Executives Plan Major AI Budget Increases Despite Pandemic
Two-thirds of senior executives view AI as vital to their future and plan to boost investments, with annual spending expected to grow by 8.3% over the next three years.
Two-thirds of senior executives across various industries view artificial intelligence as vitally important to their future and plan to increase their investments in the space. Companies increase their AI investments by an average of 4.6% over the last year and plan to invest 8.3% per year over the next three years. Despite the financial pressures of the pandemic, organizations continue to maximize their budgets to stay agile in a fast-evolving technological landscape.
Pressures from COVID-19 actually motivate many businesses to look for new efficiencies and revenue sources, prompting them to turn to AI as a primary solution. Over two-thirds of surveyed companies expect the pandemic to have no impact or even to accelerate their AI projects. Experts predict that the overall AI market reaches $191 billion by 2025, representing a massive jump from its current valuation of approximately $40 billion.
AI leadership requires significant financial commitment, with organizations investing an average of more than $38 million each in 2019 alone. Top leaders invest over $99 million, which is 2.6 times the industry average, while newcomers to the AI space devote about 44% of their budget specifically to data management. The automotive, health care, manufacturing, and technology industries currently lead the way in funding these complex AI projects.