaches, the strong trust that
IT leaders place in AI systems surpasses the standards of
governance,” added Koushik. “This underscores the lingering gaps in
the safeguards for Ethical AI, which require urgent attention.”
AI Talent and UpskillingThe survey also
revealed an ongoing shortage of AI skills. Key roles that companies
are looking to fill include software development (44%), machine
learning (42%), and data analytics, engineering, and governance
(40%). In response, 39% of companies currently offer formalized AI
training/learning programs, with an additional 58% planning to
develop such programs in the future.
Survey MethodologyCommissioned by Rackspace
Technology, the survey was conducted by Coleman Parkes Research in
January and February 2024. Findings are based on the responses of
1,420 IT decision-makers across manufacturing/logistics, retail,
hospitality/travel, energy, healthcare/pharma/biomedical,
government, media/entertainment, and financial service sectors in
the Americas, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Most
companies/organizations polled have from 1,000 to 10,000+ employees
and annual revenue between $50m and $15b.
For additional survey findings, whitepaper, and infographic,
click here.
About Foundry for AI by Rackspace (FAIR) FAIR
is a groundbreaking global practice dedicated to advancing business
transformation, improving customer experience, increasing the
quality of service, and accelerating value creation through the
secure and responsible use of AI technologies. FAIR has identified
over 500 use cases across multiple industries and is working on
several industry-leading implementations for our customers across
the globe.
About Rackspace TechnologyRackspace Technology
is a leading end-to-end hybrid, multicloud and AI technology
services company. We can design, build and operate our customers’
cloud environments across all major technology platforms,
irrespective of technology stack or deployment model. We partner
with our customers at every stage of their cloud journey, enabling
them to modernize applications, build new products and adopt
innovative technologies.
Media Contact: Natalie Silva, publicrelations@rackspace.com
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ab576a0d-2a0a-475c-adeb-e47d5d3f56f4
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