Survey: Most European IT Leaders Experimenting with Gen AI

TLDR

• 62% of European IT leaders have deployed both AI and automation in their departments over the last 24 months. Among them, 72% are experimenting with generative AI.
• The IT department is where most AI is being used (77%). Customer service is second, at 49%.
• Finland topped the list of the most gen AI deployments, at 98% of its IT leaders.

The majority of European IT leaders have deployed both AI and automation tools in the last 24 months, with generative AI as their clear favorite, according to a new survey.

Among the 62% of leaders that implemented both AI and automation, 72% experimented with gen AI tools. The second most widely deployed tool was workflow automation, at 50%.

Among gen AI users, 63% have taken out paid licenses while 23% are using the free versions of ChatGPT, Gemini and others. The remaining 14% of organizations are experimenting with gen AI but have not widely deployed them, according to a survey by Digitate, an AIOps software provider.

European companies are deploying AI mostly in IT (77%), followed by customer support (49%) and business operations (39%).

Finland topped the list of highest gen AI deployment, at 98% of IT leaders. The Swiss were second (94%) and Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg) came in third (93%).

Digitate surveyed 900 IT decision-makers who have implemented automation over the last two years in Benelux, Finland, France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and the U.K. The respondents are from organizations with over 500 employees. The online survey was conducted in August 2024.

BENELUX

• 46% said the need for human intervention was the biggest drawback of implemented automation or AI, while 35% cited cost.
• As for obstacles to adopting more AI or automation, 31% said data collection and management, 31% said fear of employees leaving or perception of jobs being eliminated, and 28% said lack of technical skills or the need to upskill staff.
• Four in five say they will implement AI or automation in IT within the next two years.
• 38% indicated they are planning to deploy AI or automation to mitigate the internal risk of growing IT complexity.

FINLAND

• Finland leads the European pack in gen AI adoption at 98%.
• 48% plan to implement AI or automation in IT by the end of 2024, and another 37% will follow by the end of 2025.
• 64% of businesses identified “growing IT complexity due to migration/adoption of cloud technologies” as the biggest of the internal risks/challenges over the next 12 months.
• 90% of respondents rated cost savings as “very high” or “high” priority.

FRANCE

• 54% of organizations are using gen AI for IT operations, while almost 24% say they have not widely deployed gen AI tools – more than any other country.
• 60% of companies plan to implement additional AI or automation in IT, and 68% plan to do so in cybersecurity.
• France was most concerned about cybersecurity, with 62% citing it as the biggest external risk or challenge that they expect to see over the next 12 months.

GERMANY

• 47% cited the need for continued human intervention as the biggest drawback of automation or AI tools they have implemented within the last two years.
• Germany ranked increased efficiency (49%) and increased productivity (51%) as the top benefits of automation.
• When it comes to implementing automation, only 8% say they rely fully on humans to perform tasks (compared to 33% in Sweden).
• Just 3% expect to be fully reliant on humans in five years.

SWEDEN

• 71% said that they are deploying multiple gen AI tools, while 46% plan to implement AI or automation in IT by the end of 2024.
• 61% cited cybersecurity as the biggest external risk they see over the next 12 months, the second highest percentage among the nations and tying with the U.K.
• Despite the move to automation, 33% still rely fully on humans to perform tasks. This is expected to be reduced to 9% in the five years.

SWITZERLAND

• 94% have deployed gen AI use across their enterprises.
• Switzerland ranked ‘hiring to keep pace with demand’ as the most important (44%) external challenge over the next 12 months. All other nations cited cybersecurity as their top external risk/challenge.
• Further, 28% said ‘lack of executive support’ is the biggest internal risk/challenge that they foresee over the next 12 months.

U.K.

• 87% of U.K. organizations are focusing their automation efforts on IT, with 83% using AI to enhance IT operations.
• Despite this, over 50% still rely heavily on human intervention. However, this is expected to drop to 20% in the next five years.
• 34% report a lack of technical skills as the primary obstacle to AI and automation adoption, a contrast with many other European countries that cite budget constraints as the main obstacle.
• 86% viewed cost savings as “very high” or “high” priority.