Three quarters of companies integrate AI capabilities

Keller West surveyed IT executives about their company's progress in implementing programs related to various AI-related topics, including ethics and governance, system training and human-AI collaboration. The study found that about one-third of executives believe their organization has basic knowledge of AI, one-fifth rate it at expert level, and about another quarter have begun pilot projects.

Most IT leaders felt that their organizations have made the most progress in human-AI collaboration and AI model development. In both areas, 54 % of respondents said they have basic knowledge or have reached expert level; 51 % said the same about their progress in terms of AI ethics and governance; 49 % in terms of training and review of AI systems and digital threat awareness.

It is understandable that IT leaders see an incentive to improve their company's AI capabilities. After all, they expect that on average more than half (51 %) of their team's current tasks will be automated by 2030.

Alex Gerritsen, Managing Director of Keller West in Germany, emphasized: "It is encouraging that most companies have already made progress in integrating generative AI into their operations. However, companies in the planning phase should accelerate their evaluation - bearing in mind, of course, that every company will want to fully understand the risks associated with AI and develop appropriate deployment policies in parallel."

Confidence in the expansion of AI capabilities, but this requires further training

Although there is currently a shortage of IT talent in the German market, IT leaders are surprisingly confident that this will not affect the expansion of AI capabilities. 82 % believe they can find employees with the skills needed to realize the full potential of AI.

To fill these positions, IT leaders prioritized four options similarly: 57 % of respondents plan to hire an experienced employee to work with a team and improve their skills and competencies; 56 % plan to develop the skills of junior staff; 55 % intend to hire junior staff and train them on the job; and 51 % plan to develop mid-level staff for these roles.

Technical and social skills are in demand in times of generative AI

The Keller West study also provided some insightful indications of the technical skills that will be in demand in an era of generative AI: Evaluating AI solutions and providing consultative guidance during selection and implementation was ranked highest, cited by 52 % of respondents. This was followed by forward-looking software development (providing and using innovative software to drive business success), with 39 %, and security, trusted architectures and identity management, with 34 %. Creating value from the ever-growing amount of company data was mentioned by 30 % of respondents.

The top three soft skills IT leaders expect to need in their organizations are creativity (55 %), teamwork (45 %) and problem solving (43 %).

Alex Gerritsen concludes: "AI skills are clearly the focus at the moment, but this skill area will affect the entire spectrum of IT activities. Whether it's software development, IT security, cloud infrastructure or the Internet of Things, IT professionals will use generative AI to automate tedious routine tasks, develop new ideas and concepts and get their work done faster."

Source: www.kellerwest.com