Increasing productivity with constraints Economy

Artificial intelligence aims to increase the productivity of companies. The integration and application problem is the implanted data silos. The current Salesforce study shows the discrepancy between expectations and reality.

(red/chuck) Salesforce (US), the global leader in cloud-based CRM systems, surveyed 1,050 IT managers and senior IT managers worldwide on the topic of artificial intelligence (AI). The survey (benchmarking report) conducted by subsidiary Mule Soft focused on the question of how companies can use integration, automation and APIs to build a successful AI strategy. Mule Soft itself is a software company that provides integrated applications for connecting applications, data, and devices.

Successful AI strategies rely on data integration
As a result, the new survey shows that 85% of IT managers assume that AI will increase productivity in their companies in the short and medium term. However, 62% of respondents said their companies are not yet able to align data systems to take full advantage of AI – this makes the transition more difficult and puts pressure on IT departments.

Almost all IT managers (98 percent) reported challenges facing digital transformation projects. When asked why, 80% cited data warehouses, and 72% struggled with highly interconnected systems. However, successful AI strategies rely on strong data integration strategies.

“AI is only as powerful as the data it works with.”
When used across departments, employee productivity is increased, customer experience is improved, operational efficiency is improved, and value is created holistically. On average, only about 28 percent of applications currently connect to each other, and for 95 percent of IT managers, these integration issues are precisely why the introduction of AI is hindered.

“AI is only as powerful as the data it handles – because this is critical to getting a reliable result. Fundamentally, these are the integration and automation challenges that companies face,” explains Patrick Heinen, Senior Director of Solutions Architecture at Salesforce. “The current report shows that IT leaders know that the meaningful use of AI depends on the appropriate use of existing data,” asserts Salesforce's Heinen.

red/czaak, Economic Edition web article, February 12, 2024