AI Optimism: New Report Finds Three-in-Five Canadian Organizations Are Open to Using AI
CDW Canada’s report, The Evolution of AI Adoption in Canadian Businesses: Perceptions and Trends, is among the first studies that uncovers AI trends unique to Canadian organizations
Organizations recognize the benefits of AI adoption
As Canadian organizations navigate the rapidly advancing AI landscape, a sense of cautious optimism persists. Three-in-five organizations (61 percent) are open to using AI and over half (58 percent) believe that incorporating AI enhances productivity and efficiency. Despite this openness, only half (51 percent) feel comfortable about its current use.
The most common benefits Canadian organizations expect following investment in AI include increased productivity and efficiency (58 percent), increased data/information availability (48 percent) and financial benefits or cost reductions (42 percent).
“Organizations recognize the transformative potential of AI and its ability to not only enhance operational efficiency but to drive innovation and growth,” said
Understanding Al creates challenges for integration
Lack of knowledge and education are the primary obstacles Canadian organizations face when embracing AI and data analytics tools, despite the recognized benefits.
While half (52 percent) of IT decision-makers whose organizations have implemented AI for specific tools consider the process easy, only one-in-five (21 percent) IT decision-makers feel confident in their organization's ability to implement them effectively. This highlights a significant gap in education and governance between those responsible for overseeing AI integration, the organizations they work for and assumptions about the complexity of AI tools.
Organizations are just scratching the surface of AI tools
Most organizations are only scratching the surface in exploring the capabilities of data analytics and AI tools.
The most widely used AI tools are natural language processing (NLP) tools. While useful, NLPs are not representative of AI’s full scope and capabilities. One-in-five organizations use machine learning and deep learning platforms (20 percent) and automation and optimization tools (19 percent) compared to half (50 percent) that use NLP and interaction tools. For Canadian organizations to remain competitive there needs to be greater education on AI’s full potential.
Public and private sectors have differing paths to AI adoption
The landscape of AI adoption varies between the public and private sectors, with each facing distinct challenges and opportunities. Both are open to AI adoption, but a higher portion of public sector respondents (64 percent) express openness for AI adoption compared to the private sector (58 percent).
The public sector places stronger emphasis on security, privacy and data protection, with over half (57 percent) citing these as high-risk factors, along with personal data breaches (54 percent). By comparison, the private sector is more concerned with issues such as biased inputs/user programming (42 percent), ethical implications (41 percent) and unclear legal regulations (40 percent). This discrepancy underscores the public sector's heightened sensitivity to the potential consequences of breaches and its commitment to safeguarding Canadians’ data and privacy.
“The concerns of both the public and private sectors are extremely important and must be handled thoughtfully to enable both to continue innovating and optimizing with AI tools,” said KJ Burke, Field CTO, Hybrid Infrastructure at
Learn more about the state of AI adoption among Canadian organizations and download the report here.
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About the Survey
These are the findings of an online survey conducted by CDW from
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View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240326848478/en/
VP, Growth & Operations,
647.288.5828 | julie.clivio@cdw.ca
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