Businesses are spending more and more on AI, but keep hitting the same roadblocks

A recent Lenovo study has revealed that despite a staggering surge in AI spend across the EMEA region, businesses are facing the same challenges when it comes to adopting generative AI.

According to the research, investment in AI is expected to grow 61% year-on-year in 2024, with a general consensus among IT leaders that the technology is considered to be a ‘game changer.’

However, many businesses are still struggling with the scale of deploying AI, citing concerns over the large amounts of computational power and data resources that are required to train models.

AI adoption struggle

An overwhelming majority (97%) of businesses have either already invested in AI or plan to do so in the coming year, says Lenovo. However certain roadblocks have been highlighted which are preventing companies from maximizing their investments.

Front and foremost are the technical challenges mentioned above, however leaders continue to concern themselves over potential misuse and AI ‘hallucinations,’ where generative AI tools produce erroneous outcomes.

CIOs also reported struggles finding a reliable data platform and the need to rely on third-party platforms for generative AI development.

Despite the hurdles, enthusiasm remains high, with the likes of government agencies, telecommunications companies, and banking, financial services and insurance firms having already invested in GenAI.

Besides the EMEA region, North America is also set to see similar increases in investments, however the amount of money expected to be spent on the technology in the Asia-Pacific region falls slightly behind. The situation is also similar in terms of previous investments, with only 13% of Asia-Pacific respondents confirming that they have adopted generative AI (driven by higher adoption in Korea and India).

As businesses continue to navigate artificial intelligence, it’s clear that readiness to invest alone will not suffice. Rather, the study highlights the need for a solid strategy so that businesses can address potential roadblocks before they’re forced to a halt.