70% of executives too optimistic about the use of AI in their organisation

Nieuwegein, 6 May 2024 - 7 out of 10 executives say they are ahead of the competition when it comes to adopting AI. This is according to the latest research from MarktEffect, commissioned by Sopra Steria (formerly Ordina). There is a lot of excitement about AI, but Sopra Steria also warns against complacency. 

The survey was conducted among 203 executives in various sectors in the Netherlands. According to Sopra Steria, the optimism about AI is also reflected in how executives rate their employees' AI skills. Almost half (43%) of respondents have 'complete confidence' in how their employees use company data for AI tools.

Getting AI right can have a big impact 
'We welcome the enthusiasm for AI, but we also warn companies about its risks, such as incorrect output or a security breach,' said Joost de Bruin, CEO of Sopra Steria Netherlands. 'This can have major financial implications for organisations. 

Data management the biggest challenge
However, respondents indicated that they still find data management difficult, which is crucial for the proper application of AI. The biggest challenges are cybersecurity (31%), data quality (28%) and privacy (26%). To mitigate these challenges, robust governance and security measures need to be put in place. 

AI talent shortage persists 
The survey also shows that there is still a shortage of AI talent. More than half of respondents say that a lack of AI talent is hindering the adoption of AI. A large proportion also say that their teams lack sufficient knowledge of AI. As a result, there has been an increase in hiring for research and development roles (29%). 

For any questions: marketing.bnl@soprasteria.com

About the survey
This independent research, conducted by Markteffect on behalf of Sopra Steria, gathered insights from 203 executives of commercial organisations in the Netherlands with at least 250 employees. The quantitative survey was conducted online between 11 and 22 March 2024. 'AI' was defined as all AI technologies, ranging from 'traditional' applications such as recommendation systems and search algorithms, to generative AI technologies such as Large Language Models (LLMs), and publicly available tools such as ChatGPT and Midjourney for creating original content. Although most of the questions were about AI in general, some questions focused explicitly on generative AI.

The survey was also conducted in Belgium. View the results of that survey below.