'Spending more on AI is not the same as creating value': New study claims firms are ready to spend big on AI, but are afraid to take the first step

• AI investments remain a priority even amid global turmoil
• AI leaders feel confident in managing risks and see greater AI value
• "There is no agentic future without trust" or governance

Three in four (74%) global leaders plan to keep AI tools as a top investment priority even amid economic uncertainty, however new research from KPMG suggests that investment value alone isn't enough to determine successful ROI.

At present, around two-thirds (64%) of organizations agree AI has been delivering meaningful business value, however three-quarters are concerned about data security and privacy as they continue to lack a fully rounded plan.

With many businesses now evolving from generative AI into agentic AI (32% are deploying them at scale and 27% are using multiple agents), it's time to apply the lessons learned from earlier investments – because as ever, many of the challenges remain the same.

Shifting investments from GenAI to AI agents isn't enough by itself

The data reveals that only one in five early-stage firms feel confident in managing the risks, but this figure rises to just short of half among AI leaders, indicating a certain type of upskilling and development is also required.

At the moment, just 11% qualify as 'AI leaders', and reaching this stage is crucial because 82% of them see meaningful value compared with 62% of their non-leading counterparts.

To reach AI leader status, KPMG calls for companies to see AI as a transformation, not a bolt-on to current setups. With AI leaders seen to be hiring for AI-specific roles, running AI training and having humans working alongside AI agents, these are the things that early-stage businesses should be copying.

According to the data, those investing in their workforces are nearly four times more likely to see AI value.

As for the challenges that have barely changed since companies first starting to invest in AI, it all comes back to data quality, governance and compliance, and security and privacy. Addressing these early on will enable a company to lay out the right foundations before fundamentally changing how it works.

"There is no agentic future without trust and no trust without governance that keeps pace," Global Head of AI and Digital Innovation Steve Chase commented.

"The survey makes clear that sustained investment in people, training and change management is what allows organizations to scale AI responsibly and capture value."

Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!

And of course you can also follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp too.