A survey of over 1300 IT leaders finds that, while organizations are increasing investment in artificial intelligence (AI), they remain more focused on traditional challenges such as cybersecurity and cloud computing.
Conducted by Experis, a managed and professional services provider under ManpowerGroup, the survey shows that evolving cybersecurity threats (41 percent) top this list of concerns keeping CIOs up at night. This is followed by keeping up with and integrating AI (19 percent), and optimizing, scaling, and updating technology systems (15 percent).
These concerns don’t fully align with spending priorities as the top areas of technology investment for 2025 are cybersecurity (77 percent), cloud infrastructure (68 percent), and AI (67 percent). However, it does suggest that IT leaders are still much more concerned about the fundamentals over how AI may transform their organization. Thirty-five percent said that enhancing cybersecurity is their most critical responsibility, compared to 13 percent that said delivering AI solutions is among the most important tasks.
IT leaders are still focused on the fundamentals
IT departments continue to struggle with filling critical roles. More than three-quarters (76 percent) find it challenging to find the IT talent they need. Specifically, IT leaders are seeking employees who can address priorities such as cybersecurity (46 percent), AI (35 percent) and cloud computing (34 percent), while also collaborating cross-functionally to solve business-wide challenges (23 percent).
Changing circumstances and ongoing advances in AI often shift priorities. In the immediate future, most of the investments in AI continue to appear to be experimental, with the actual benefits not clear right away. There is little doubt that marketers are using AI to help craft messages more efficiently, but those types of benefits don’t require a level of investment that changes how a business operates. Returns on investment like these typically take a few years to materialize.
Empowering IT teams with automation
Some IT leaders still rely on manual processes to address fundamental challenges. By partnering with managed service providers (MSPs), they can streamline operations and gain efficiencies through automation. MSPs should engage technology decision-makers in conversations about how to offload routine tasks, freeing up internal teams to focus on developing the skills needed to thrive in the AI era.
These conversations aren’t always easy. Many business leaders hesitate to invest in future-focused training. However, most technology leaders recognize that continuous retraining is essential for keeping IT teams relevant—and MSPs play a critical role in supporting that evolution.
Photo: Olivier Le Moal / Shutterstock
This post originally appeared on Smarter MSP.