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Most executives plan AI investments as adoption rates increase

Most executives plan AI investments as adoption rates increase

Danny Romero
| December 16, 2024
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The majority of executives say they will invest in AI with 72% prioritising a significant investment and nearly all, 97%, saying they feel some level of urgency to incorporate generative AI into business operations, according to a global survey by Slack.

The survey included 17,372 workers in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, and the US, was fielded between 2 August and 30 August 2024.

Slack’s survey also found that between September 2023 and March 2024, AI adoption had steadily increased globally, growing from 20% of the global desk worker population to 32% in March 2024, or about a third of all desk workers. But over the past three months, AI adoption rates have stalled in some countries; France saw just 2% growth, from 31% to 33% of desk workers trying AI, and the US saw a single percentage point growth, from 32% to 33% of desk workers.

Meanwhile, excitement around AI is also cooling, dropping to 41% from 47% among the overall global population. This trend is being driven by the US, where the portion of workers who say they’re excited about AI helping them to complete tasks at work dropped 9 percentage points (to 36% from 45%) over the past three months and France where excitement rates dropped 12 percentage points (to 41% from 53%). Excitement also dropped in Japan and the UK.

“With so many businesses making AI investments right now, these findings are a real wakeup call to leaders,” Christina Janzer, head of the Slack Workforce Lab, said in a press release. “AI adoption isn’t just about enterprises, it’s also about employees. With sentiment around AI dropping, businesses need to help employees accelerate their AI journey and address the cultural and organizational blockers standing in their way.”

In terms of what is causing the AI downshift, Slack pointed to factors such as uncertainty around and discomfort with AI norms, perception that AI is not yet living up to the hype and persistent and significant lack of AI training.