One small global survey is pointing to a mishmash of optimism and caution about the double-edged potential of the pandora’s box.

In a Mar 2023 sponsored survey of 900 senior executives at large enterprises around the world* about data, analytics and AI, respondents indicated they were facing unprecedented pressures around adopting generative AI (GenAI), addressing ever-increasing data complexity, and managing a growing skills gap.

Nearly 80% of the respondents indicated they had a high or significant level of trust that GenAI could be leveraged for their firms’ future offerings and operations, although more groundwork has to be laid first.

Some 86% agreed to prompts that more governance is needed to ensure the quality and integrity of GenAI insights, and 66% expressed concerns around GenAI’s potential for bias and disinformation. 

Other findings

On the issue of skills gaps around GenAI, 30% of respondents indicated they were “extremely prepared” or “ready to leverage GenAI today”; 42% indicated they will have the skills in place to implement GenAI in six to 12 months. Also, 56% indicated they were under “high” or “significant” pressure to leverage GenAI within their organization in the next six to 12 months.

Graphic image source: Business Wire

Additionally:

    • 89% of respondents indicated they understood GenAI’s merits and potential; 57% indicated their belief that interest in GenAI will fade with time.
    • 92% of respondents across the globe indicated that data ethics and the responsible use of data were paramount; 97% indicated they were intimately familiar with data ethics and the responsible use of data within their own organizations.
    • Nearly nine in 10 respondents indicated they have a formal ethical data resource or board in place.
    • 54% indicated that the information flow within their organizations was either very unconstrained or highly unconstrained and free flowing.
    • 49% indicated their firms did a “better-than-average job” of creating value from the data available within their organizations, compared to 33% claiming they performed “at an expert level”.
    • 47% of respondents noted their firms had seen a new or significantly increased focus on economic challenges and geopolitical changes/supply chain disruptions/wars/inflation.
    • 47% noted a growing influx in work-from-home and hybrid work.
    • 53% noted an increased focus on environmental/social and corporate governance.
    • Nearly 70% of the respondents noted data complexity in their organization had increased, with 20% saying they had felt “significantly more complexity” in the last 24 months.
    • 85% indicated their opinion that complexity will remain constant or increase in the next two years.
    • 20% remained convinced data problems will become significantly more complex.

* The survey, conducted across the US, Europe, and Asia, was commissioned by Teradata.