By 2028, 80% of chief information officers (CIOs) are expected to have implemented organisational changes to incorporate AI, automation, and analytics into their businesses, fundamentally changing the way humans work, according to a new IDC InfoBrief.

The report, The Path to AI Everywhere: Exploring the Human Challenges, which was sponsored and released by resource planning platform Unit4, shows that over half of enterprises in the UK (59%) plan to invest in genAI digital assistants, with 38% already investing in genAI productivity tolls to measure employee workflows.

According to the report, which takes figures from previous IDC surveys of over 1,000 employees and executives worldwide, augmented by eight in-depth interviews with IT, finance, and HR professionals, it is widely expected that AI will transform the very nature of work.

Over three-quarters of employees (78%) in the US and Europe, as well as 70% of those in the UK, expect some or most of their current tasks to be automated over the next two years, with 50% of UK workers feeling that increased automation will improve their employee experience.  

Meanwhile, more than a quarter (28%) of European companies anticipate that AI will allow for faster decision making and the execution of repetitive tasks, while in the UK AI’s biggest impact was expected to be on time savings for employees (30%).

However, to meet those aims, businesses will have to focus on building employees skills, as well as trust, in their AI strategies.

In the UK, employers identified significant gaps in both worker’s technical skills (44%) and their human skills (36%) when it comes to working with AI, added to which half (50%) of employees said that they fear their firm does not do enough to categorise AI tools based on their potential harm to staff and customers.

Globally, 43% of employees said they don’t trust their company to responsibly handle their data in an AI context, although most (88%) did not perceive automation as a threat.

IDC’s report also considers how AI might transform finance functions, with the study suggesting that the technology can address the top challenges that CFOs are facing, including achieving decision velocity (26%), managing compliance and risk (24%), coping with too many meetings and monthly reporting (22%). 

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The report argues that integrating AI into finance could reduce pressures on centralised finance functions, but to do so means identifying ‘super use cases’ for its deployment, for instance using genAI to rapidly create simulations incorporating regulatory changes or market disruptions.  

“The identification of use cases and, indeed, their prioritisation is critical to the successful deployment of AI,” said Tom Seal, senior research director, IDC.

“Beyond this, however, is the successful identification and deployment of super use cases. These are the ones that will drive efficiencies, provide accurate insight, and generally empower the finance function to be more accurate and more impactful on the business.”