Dive Brief:
- A disconnect between investments in AI and employee proficiency with the technology is threatening AI ambitions, according to a Pluralsight report published Tuesday.
- Even though 92% of organizations accelerated AI initiatives this year, nearly the same proportion of tech leaders said they lack a comprehensive understanding of their teams’ AI skill level, according to the survey of 1,200 tech, IT, cloud and cybersecurity leaders.
- Nearly all IT pros and executives surveyed — 94% and 95% respectively — believe AI initiatives will fail without skilled teams that can effectively use and work with these tools, Pluralsight found.
Dive Insight:
Enterprises have struggled to get a clear picture of exactly where and how to get value from generative AI, even as vendors try to make a case for rapid adoption.
“The idea that people are using these tools to do things that historically have required an enormous amount of esoteric knowledge … without any real training, gave a wake-up call,” said Vincent Yates, chief data scientist at Credera and founder of the AI Global Council.
One of the stifling challenges for organizations centered on how to get started, Yates said.
IT leaders face a torrent of questions related to generative AI implementation, starting with what the strategy entails and cascading down to how to effectively implement the tool and equip employees with the right skills.
Executives and IT pros surveyed by Pluralsight said investing in talent, training and creating the right culture were the most important steps to prepare for generative AI.
“You start to realize there’s a lot of engineering, there’s a lot of process design and there’s a lot of other elements beyond just the AI … and that includes change management,” Yates said.
CIOs found themselves in a fraught position this year as they balanced the pressure to adopt generative AI with the need for caution. Many called out model limitations in an effort to reset expectations and underline the real risks of moving forward without clear direction.
Formal training coupled with pilot initiatives is one way companies, including American Honda, Mercedes-Benz and Walmart, have cultivated skills in-house. Experimenting in controlled environments has also helped organizations cautiously advance AI strategies.
