According to research run by Dataiku, the platform for Everyday AI, the power of data and AI is becoming increasingly available to non-technical employees at companies across EMEA.
The survey, which was run across the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Germany, and the United Arab Emirates, polled over 700 senior decision makers of companies actively using data science platforms and AI models across the enterprise.
It identified a growing trend of empowered non-technical users working with data and AI to make pivotal business decisions. Forty seven percent of EMEA leaders indicated that their non-technical business users have full access to data and AI to attain business goals, and a further 49% stated that business users have at least some access. Eighty four percent of these companies across EMEA said that they are using low- and no-code platforms to achieve these AI goals.
Dataiku Senior Vice President and General Manager, Gregory Herbert, commented: “We’ve seen a great shift in accessibility via the use of low- and no-code platforms, but for many companies, there’s still extensive untapped potential when it comes to making data and AI available to non-technical business users. What we really want to see is AI that is so ingrained and intertwined with the workings of the day-to-day that it’s just part of the business — not only being used or developed by data scientists. If enterprises want to see a deeper transformation and truly data-driven business results, Everyday AI must become a reality for non-data-focused roles.”
AI Drives Momentum Despite Economic Volatility
The majority of companies (79%) surveyed across EMEA indicated they are leveraging AI to its full capacity, and more than 80% of firms indicated that they are able to measure the ROI of their AI investments.
The survey also indicated continued momentum with AI across EMEA. While leaders indicated that business acceleration (50%) and staying ahead of the competition (36%) were the initial top reasons for investing in AI, 2023 has seen a marked shift in AI business goals. When asked what the top three business goals companies were looking to achieve with AI over the next five years, innovation won out (59%), followed by cost reduction (49%) and increased revenue (48%.)
How Will the European Union’s New AI Regulation Impact Business?
The upcoming EU AI regulation requires that any business that commercialises an AI system as a service or a product on the European market conduct a risk assessment to identify risks for all AI systems across the enterprise. This includes any risk surrounding data quality, transparency, human oversight, and accountability.
While there have been criticisms of the EU AI Act’s potential impact on AI innovation, the survey revealed that nearly 80% of respondents did not feel it would hinder innovation and, rather, would introduce new opportunities.
