Exploring the real impact of AI on team dynamics and project outcomes—as well as best practices for future adoption
Picture this: there’s a new face in the IT department, ready to step in to help tackle the increasingly complex challenges caused by modern hybrid on-prem and multi-cloud environments. Overstretched technology teams always appreciate an extra set of helping hands, but what happens when this new team member isn’t human—but artificial intelligence (AI)?
As they become more advanced, AI systems are increasingly stepping in to fill the void left by limited resources, budgets, or time by automating mundane and error-prone processes and delivering real-time and predictive insights.
A new 2024 SolarWinds IT Trends Report offers insights into how IT professionals are adjusting to rapid technological changes, particularly their reactions to AI as its influence grows. Based on insights from the nearly 700 IT professionals who participated in the 2024 SolarWinds IT Trends Survey, here’s how today’s technology teams are thinking about AI today—and how organizations can address lingering concerns and adopt strong, ethical, and secure frameworks to ensure enduring benefits for IT teams:
Teams Have Great, if Varied, Expectations for AI Adoption
AI adoption is off to the races: nearly nine in 10 companies already adopted AI or have plans to. What’s more, 56% of IT professionals want their companies to invest more in AI, and 46% wish their organizations would implement AI faster.
This push for accelerated AI deployment highlights the critical role AI is expected to play in transforming enterprises. It’s not going away anytime soon, but its lasting impact on daily operations remains to be seen. The SolarWinds report shows many teams already see AI as a valuable coworker, if still untested and in need of some onboarding. One-third of IT pros (33%) anticipate AI as a wise advisor in the workplace, improving decisions with insights and foresight. One in five respondents (20%) have greater expectations, envisioning AI as a superhero sidekick, taking on the grunt work, and enabling team members to focus on the big picture. Yet roughly the same amount (19%) are still trying to figure out whether or not they’ll learn to get along with AI colleagues. This mixed reception underscores the critical need for a structured onboarding process for AI within IT environments to better integrate these powerful tools and realize their full potential in supporting and optimizing IT operations.
Pros See the Benefits of AIOps, but Want to See a Longer Track Record of Success
Integrating AI into IT teams is not just about filling gaps with new technology but also understanding how it can align with existing workflows. While many organizations are utilizing AI-powered tools, they’re still working toward being able to rely on their efficacy and reliability. Most IT professionals surveyed indicated that their organizations are adopting AI, with nearly nine out of 10 companies either already using AI or planning to. Organizations already using AI-powered solutions reported substantial benefits such as improved data analytics (68%), automated routine tasks (67%), and increased efficiency and productivity (70%).
Although nearly a third (31.6%) of respondents are very confident that AI has significantly enhanced their efficiency, the majority (53.6%) acknowledge AI’s potential but remain skeptical, awaiting more evidence of its true impact. This cautious optimism underscores the importance for organizations to implement robust metrics and clear policies for evaluating AI's performance. By doing so, they can continuously monitor its effectiveness, helping guarantee that AI integration not only supports but also advances their business objectives.
Privacy and Security Concerns are the Top Barrier to AI Adoption
In the realm of IT, security no longer just leads the conversation—it is the conversation. There is overwhelming optimism around AI, with 89.9% of respondents holding favorable views toward AI and more than 91% at least somewhat trusting its data quality and training. However, concerns remain about privacy and security, which respondents cited as the single most significant barrier to AI integration. When asked about their challenges with AI, four out of 10 (41%) respondents said they’ve had negative experiences. Of those, privacy concerns (48%) and security risks (43%) were most often cited as the reasons why.
Additionally, nearly nine out of 10 (88%) respondents said they support increased government oversight of AI. Their top priorities for regulation? Security (72%) and privacy issues (64%). These lingering concerns mean that IT pros are looking for AI solutions to not only deliver exceptional performance but also provide robust security features like end-to-end data protection, secure data storage, and encryption capabilities to verify sensitive information is not compromised.
Introducing AI by Design: A Framework for Secure and Ethical IT Innovation
In order to get AI adoption right, it's crucial to bring together teams from different areas of the organization to formulate thorough policies that address ethical issues, data privacy, and compliance. The majority of organizations (64.4%) have developed internal guidelines and principles to address the challenges of AI implementation. However, more than a third (35.6%) still lack these critical frameworks.
Enter AI by Design, a framework for helping confirm the ethical and secure development of advanced AI technologies. AI by Design is built on four guiding principles that shape the integration of artificial intelligence into IT systems, positioning AI as a trusted partner in enhancing the productivity, efficiency, and innovation capabilities of IT professionals.
First and foremost, AI by Design prioritizes privacy and security with the goal of ensuring data safety that IT pros—and their customers—can rely on. Second, an AI by Design approach focuses on accountability and fairness to mitigate biases, making AI a more equitable tool. Third, the framework underscores transparency and trust, critical for fostering confidence in the outcomes generated by AI-driven processes. Lastly, AI by Design emphasizes simplicity and accessibility, helping ensure that AI systems seamlessly integrate into and facilitate regular workflows.
Together, these principles guide an approach to AI systems that act as a valued partner to IT pros in their everyday lives and reimagine the productivity, efficiency, and innovation they’re capable of.
Much like welcoming anyone (or anything) new into a tightly-knit team, it may take some time for IT pros to warm up to their new digital assistants. Today’s AI systems are essentially a promising new teammate that’s yet to be onboarded: everyone is excited about the promise they hold, but similarly wary of the unknown factors. By aligning AI systems with business objectives and consistently reviewing their performance, organizations can supercharge their productivity and increase teams' confidence in the advantages of AI, enabling them to push the envelope of innovation even further.