In This Article:
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Lenovo-commissioned research reveals forty-two percent of global organizations plan to institutionalize Generative AI use cases
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Thirty-seven percent of management remains skeptical toward AI
MORRISVILLE, N.C., February 05, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Business leaders and IT decision-makers confirm AI use will reach mainstream levels of adoption as organizations devote a greater slice of their IT budgets to AI implementations, according to new IDC research commissioned by Lenovo. The new global 2025 CIO Playbook entitled It’s Time for AI-nomics, highlights AI spending expectations by IT decision-makers globally to nearly triple in 2025 compared with last year. But critical challenges include uncertain financial returns on these investments and gaps in organizational readiness.
Proving ROI: The Greatest Barrier
While most AI use cases have met business expectations, proving the return of these investments remains challenging—financial risk and uncertain ROI rank as the greatest barriers to AI adoption. This tension is magnified by a disconnect between growing AI investments and pervasive doubts among decision-makers about its value. Despite the forecasted surge in AI spending, business decision-makers are not unanimous in their optimism of its impact. The CIO Playbook revealed that 37% of management remain skeptical or have reservations toward AI, while approximately 9 out of 10 AI-adopting respondents, mostly made up of IT professionals, said that AI has met their expectations. This highlights a significant divide between the unbound potential of AI and business confidence.
Generative AI Adoption Accelerates
IT leaders expect AI to account for nearly 20% of tech budgets in 2025, driven by accelerated adoption of Generative AI use cases. While only 11% of enterprises are currently using GenAI-powered applications, this number is expected to increase almost fourfold to 42% in the coming year. IT operations, software development and marketing departments are expected to see the highest level of GenAI applications.
"AI is a marathon and a sprint – requiring parallel efforts to move quickly to modernize systems, while ensuring the future-proofing of tech stacks," said Ken Wong, President, Solutions & Services Group, Lenovo. "Our research shows organizations need to simplify the design, deployment, and integration of AI solutions to demonstrate the impact of these investments. This will instill greater confidence and fuel future investments."
Overcoming Organizational Readiness Challenges
The research also reveals several organizational readiness challenges. While ethical issues and biases in AI and machine learning were cited as the most complex or risky aspect of AI, more than half of global businesses do not have an AI Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) policy in place. To realize compelling productivity gains promised with AI agents and assistants, organizations also must train and upskill staff, modernize IT systems to effectively integrate these tools, and establish organizational processes that help navigate the ethical and responsible use of these tools.