AI prep is top challenge for companies drowning in ‘unstructured data’
Aug. 7, 2024
The AI boom is forcing companies to consider data management upgrades, as many IT budgets remain tight.
Dive Brief:
Many companies store large amounts of data in “unstructured” formats such as emails and audio or video files, hampering their ability to extract full value from artificial intelligence investments, according to data management software provider Komprise.
Nearly half of organizations are storing more than 5 petabytes of unstructured data and almost 30% have more than 10 petabytes of such information, according to the findings of a Komprise survey published Tuesday. Fifty-seven percent of respondents said the top business challenge for unstructured data management is AI preparation. But only 30% said they plan to increase their IT budget to support AI projects.
“Our latest survey reveals a pivotal moment in enterprise IT as organizations grapple with the transformative potential of AI while balancing fiscal responsibility,” Komprise CEO Kumar Goswami said in a press release.
Dive Insight:
Getting ready for AI can involve a laundry list of costs, including for upgrading data storage and computing infrastructure, cleaning and preparing data, training or developing custom large language models, acquiring new IT skills, and beefing up security tools, according to the Komprise study.
“Paying for this will be tough, with only 30% saying they will increase the IT budget for AI,” the report said. “Strategies will in most cases involve carving out existing budgets — such as cloud, according to 34% — to fund AI.”
The study was based on a survey of 300 global enterprise IT leaders in June.
Meanwhile, an Ernst & Young survey unveiled last month found that 30% of companies are planning to invest at least $10 million in AI next year, up from a current level of 16%, as previously reported by CFO Dive. But many of these organizations are failing to also invest in necessary infrastructure for AI, jeopardizing the technology’s potential impact, EY said.
“As we move into the next phase of full-scale AI integration, leaders will need to develop a holistic strategy that completely re-imagines the entire enterprise system to create an AI-centric business that best harnesses the transformative power of the technology,” Traci Gusher, EY Americas AI, data and automation leader, said in a press release at the time.
[CFO Dive]
