Survey: Over Half of Senior AI Professionals See at Least 2x ROI on AI Initiatives

Dataiku and Databricks market research reveals that companies are investing heavily in AI and seeing impressive results—while calling for regulation

Dataiku, the platform for Everyday AI, together with Databricks, the data and AI company,  revealed survey findings that shed light on AI’s transformative impact on businesses globally. Over 70% of senior AI professionals see a positive return on investment for money spent on data science, analytics, and AI initiatives, with over half (54%) seeing at least a 2x return and five percent seeing a return greater than 10x. The findings confirm that AI, including Generative AI, is now experiencing an impactful level of business results, matching its rapid rate of adoption.

Dataiku and Databricks surveyed over 400 global senior AI professionals across a range of enterprises and industries in early June 2023 to explore AI adoption and perceptions. A majority agreed that AI had made its value clear across their organizations:

• Three in five said companies need AI to realize the full value of data.
• The roadblocks to mass adoption are mostly operational. AI leaders saw cost and lack of business case as the least important barriers to delivering more value from AI. Instead, they cited issues like data quality and speed of deployment as the top blockers to AI value.
• AI leaders also struck a note of caution, with more than half (55%) reporting that fears around AI are justified and that they’re more worried than excited about the future of AI. The same percentage (55%) called for official regulation for AI.

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The survey found that businesses are investing heavily in AI resources, with nearly half (47%) reporting AI tools budgets over $5 million for the next year and nearly one in five (17%) reporting budgets over $20M. In addition, nearly two in three (64%) plan to use Generative AI or Large Language Models (LLMs) over the next year—and 45% are already experimenting with it.

“Facing high expectations and unprecedented market attention, AI and data science is delivering,” said Jepson Taylor, Chief AI Strategist at Dataiku. “AI Pioneers are seeing clear bottom-line results from AI that would impress any CFO. Our survey reveals that where they need the most help is the right AI tools and platforms to convert their mountains of data into market-moving results faster than ever while protecting against potential risk.”

“These findings demonstrate the significant interest in generative AI but also the accompanying challenges, from data access and privacy to regulation,” said Prem Prakash, Head of AI Marketing at Databricks. “As we navigate these challenges, our shared mission with Dataiku stands firm: to democratize data and AI, enabling every organization to build their generative AI solutions securely and cost-effectively.”

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AI Maturity: Pioneers vs. Laggards

The survey also compared AI Pioneers —those who have embedded or implemented AI and seeing strong returns—to AI Laggards—those still exploring or experimenting with AI or seeing lower returns—with clear divisions between groups.

• AI Pioneers were 62% more likely to report that they have at least one data leader in their C-suite (70%) compared to those at nascent organizations (43%).
• AI Laggards were 43% more likely to say they do not have clear owners responsible for data quality (39% of AI Pioneers v. 56% of AI Laggards).
• AI Laggards were 37% more likely to report they do not have trusted data that is easily accessible to frontline workers when needed (48% of AI Pioneers v. 66% of AI Laggards).

Dataiku was named the 2023 Databricks AI Partner of the Year at the Data + AI Summit in San Francisco last month for their collaboration making it easy for customers to deploy generative AI as an everyday technology that turns data into powerful business results. Get started with Databricks and Dataiku and read how you can Have your Cake and Eat It Too With Dataiku and Databricks.