A new study by IDC AInomics shows that investments in AI will grow at least threefold. They will account for a fifth of the total budget of companies. At the same time, generative AI will become a key driver for investment.
The IDC study, supported by Lenovo, was conducted in the EMEA region. As noted, 620 business leaders from leading companies took part in the survey. The results of the survey showed that 94% of AI projects met or exceeded company expectations. 72% of businesses looking to scale AI initiatives plan to use professional AI services.
This result will contribute to a 104% increase in projected AI investments next year. Statistics also show that more and more companies are seeing tangible business benefits from AI.
As investments in AI increase, priorities are also changing. Generative AI will become a key area of development over the next 12 months, with its share increasing almost fourfold from 12% to 44%.
As for other artificial intelligence technologies, the largest area of investment over the past year was in applications with built-in AI. Now companies are focusing their spending on the development and management of AI models - 32%.
Despite the optimistic attitude of the respondents, they also highlighted the challenges their companies faced when implementing AI. The main ones are difficulties with scaling (30%) and data quality issues (29%).
To overcome these obstacles, respondents pointed to four key aspects:
- Data sovereignty and legal compliance;
- Easy integration of AI with existing systems and processes;
- Training and professional development of employees;
- Availability of quality data.
In terms of hardware, 65% of companies in EMEA use an on-premises or hybrid architecture, while only 18% prefer the public cloud.
In addition, 10% of organizations are already actively using AI computers, 25% are testing them, and 65% are considering integration in the near future to maximize the use of AI capabilities.
"Companies are increasingly choosing technologies that support AI-powered productivity. 2025 will be an important milestone in the adoption of AI-powered PCs as organizations move from pilot projects to real-world use of new devices. Success depends on a comprehensive and coherent AI strategy," said Preben Fjeld, vice president and general manager of Lenovo's Personal Computing Services EMEA.