UK, France, and Belgium face AI integration hurdles

A recent survey has revealed that IT leaders across the UK, France, and Belgium are encountering significant hurdles in the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into their companies, despite recognizing its potential benefits.

The survey, conducted by ESSCA School of Management and consultancy Forvis Mazars, gathered insights from over 400 IT leaders as part of their AI Barometer report. The report examined how AI is being adopted across European companies.

According to the findings, 72% of respondents expect AI to influence their industry's future, with 29% predicting an extreme impact. Additionally, 41% of companies are considering or have already used AI for strategic decision-making, and 50% plan to increase their investment in AI. Notably, half of the respondents and 70% of top managers have already observed positive impacts of AI on their company's financial performance.

Despite these optimistic outlooks, the research identifies key barriers to AI adoption. Financial constraints were noted by 14% of respondents, integration issues with existing systems by 12%, inadequate strategies by 11%, and a lack of skilled personnel by 9%. "The study shows that although companies are now embracing the possibilities of AI, particularly around improving productivity and reducing costs, they are nowhere near prepared for the technical implementation challenges," commented Dejan Glavas, Professor of Finance and Director of ESSCA's AI Institute for Sustainability.

The research further highlights the ethical dimensions of AI deployment in businesses. While 63% of companies consider ethics to be very to extremely important in their AI strategy, there appears to be a gap between beliefs and practices. Notably, 44% of companies lack ethical guidelines for AI usage, and only 28% have tools to manage ethical issues. Furthermore, 40% of companies have no plans to offer AI training to their employees.

The data also aligned with concerns over emerging risks like algorithmic bias and underscored the need for human oversight mechanisms to ensure responsible AI deployment. Professor Glavas noted, "If companies are going to deploy AI responsibly, they need to invest in workforce development through structured training programs that include technical AI proficiency, robust data governance frameworks, and ethical risk management."

The AI Barometer has provided a clear depiction of the current stance of European businesses towards AI, shedding light on both optimism and persistent challenges that need addressing as AI continues to grow integral to corporate strategy. Further dissemination of practical guidelines and sharing best practices could support businesses in overcoming these hurdles while ensuring ethically sound and technically proficient AI deployments.