There’s a growing appetite for using AI to implement enterprise automation in the US and the UK, new research from Jitterbit found, but data divides and security concerns are still presenting obstacles.

The study, conducted by Censuswide Research reveals that IT and line-of-business teams are increasingly aligned in their efforts to close the data gap and drive greater collaboration to alleviate IT bottlenecks and offload growing demands on IT teams.

And while enterprises are racing to leverage AI-driven automation and application development, resources, security concerns and integration hurdles remain obstacles.

The research found a growing data divide, with 67% of enterprises today deploying over 500 applications, creating significant data silos.

IT teams are also dealing with the brunt of resource demand for enterprise automation seven out of ten times.

Further, while nearly all (99%) of IT leaders acknowledge the need for seamless integration and automation, yet 71% still lack a unified platform to achieve it.

“The path to success is clear: businesses must break down data silos and automate workflows to thrive in the age of AI,” said Jitterbit president and CEO Bill Conner.

“While many organizations still struggle to find the resources across IT, IS, and line-of-business teams to bridge this ‘data divide,’ the opportunity for those who can is immense. We’re on the cusp of a new era of efficiency and innovation, driven by true end-to-end AI automation.”

The research, which gathered insights from 1,000 IT decision-makers in the US and the UK, also found that the majority of (97%) IT leaders are recognising the importance of empowering non-technical users to build, deploy and maintain applications and integrations, ensuring faster time to value.

Despite barriers, agentic AI appears to be on the horizon, as 99% of enterprises have integrated AI into their operations; early-adopter organisations increasingly see agentic AI as the next frontier.

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About a third (31%) of enterprises are already planning for agentic AI, signaling the next wave of autonomous decision-making enterprise AI solutions, which require end-to-end AI.

However, IT workers are still facing major challenges, including in cybersecurity, data privacy, scaling, resources, and compliance.

Half (50%) of IT leaders cite vulnerabilities in AI-powered, third-party integrations as their top data security concern. This underscores the urgent need for robust AI security protocols, platform security controls, and accountability processes.

“Legacy automation, designed to execute isolated tasks, is no longer sufficient enough to keep up with modern business demands,” said Jitterbit CTO Manoj Chaudhary. “Agentic AI is driving a fundamental shift — moving from task-based automation to intelligent automation with adaptive workflows that drive real business outcomes. By leveraging AI-driven decision-making, enterprises can break free from data silos and IT bottlenecks, enabling seamless end-to-end automation.”