The Road to AI Profitability is Bumpy: Report

"Almost half of respondents to Ocient's "From Roadmap to Reality" report say that their companies have not experienced meaningful revenue growth from artificial intelligence (AI) investments due to "poor data quality and overtaxed infrastructures." The data analytics firm further found that "security and compliance pressures" are "shaping enterprise deployment strategies that prioritize flexibility and cost savings, driving movement away from the cloud.""

"The report drilled down to various industries, including telcos and communications service providers. Fifty-three percent of these report data skill shortages, with more than half saying there is a lack of talent available to analyze data. Companies are not harnessing the full capacity of their data because it is growing too fast (49%), cost (46%), lack of flexibility of their current data warehouse (43%), and lack of effective governance (43%)."

"Respondents say data quality (55%) and scalability of their existing solutions (48%) are the top barriers to unlocking AI's full potential. 84% say AI initiatives have significantly increased the complexity of their data processing requirements. Talent remains a bottleneck, with 46% citing difficulty finding skilled staff for AI and machine learning (ML) workloads. Security has been leaders' top pain point every year since launching the Beyond Big Data report in 2022."

Nearly half of respondents report no meaningful AI-driven revenue growth due to poor data quality and strained infrastructure. Security and compliance pressures are prompting shifts in deployment toward flexibility, cost savings, and away from public cloud. Telcos and communications providers report 53% data skill shortages and widespread talent gaps for data analysis. Rapid data growth (49%), cost (46%), inflexible data warehouses (43%), and weak governance (43%) limit data utilization. Respondents cite data quality (55%) and scalability (48%) as top AI barriers, while 84% report increased data processing complexity and 46% cite AI/ML talent shortages. Over 60% identify data security and privacy as the primary AI implementation concern, with majorities willing to change deployment for security and sovereignty.

Read at Telecompetitor