Generative AI (GenAI) has rapidly become a game-changer since its rise to public awareness in 2023, offering transformative potential for enterprises worldwide. However, the journey to fully leveraging GenAI is not without its challenges.
A recent survey of 750 IT decision-makers across the US, UK, and Germany reveals that while most businesses see GenAI as a critical tool for enhancing productivity and innovation, they need help with legacy systems and poor data management.
The resulting report captures the hopes and challenges of enterprises in integrating GenAI, revealing important statistics including:
- 90% expect the integration of GenAI applications to free up to 75% of their existing workloads
- Organizations are allocating nearly $2.5 million for GenAI implementation this financial year and $2.7 million to overhaul legacy tech
- 57% plan to update up to 50% of their legacy systems this year to better use GenAI tools
- 97% believe that greater integration between applications would increase productivity
This blog highlights key findings from the survey and explores the path to unlocking the full potential of GenAI.
GenAI desires and drivers
Businesses are investing in GenAI technologies, recognizing their potential to revolutionize operations and provide a competitive edge. Key motivations include:
Time savings and productivity: Nearly 90% of businesses expect GenAI integration to help free up to 75% of their existing workloads.
Integration areas: General IT, customer support, and customer databases are the top areas for GenAI integration, aiming to improve service delivery, decision-making, and customer experiences.
Budget allocations: Organizations are dedicating up to $3 million of their IT budgets to GenAI technology, with the Arts & Culture and IT & Telecoms sectors leading in investment.
Despite these investments, only 9% of businesses are currently AI-mature. Technical debt remains a significant barrier to achieving GenAI readiness.
Languishing legacy systems causing technical debt
Technical debt, stemming from outdated systems, is significantly impacting data stacks and preventing forward motion with GenAI. The survey findings include:
Negative impact: 63% of businesses report moderate to severe negative effects from technical debt.
Causes: Legacy technology, inefficient processes, and evolving business requirements are the main contributors.
Budget for upgrades: IT decision-makers are requesting an average budget of $2.7 million for upgrading legacy systems in 2024.
Prevalence of legacy systems: 64% of organizations still rely on over 25% of their business systems, applications, and networks on legacy platforms, with many unable to connect to AI tools.
IT teams spend over 16 hours per week updating or patching legacy systems, time that could be better spent on strategic GenAI initiatives. Consequently, 57% of organizations plan to update up to 50% of their legacy tech to utilize GenAI technology.
Gathering disconnected data
Integrating data and applications is crucial for successful GenAI deployment. Key survey insights include:
Data integration challenges: 22% of IT decision-makers have data trapped in systems they don’t know how to move, and 79% have undocumented data pipelines they fear updating.
Benefits of integration: 88% of businesses integrating their tech and data stacks with AI tools are seeing positive results. Additionally, 97% believe that stronger integration between work applications would increase productivity.
Integrated data and applications enable better scalability, flexibility, and quick adaptation to changing market demands, unlocking the full potential of GenAI.
Looking ahead: strategies for successful GenAI deployment
The promise of GenAI for businesses is immense, offering unprecedented opportunities. However, the research indicates that enterprises are unlikely to focus heavily on replacing all legacy systems before implementing GenAI solutions.
Instead, they will continue to roll out AI projects while maintaining a blend of old and new systems. This approach necessitates robust integration strategies to avoid data disarray and siloed systems.
Generative integration, leveraging GenAI and large language models, offers an advanced approach to data and application integration. This method securely automates the creation of integration pipelines and connects disparate systems and data sources seamlessly. With generative integration tools, organizations can integrate legacy and modern systems, ensuring easy data access and staying ahead in the GenAI race.
The journey to unlocking GenAI’s full potential involves addressing the challenges posed by legacy systems and poor data management. Robust integration solutions and strategies are crucial for leveraging GenAI to transform the enterprise.
Get the full report: The Code to Unlock GenAI
About the research
This research was conducted in June 2024 by Censuswide on behalf of SnapLogic, surveying 750 IT decision-makers from organizations with 250+ employees across the US, UK, and Germany. Censuswide adheres to the Market Research Society and ESOMAR principles and is a member of The British Polling Council.
