IT leaders and their response to artificial intelligence (AI) was analyzed in a recent survey by Equinix. According to the survey, 42% believe their existing IT infrastructure is not fully prepared for the demands of AI technology, despite its widespread adoption across industries. The survey, which examined IT leaders’ responses to AI advances in their organizations, comes after a year of significant AI breakthroughs that saw the technology rapidly deployed in applications across both the business-to-business and business-to-consumer sectors.

The survey confirmed AI uptake is on the rise across all industry sectors, with 85% worldwide seeking to benefit from the advantages of AI and already using or planning to use it across multiple key functions. Organizations are most likely to be using AI, or planning to do so, in IT operations (85%), followed by cybersecurity (81%) and customer experience (79%).

IT leaders in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) had the most uncertainty about the ability of their infrastructure to accommodate the needs of AI (49%), compared to leaders in Asia-Pacific (44%) and the Americas (32%).

In addition to digital infrastructure updates, the survey also highlighted the need for education and collaboration to enable IT teams to optimize the deployment of this infrastructure, with AI and machine learning expertise being sought by 37% of those growing their IT teams.