Fewer than half of organisations achieve GenAI efficiency gains

Research based on a survey of 800 IT leaders has found that less than half of the organisations polled have seen improvements in operational efficiency (43%) after deploying generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) initiatives.

The Hitachi Vantara sponsored report from Enterprise Strategy Group highlights the importance of ensuring enterprise IT infrastructure is ready to support GenAI.

The report noted that organisations are actively seeking out lower-cost IT  infrastructure options, but privacy and latency are also top factors in consideration. The survey found that almost three-quarters (71%) of the IT decision-makers polled agreed that their infrastructure needed to be modernised before pursuing GenAI project.

“Our survey findings reveal that a robust, scalable and secure infrastructure foundation is essential for maximising GenAI performance and building trust within organisations,” the report’s authors wrote.

Almost a fifth (19%) of the IT decision-makers polled said they are somewhat prepared for GenAI, implying that they have a few capabilities but may require several enhancements for implementing GenAI.

Enterprise Strategy Group recommended that IT decision-makers work with stakeholders across the business to build a strong IT infrastructure foundation. The research found that 68% of the organisations polled have significant room to improve their enterprise infrastructure and data ecosystem preparedness to support GenAI initiatives.

The study also highlighted the need for IT decision-makers to navigate data and model selection to unlock the true potential of GenAI in the enterprise and secure a competitive advantage. 

“The need for improved accuracy shows organisations prioritising the most relevant and recent data gets incorporated into a large language model [LLM], followed by the desire to keep pace with technology, regulations and shifting data patterns,” said Mike Leone, principal analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group. “Managing data with the right infrastructure will not only enable greater levels of accuracy, but also improve reliability as data and business conditions evolve.”

Looking at the mix of proprietary models and open LLMs, almost a quarter of IT decision makers polled (24%) said they prefer to predominantly use proprietary (internally developed) tools and technologies with some external elements, although 23% said they prefer to use open source tools and technologies mainly with some reliance on commercial and/or proprietary components.

Almost a third (32%) said they are mainly using commercial tools and technologies (developed by third-party companies) with some open source and/or proprietary elements.

Commenting on the survey’s findings, Ayman Abouelwafa, chief technology officer at Hitachi Vantara, said: “Unlocking the true power of GenAI, however, requires a strong foundation with a robust and secure infrastructure that can handle the demands of this powerful technology.”

“Enterprises are clearly jumping on the GenAI bandwagon, which is not surprising, but it’s also clear that the foundation for successful GenAI use is not yet built and its full potential cannot be realised,” he added.