Firms are beginning to move beyond experimentation and towards strategic investment in emerging tech, with almost 10% of businesses using AI now spending over $500,000 (£397k) on the technology every year, according to fresh research from Tech.co. 

The media firm’s latest Impact of Tech report found that, on average, two-thirds of businesses are spending at least $10,000 (£8k) on developing their AI strategies, with a further 20% investing between $50,000 (£39k) and $100,000 (£79k).

According to the report, which surveyed over 1,000 senior executives and managers across a host of industries, this increased spending is evidence of a growing dependence on technology to stay competitive.

Over half (58%) of firms are concerned that, without investments into AI, they will quickly be overtaken by their rivals, however with the integration of the technology generally being seen as inevitable, pressure is also coming from investors (41%), as well as stakeholders (30%).

In this scramble to stay ahead in a cut-throat market, only 15% of firms now say they haven’t yet adopted AI, a dramatic turn since last year, when Tech.co’s report found that 67% of businesses were not using AI tools at all.

Now, the majority of senior leaders (88%) agree that AI has increased productivity over the past year, with the study finding a significant increase in those using it for writing tasks (43% vs 26% in 2023), data analysis (37% vs 32%), customer support and chatbots (33% vs 19%), and design tasks (25% vs 19%).

Added to that, more than a quarter (27%) of businesses report their operations departments have witnessed the growth through AI adoption, followed by sales (15%), product development (14%), HR, and customer service (both 12%).

Close to half (44%) said that their AI investment has already led to higher returns, while a third (32%) claimed that it aligned with their expectations, leaving just 17% left feeling unsatisfied.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the study reveals a strong link between AI training and high ROI – 75% of firms seeing higher returns have trained employees on AI tools, compared to just 24% among low-ROI businesses.

Tech.co said that these findings suggest any successful AI strategy hinges on a skilled workforce, with firms which move quickly to scale employee adoption much more likely to see its positive impact in the short term.

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Frustratingly, despite a number of firms neglecting to skill up the staff they already have, more hiring managers than ever now think of AI aptitude as an essential skill (46%), with 87% of business leaders believing that hiring employees with AI expertise is at least slightly important, rising from 66% in 2023.

As the speed of AI development gathers pace, even these AI-centric positions might be at risk, as evidenced by layoffs at large tech firms like Google and Salesforce which began to replace staff with AI last year.

The study found that 14% of firms reported that AI had removed the need for certain job roles, which might only be a slight rise from the 8% reporting the same thing in 2023, but a trend that will undoubtedly continue.