IT leaders express growing trust in AI as solutions evolve

Recent research conducted by SnapLogic has indicated that a significant proportion of UK IT leaders trust AI agents as much as, or more than, human counterparts.

The report, titled "AI Agents: The Final Frontier of the Enterprise," surveyed over 1,000 IT decision-makers from the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and Australia to evaluate the readiness and investment plans regarding AI agents. It was found that 82% of UK IT leaders expressed trust in AI agents, with 37% trusting AI more than humans and 45% trusting AI equally. The anticipation around AI agents delivering meaningful business results in the near term is high, with 92% of respondents confident of such outcomes within the next 12 to 18 months.

Jeremiah Stone, Chief Technology Officer of SnapLogic, stated, "GenAI technology is continuing to evolve rapidly. The ability to enable the creation of AI Agents capable of operating autonomously, reasoning, and performing specific actions to complete an objective is a critical milestone in GenAI's ability to deliver meaningful business value."

"With increasing trust from IT teams, AI Agents have the potential to transform the enterprise, yet challenges such as data security, legacy systems, and lack of data integration are hindering teams from fully realising the value of AI Agents. As organisations develop and refine their AI strategies, overcoming this gap is critical to ensure the safe, effective, and impactful adoption of AI agents."

The report highlights ongoing investments by UK organisations to enhance AI agent capabilities, with 72% of UK IT leaders planning to allocate over GBP £1,000,000 for AI agents in the coming year. However, these planned investments total GBP £1,803,562, which is below the cross-market average intention of GBP £2,084,775.51. Australian enterprises are projected to invest approximately GBP £2,502,882. This difference in investment indicates a potential gap as UK enterprises may fall behind due to cautious stances on AI adoption.

While many enterprises have recognised the productivity and efficiency gains offered by generative AI, adoption barriers still exist. Among the respondents, 63% cited data security and privacy concerns. Legacy technology and lack of integration were reported by 44% as obstacles, while 17% indicated a lack of employee understanding of AI technologies. Concerns over AI "hallucinations" were noted by 12% of the respondents.

IT teams currently spend an average of 15 hours per week developing and managing AI technologies. However, deploying AI agents is expected to save an average of 19 hours per week. The focus on AI agent implementation is underscored by 76% of respondents prioritising such initiatives within the next year.

SnapLogic aims to assist enterprises in the deployment of AI agents through its singular platform, which supports the design, deployment, and integration of AI agents across diverse systems. The company's AgentCreator tool is designed to be compatible with current and emerging technologies, allowing for scalable, AI-driven enhancements to business operations.