Over half (55%) of IT leaders feel pressure from their organisation’s leadership to implement new AI technology, a new study has revealed.

Asana Inc, a work management platform, has released new data from its State of IT Leaders report, which surveyed 1,255 IT professionals across the US and UK.

The report delved into the challenges IT leaders face today, offering insights for navigating intelligent transformation – demonstrating how to leverage AI to drive business outcomes and increase ROI (Return on Investment).

As AI Becomes a Bigger Focus for Businesses, IT Leaders Play a More Strategic Role

As AI quickly becomes a critical tool helping enterprises work smarter, IT leaders are no longer back office service providers but strategic decision-makers moving organisations forward.

As mentioned, over half of IT professionals have been pressured to implement AI. Yet, a quarter (25%) of IT professionals report they regret investing in AI too quickly, showing that business pressure means AI implementation isn’t as thoughtful as it could be.

The vast majority (90%) of IT leaders say that investing in AI technology will be crucial to navigating future business challenges, emphasising the importance of getting implementation right.

IT leaders are taking more advisory roles and technology becomes evermore critical to growth.

Over half (53%) of IT professionals report advising on their organisation’s AI strategy more often, with 37% advising on operations more often, and 35% advising on their organisation’s strategic planning more often than six months ago.

As AI technologies such as chatbots and virtual assistants become integral to business operations, a new spectrum of managerial responsibilities emerges.

78% of IT executives and 72% of managers in IT functions anticipate their roles expanding to include the management of AI functions.

82% are asked to advice on their organisation’s strategy at least once a month, and 31% of these are being asked to advice multiple times a week, or even daily.

More AI, More Challenges

As IT leaders transition from leading traditional IT operations to becoming strategic drivers of business innovation and growth, they faces increased challenges.

A unique stressor for IT leaders is the implementation of AI-driven automation, with IT professionals citing it as one of the top three biggest concerns.

45% of IT leaders also reported feeling stress around it at least once a week.

Further, resource constraints have hampered some development. While AI remains a top priority for enterprises, only 37% of IT leaders say their organisation has allocated a separate budget for AI investments.

While AI boasts efficiency, adopting new technologies can sometimes overcomplicate processes. Nearly a quarter (24%) of IT executives say streamlining their organisation’s technology stack is one of their top three priorities in the next six months.

Significantly, however, 44% of IT executives also report that they regret making too many new software investments in the last six months.

And adopting new technology often adds little benefit without a solid foundation. AI’s promise hinges on the quality of its data, yet confidence in the readiness of internal data for AI applications is startingly low, with only 39% of IT leaders expressing a high degree of confidence.

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Great Expectations, and Greater Disconnect

While leaders are keen to tap into AI’s potential, their urgency isn’t currently matched by their teams’, highlighting the need to create internal guidance and thoughtful roll-out plans for AI.

Over half (53%) of IT leaders report that investing in AI/ML technologies is highly important, whereas only 35% of individual contributors felt the same.

Around a third (31%) of IT leaders report implementing AI technology effectively as a priority in the next six months, compared with only 18% of individual contributors.

Implementing AI-driven automation is a top challenge among 28% of IT leaders, but only 16% of IT professionals agree.

“With the rapid evolution of AI, the role of the CIO and IT executives has fundamentally changed,” says Saket Srivastava, Asana CIO.

“Today’s IT leaders are responsible for intelligent transformation – ensuring that data is connected across technology investments to build the right foundation to deploy AI safely.

“To maximise impact at every level of the enterprise, IT leaders must invest in the AI technologies that help drive ROI, while maintaining security and control. At Asana, we’re enthusiastic about helping the world’s leading enterprises work smarter and improve business outcomes through our latest AI innovations.”