A Qlik®, a data integration, analytics, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) specialist, announced results from its research with 4,200 C-Level executives and AI decision-makers, revealing what is hindering the technology’s progress worldwide and how to overcome these barriers.
The lack of AI skills, governance and regulatory issues, and insufficient resources are impeding successful AI implementation, leaving many projects stalled in the planning phases. Ready-made solutions are the preferred way for companies in Brazil and globally to start working with AI solutions and achieve a return on investment in the technology.
AI projects are stalled in planning or being scrapped
The importance of AI for achieving organizational success is not underestimated, with Qlik’s research finding that 88% of global senior decision-makers feel AI is absolutely essential or very important for success – including meeting strategic goals and increasing profits. Among Brazilian executives, 94% share this view.
Despite this recognition, few AI projects move from planning to completion or implementation, with many being discarded. In fact, 20% of global companies and 11% of Brazilian ones have between 50 and over 100 AI projects in the scoping or planning stage, which are not yet in execution. Among global companies, 20% also had up to 50 projects that advanced to planning or beyond but had to be paused or canceled entirely. For companies in Brazil, this figure drops to 17%, but it remains significant.
Advancing more AI projects from planning to successful implementation will be vital for businesses to see a return on their investment in the technology and better serve their customers in the face of competition. Given the effort to materialize AI projects, many AI decision-makers (74% globally and 85% in Brazil) see the value in ‘ready-to-use’ solutions as a good foundation to enhance AI development.
Regulatory challenges, skills shortages, data governance, budget, and trust are the culprits
Multiple factors are slowing or completely blocking these AI projects. In Brazil, the leading factor involves regulatory challenges, cited by 24% of local executives surveyed. Globally, this issue was mentioned by 20%.
Other key challenges include skills shortages in AI development (23% globally and 21% in Brazil), AI implementation post-development (22% worldwide and in Brazil), data governance challenges (23% globally and 22% in Brazil), budget constraints (21% worldwide and 24% in Brazil), and lack of reliable data for AI to function (21% globally and 22% in Brazil).
Although there is a high level of understanding about the need for AI, with nearly all respondents (95% globally and in Brazil) stating they know AI capabilities could be used in their businesses, the lack of trust from other parts of the business appears to be hindering some companies’ progress.
Among global AI decision-makers, 37% (25% in Brazil) say their senior managers do not trust AI. Additionally, 42% feel that lower-level employees also distrust the technology. In Brazil, this figure rises to 46%. While 21% of global executives believe their customers also lack trust in AI, in Brazil, this number increases to 24%.
Concerningly, 61% still say this lack of trust is significantly reducing AI investment in their businesses. In Brazil, 49% of surveyed executives share this sentiment.
Better knowledge sharing between a company and its customers could help boost this trust and subsequent investment, as 74% of global leaders seek to promote the benefits of the technology more within their organizations and to their clients. This figure rises to 88% in Brazil, highlighting the priority of promoting the technology’s benefits.
Building trust is crucial to advancing AI implementation
Providing AI training to upskill the workforce is another way to build trust and ensure AI projects move beyond planning and are successfully implemented.
Globally, 65% of AI decision-makers believe their country has the potential to lead the world in AI skills in the next five years. To achieve this, 76% believe their sectors need to do better at nurturing and upskilling teams for AI, and 75% think their governments need to provide more AI funding and training. In Brazil, the outlook is more optimistic, with 71% of executives indicating the country has the potential to lead in AI skills in the next five years. Additionally, 94% advocate for more sector upskilling, and 87% emphasize the need for greater government support in the country.
“We see that the Brazilian market has great potential to adopt Artificial Intelligence, but the implementation challenges remain significant. With increasing pressure for financial margin growth, local companies seek technological solutions that offer benefits without compromising security or business stability. Without proper implementation, with quality, secure, and governed data, companies run significant risks of missing out on the financial gains AI can provide,” says Olimpio Pereira, Country Manager of Qlik Brazil.
“Business leaders know the value of AI but face a series of barriers preventing them from moving from proof-of-concept to technology implementation that creates value. The first step in creating an AI strategy is identifying a clear use case, with defined success goals and metrics, and using this to distinguish the necessary skills, resources, and data to provide support at scale. By doing this, you begin building trust and gaining management buy-in to help you succeed,” says James Fisher, Chief Strategy Officer at Qlik.
Learn more about how Qlik is supporting customers in launching their AI solutions, including the use of Qlik Answers, the self-service solution powered by GenAI, by visiting: https://www.qlik.com/us/products/qlik-answers.
