Technology decisionmakers at asset management firms report that their companies plan to increase their investments in artificial intelligence technology and have already seen substantial benefits from using it, according to a report from IT and cloud computing company Rackspace Technology, which surveyed 1,420 IT decisionmakers at asset management firms in February. The information in this story was based off of a limited preview of the research.
The survey, conducted by Rackspace US Inc., found that 75% of IT decisionmakers plan to increase their budgets for AI this year by anywhere from $500,000 to $5 million. According to the report, 48% of respondents credited AI with substantial benefits.
“At many companies, IT departments went from being a necessary evil to getting whatever they want now that AI and the integration of data have caused the fastest transformation in technology history, as compared to the development of servers/web tech, cloud, e-commerce and mobile which took years to be adopted,” said Jeff DeVerter, chief technology evangelist at Rackspace, in a statement.
Of the 48% of respondents who said AI brought substantial benefits, 57% said they were able to create personalized marketing campaigns using AI, 55% said AI helped increase innovation, and 48% said AI helped increase sales.
Other findings in the survey include:
- 69% identified cybersecurity as the biggest risk when adopting AI;
- 69% say AI will require more improvement before it can be trusted, and answers it generates currently need human interpretation;
- 57% said the IT division is a main driver of AI strategy at their firm;
- 26% said a revenue-generating division is a main driver of AI strategy at their firm; and
- 18% said executive leadership is a main driver of AI strategy at their firm.
Rackspace argued that revenue-generating units at asset management firms have the most to gain by integrating AI and machine learning into their workflow. According to the survey, 35% of firms use revenue growth to measure the success of AI, even though it is mostly being used by non-revenue-generating divisions.
“In order to allow AI to generate more revenue, more revenue-generating departments should be encouraged and enabled to use AI,” said Nirmal Ranganathan, a vice president of engineering and AI architect at Rackspace, in a statement.
The survey also found that 55% of asset management firms have sought employees who have AI and machine learning skills.
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Tags: Artificial Intelligence, Asset Management, Jeff DeVerter, Nirmal Ranganathan, Rackspace