An overwhelming 95% of 2,000 IT professionals reported experiencing significant benefits from using gen-AI in their work, according to a survey conducted by Freshworks. Additionally, the implementation of generative AI in the workplace relieved employees from tedious and repetitive tasks, enabling them to take up more strategic responsibilities.

The escalation of Generative AI adoption in the workplace is evident as

• 86% of IT professionals confirmed that their organisations are already implementing gen-AI for work, 
• Whereas, 51% of IT professionals said that their organisations actively promote using gen-AI in the workplace.

Moreover, this enthusiastic adoption of gen-AI is navigated by conventional AI tools devised for IT professionals such as AIOps.  

More the report also reveals that 71% of IT workers embraced AI tools to facilitate personal productivity. Whereas, 39% agree that AI tools streamlined tasks so they can focus on strategic work.

AI adoption for 'easing' software bloat

Amidst the struggle of software bloat, AI offers tremendous opportunities for IT firms to streamline business software apps and systems, as well as, for boosting productivity, budgets, and morale.

Tracking overgrowing IT technologies is a futile task. The survey reveals the applications available for IT professionals grew by 71% in the last few months. However, more than 65% of these applications are not in use as they lack business value, and waste time and resources of IT. 

Furthermore, IT professionals estimate saving five hours per week by using AI tools to execute repetitive tasks. This time-saving equates to approximately US$15,122 per IT worker’s time annually, resulting in a cumulative potential annual savings of around $183 billion across the entire IT sector.

Combating potential risks involved in AI adoption

Nevertheless, AI also comes with potential risks. Approximately 87% of IT experts acknowledged their concerns regarding employees using generative AI. Moreover, 73% of them pointed out the threats to data privacy, and 59% expressed worries about the possibility of 'rude' or 'inaccurate' communication arising from AI usage.

Despite the potential productivity gains that AI offers, 34% of IT professionals are not inclined to rely on AI to help them complete their workload, even though 45% believe that AI could easily manage half of their overall responsibilities.

To address these concerns and meet cybersecurity requirements, CIOs should establish their own set of guidelines for implementing AI as well as adhere to industry best practices.

Prasad Ramakrishnan, CIO of Freshworks said, “As a CIO, it’s a scary time because fraudsters already have tools to penetrate companies. Now these tools can get more potent with technology like generative AI. My advice to other CIOs is not to take this lightly.”

He also recommends a two-part approach: 

• First, “Continuously training the employees to be aware. Humans are always my first and the best lines of defense.” 
• Second, companies should “invest in enterprise-grade security products that will soon emerge to solve for the post-generative-AI era.”