AI investment in the EMEA region is rising by 2025, driven by generative AI, but companies face challenges such as scale-up, data quality and skills shortages.
AI investment in the EMEA region rises to 20 percent of IT budgets by 2025. That’s a big jump from last year. That’s according to research commissioned by Lenovo. Generative AI is becoming increasingly important, but companies face challenges such as scalability and skills shortages. Get survey was conducted among 620 IT and business leaders in the EMEA region.
By 2025, the region’s AI budget rises to 20 percent, according to the survey, up from 13 percent last year. Generative AI plays a major role in this: its use increases from 12 percent to 44 percent, while the focus on interpretive and predictive AI declines.
AI-integrated applications were the largest investment last year, but the focus is now shifting to the development and management of AI models. This is where 32 percent of AI budgets go, up 10 percent from last year.
Difficulty with scaling and governance
Despite growing investment, companies continue to struggle with scale-up issues (30 percent) and data quality issues (29 percent). Governance and compliance are patchy: 46 percent of companies have implemented AI governance, but 26 percent experience limitations in enforcement and 22 percent have no plans to establish a governance policy.
Hybrid infrastructure plays an important role in AI deployments. About 65 percent of companies use on-premises or hybrid infrastructure, while 18 percent deploy public cloud.
Companies cite four factors as critical to successful AI adoption: data sovereignty and compliance (32 percent), integration with existing systems (32 percent), employee training (31 percent) and availability of quality data (31 percent). Organizations that address these challenges can use AI more effectively and strengthen their competitive position.
Side notes
In addition, interest in AI Professional Services is growing: 27 percent of companies are already using them, while another 72 percent are researching or implementing them. That Lenovo gauges this in the survey is not surprising. The manufacturer is trying to position itself in the market as such a provider of professional support.
Finally, according to Lenovo, AI PCs are gaining popularity: ten percent are already using them, 25 percent are testing them and 65 percent are considering implementation. This too deserves a hefty note: Lenovo and other OEMs, spurred by Microsoft and Intel, are calling just about all new computers “AI PCs.” Consequently, Lenovo can conclude that every organization that wants new computers is considering AI PCs. If your grandmother wants a new computer, so to speak, she is interested in an AI PC. That mainly implies that companies are renewing their laptop fleets organically, not that there is suddenly a huge interest in a new category of PCs. AI PCs, as we cited earlier, exist primarily on the part of marketing departments.