NashTech announces the 25th edition of the Digital Leadership Report

With AI a top focus area for businesses, governments and regulators alike, a global study of tech leaders (CIOs, CTOs etc) has found that only 15% are prepared for the demands of generative AI. An overwhelming majority (88%) believe heavier AI regulation is essential, but the scale of the challenge is clear, with 61% believing tighter regulation won't solve all the issues and risks that come with this rapidly developing technology.

LONDON, March 20, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- These findings are revealed in the 25th annual NashTech Digital Leadership Report, the world's largest and longest-running annual survey of technology leadership. Over the last 25 years, the research has taken in the views of over 50,000 technology leaders.

Before international governments meet at Bletchley Park in the UK for the world's first AI Safety Summit, other key AI findings globally include:

    --  AI still at the experimentation stage globally - Despite the explosive
        predicted market growth of AI, only 1 in 10 technology leaders globally
        report having large scale implementations of AI, a figure that hasn't
        changed in five years.
    --  But the AI ripples are beginning to widen - Half of global organisations
        (49%) are either piloting or conducting a small-scale implementation of
        AI. When it comes to generative AI, this figure is currently around a
        third.
    --  Few have an AI policy in place - Just 2 in 10 (21%) of global
        organisation shave an AI policy in place, and more than a third (36%)
        have no plans to attempt such a policy currently.
    --  Data privacy - a key concern for implementing generative AI - More than
        a third (36%) of technology leaders globally are concerned about data
        privacy as an issue for implementing generative AI.
    --  A tsunami of AI driven cyberattacks around the corner - Although
        cyberattacks are down year-on-year, the report warns that generative AI
        has the potential to take cybercrime to a whole new, very dark, level,
        as new forms of attacks emerge.
    --  Benefits of AI outweigh the risks - However, unregulated wild west or
        not - more than seven in ten technology leaders globally think that the
        benefits of AI outweigh the risks.
    --  Jobs lost - The average percentage of jobs that technology leaders feel
        will be lost to automation is 17%.

"Over the years there has been much hype about the potential for AI, but this year our research suggests we may have reached a tipping point. AI sits at the intersection of people and technology, and with the recent mass adoption of generative AI, the opportunities and challenges for organisations is potentially vast. It could be the trigger that prompts an avalanche of AI investment -similar to the mass adoption of cloud over the last ten years. This just makes the regulation and governance of AI more important than ever.

Despite their keenness, many tech leaders admit that they don't have a clear picture of the way forward and feel unprepared for the challenges ahead. Establishing clear guardrails, guidelines and ethical safety nets around AI is simply essential. Otherwise, what could be one of the truly transformational enablers of the modern age could instead become one of its biggest, risk-laden destabilisers."
Bev White, CEO of Nash Squared

Tech Leaders Plan for Cautious Investment

    --  Technology spends - After the hyper growth during and coming out of the
        pandemic, expectations of technology spend and investment in people have
        returned to more 'normal' levels, with tech leaders still optimistic
        about 2024 growth. Almost half (45%) expect their overall IT/technology
        budget to increase during the next 12 months - a figure broadly in line
        with pre-pandemic years.
    --  Increase in headcount - A similar number of technology leaders globally
        (50%) expect to increase their headcount. This figure is the second
        highest reading in the last decade outside of the pandemic peak,
        although a significant fall on last year.
    --  Innovative tech investment largely stalls - One casualty of the pandemic
        that still seems to remain, is that investment in emerging tech is being
        held back with the exception of pilots in AI, quantum and the metaverse.

Inclusion and Hybrid Working

    --  Full week in-office mandates hits number of women being hired in tech -
        The report found that a high number of mandated days in the office
        appears to have had a negative impact on the proportion of female new
        hires in the tech team over the last two years. For companies without
        mandated in-office days, 28% of the tech team hired recently is female.
        This number drops to 22% at companies with a mandated 5 days in the
        office.
    --  In-office mandates work better for smaller organisations - A high
        majority (84%) of small organisations globally report that their
        in-office policy is working well compared to 66% of large organisations.
        Twice as many large organisations (34%) to small organisations (16%)
        report that their policy is working poorly.
    --  No movement in the number of female tech leaders - This year 14% of
        technology leaders globally identify as female, identical to last year.
        This is a disappointing stagnation in what has been a painfully slow and
        shallow upward trend in recent years.
    --  Female members of the tech team - Globally female representation on tech
        teams remained at 23%, year-on-year, with the US doing marginally better
        (27%) and UK businesses the same as the global average at 23%.

Tech Talent Shortage

    --  Mass skills shortages ease slightly - This year 54% of technology
        leaders globally say that a skills shortage is preventing them from
        keeping up with the pace of change, down from the record 70% last year
        as technology demand and skills supply move a little more in balance.
    --  Skills in demand - However, although scarcity of top skills for every
        type of technology professional has fallen year-on-year, there still
        remains a shortage with the most scarce skills being data engineers,
        enterprise architects, software engineers and technical architects.
    --  Demand for cyber skills sees largest fall - In recent years
        cybersecurity skills have occupied the top three most scarce skills, but
        this year has seen one of the largest falls in demand globally (down
        37%) as technology leaders focus their limited budgets on completing
        their transformation and revenue generation ambitions rather than
        shoring up security.
    --  Potential impact of AI-driven cyberattacks on skills - Despite this
        drop, a quarter of technology leaders globally still struggle to find
        the right cybersecurity skills. The report also suggests that, if AI
        begins to generate new levels of cyber risk, cyber specialists may once
        again top the league table of skills in demand.

Technology/digital leaders on the board

    --  New tech drives need for technology/digital leaders to be on the top
        table - Over two thirds (68%) of technology leaders globally are members
        of the operational board/executive management team, the highest level
        since 2017 (71%). Over the last five years there have been signs of a
        decline in executive committee membership, but the report says that this
        is now on the rise due to the proliferation of new technologies like
        generative AI, where technology leaders can offer a unique and valuable
        perspective to the top table.
    --  A seat on the executive committee also helps outperform the competition
        - When technology leaders are given a seat at the top table this
        delivers advantages over the competition, including a 20% uplift in
        adopting new technology, and a 24% advantage in attracting and retaining
        talent.

"After the once-in-a-generation spike in investment in technology that we saw due to the pandemic, things have settled down to more like normal now. But this 'normal' remains substantial and significant, as digital technologies are central to how the modern business operates. That's why, as our report shows, having a technology specialist like the CIO on the executive committee delivers measurable benefits.

However, for any business to perform at its best, the working model needs to be right. There is a fascinating and very much live debate going on at the moment as to what kind of in-office mandate businesses should adopt. There is no single answer here, of course - it will vary for each individual business. However, our research shows that there are clear risks to the diversity agenda in pushing too far in the back-to-office direction. This needs to be very carefully monitored and managed if we want to ensure that technology drives up its levels of talented women.?"
Bev White, CEO of Nash Squared

The "Digital Leadership: Navigating the Future" report is now available for download, offering valuable resources for leaders seeking to excel in today's digital-first environment.

Media Contact

Victoria Cowell, NashTech, +44 (0) 7966 335 308, victoria.cowell@nashtechglobal.com, https://www.nashtechglobal.com/

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SOURCE NashTech