Large enterprises’ inexorable march to generative AI is picking up pace.
Some 29% of organizations participating in a study released Wednesday consider themselves “doers” or leaders in adopting AI for infrastructure, app delivery, security, data, and automation. Last year, the figure was just 4%.
A steep jump in embracing genAI shows how organizations are fundamentally changing digital operations by enhancing automation and data management, according to findings from F5’s 2024 Digital Enterprise Maturity Index report.
“Organizations that embrace this change and modernize their enterprise architectures to integrate AI-driven automation and data management will not only stay competitive but will also lead their industries into a new era of efficiency and innovation,” Lori MacVittie, chief evangelist and distinguished engineer at F5, said in a statement.
Perhaps the most-striking figure comes from a spike in self-identified AI go-getters.
Three types of organizations are tackling the AI puzzle: “Doers” are making significant strides and leading the path to modernization; “dabblers” are in the early stages of their IT journey; and “dawdlers” show little to no progress in advancing their digital capabilities.
Significantly, 82% of “doers” operate hybrid applications, and 92% of mature organizations have adopted zero trust principles, reflecting a higher confidence level in their security frameworks. Conversely, 58% of “doers” face challenges with data silos.
From a broader perspective, the report estimates 40% of organizations have automated app and API security functions, but only 23% have automated app delivery, suggesting a significant area for improvement.
The F5 report comes on the heels of a survey of 2,200 C-suite and senior executives who say they plan to invest an average of $47.5 million in genAI this fiscal year.
Company executives are feeling the competitive heat as they scramble to gain an edge during the infancy stage of the AI race, tech experts say.
“There is a much different conversation this year,” Joe Partlow, chief technology officer at ReliaQuest, said in an interview. “Last year, there was a lot of interest and hype but worries about hallucinations and data leakage. This year, that has switched to opening things up, and folks are giving employees training and hoping for the best.”
“Everyone thought [genAI] was the second coming of outsourcing jobs but we are far from that,” Partlow said. “This is not the solution to all of our problems. AI is augmenting analysts rather than replacing them.”
Exponentially, AI adoption is “increasing, it is inevitable,” JP Cunningham, chief information security officer at Silverfort, said in an interview. “The benefits and potential of AI is so overwhelming, so great, it is hard to avoid it. AI is being used already, whether people know it or not.”
