Poor data management an obstacle to leverage AI in enterprises: Report

Organisations across the globe recognise the importance of data management for successful AI performance, yet they still exhibit low levels of data maturity, said a recent study commissioned by Hewlett Packard Enterprises (HPE).

According to the report, only 7 per cent organisations can run real-time data pushes and pulls to enable AI innovation and external data monetisation, while just 26 per cent have set up data governance models and can run advanced analytics.

Of greater concern, fewer than 6 in 10 respondents said their organisation is completely capable of handling any of the key stages of data preparation for use in AI models -- accessing, storing, processing, and recovering.

“The discrepancy not only risks slowing down the AI model creation process, but also increases the probability the model will deliver inaccurate insights and a negative return on investment (ROI),” said the report released on Wednesday.

The report also found organisations to be failing to understand the compute and networking demands across the end-to-end AI life cycle, with fewer than half of IT leaders admitting to having an understanding of what the demands of the various AI workloads across training, tuning and inferencing might be.

The report, ‘Architect an AI Advantage’, which surveyed more than 2,000 IT leaders from 14 countries, found that while global commitment to AI shows growing investments, businesses are overlooking key areas that will have a bearing on their ability to deliver successful AI outcomes, including low data maturity levels, possible deficiencies in their networking and compute provisioning, and vital ethics and compliance considerations.

The report says that despite the integral role of legal and compliance functions in artificial intelligence related activities, 22 per cent of IT leaders aren’t involving legal teams in their business’s AI strategy conversations at all.

“These findings clearly demonstrate the appetite for AI, but they also highlight very real blind spots that could see progress stagnate if a more holistic approach is not followed,” said Sylvia Hooks, Vice President, HPE Aruba Networking.

“Misalignment on strategy and department involvement, for example, can impede organisations from leveraging critical areas of expertise, making effective and efficient decisions, and ensuring a holistic AI roadmap benefits all areas of the business congruently,” she added.