AI presents major challenge for IT departments in 2024

The adoption of AI is set to present significant challenges for IT departments in 2024, with a new global survey revealing 43% of firms recognise the need to train their staff on the technology. The 2024 Certinia Global Service Dynamics report, which surveyed 1,005 businesses from the US, Canada, the UK, Singapore, and Australia, highlights that 38% of firms also plan to hire staff with AI skills.

Certinia, a company that provides Salesforce platform-native professional services automation, enterprise resource planning, and customer success software, conducted the report. The findings show AI as a major issue for professional services businesses, equating its importance with concerns about the global economy. Additionally, 44% of the surveyed businesses indicated a requirement to train staff on technologies other than AI, and 35% intended to hire for these skill sets.

Despite the promising advancements AI offers, the report suggests that the full potential of AI use cases, which can deliver tangible benefits, is still emerging. Moreover, many professional services organisations are reportedly not yet technologically mature enough to leverage AI. The presence of disconnected spreadsheets, siloed systems, and unstructured data are significant hurdles impeding the deployment of AI across these organisations.

"Company structures and processes will be put to the test as AI use cases mature. To thrive, organisations must assess their AI maturity and identify the skills, resources, and tools needed to ensure AI is a competitive strength and not an existential threat," the report states.

Greg Smith, Head of Global Product and Solution Marketing at Certinia, commented on the survey findings, noting the equal importance of AI and economic concerns. He remarked, "While economic uncertainty is largely out of an organisation's control, developing economic resilience can be achieved through thoughtful business design and efficient business processes. Many believe AI will be the answer, with 44% saying they will use AI to improve the efficiency of their organisation and more than one-third (36%) indicating they would hire contract staff to handle spikes in business."

The survey revealed that IT professionals anticipate several key benefits from AI, including increased efficiency (85%), enhanced service quality (69%), boosted profitability (68%), and the creation of new service offerings (61%). Conversely, 30% of respondents believe the introduction of AI could reduce the number of staff required.

The report also identified adapting to AI (53%), economic resilience (51%), increased competition (46%), rising labour costs (43%), and hiring to keep pace with demand (41%) as the top external challenges for IT in 2024. In terms of internal challenges, improving profitability (53%), improving productivity (47%), employee retention (47%), balancing workloads (43%), and accurate forecasting (37%) were highlighted.

How IT departments plan to mitigate these challenges vary. To address external challenges, strategies include utilising AI (66%), increasing the skill set of staff (63%), managing teams more efficiently (54%), introducing higher-value services (49%), and offering new services at a lower cost (33%). For internal challenges, the primary mitigations are training staff on technologies beyond AI (44%), using AI to improve efficiency (44%), implementing professional services organisation solutions (44%), training staff on AI (43%), and improving employee retention (40%).

The professional services sector remains one of the fastest-growing segments of the global economy. According to Certinia, this industry comprises over 25 million firms globally, generating an annual revenue of more than USD $8 trillion. The scope of services within this sector is diverse, including accounting, marketing, architecture, management consulting, engineering, IT, legal, and research services.