Businesses have high hopes for AI. Are their networks ready?

Business leaders have high expectations for the year ahead, thanks to the increasing ubiquity and potential of artificial intelligence (AI). The International Data Corporation (IDC) canvassed over 650 global technology leaders, and 81% of them expect to see moderate to high growth for their businesses in the next 12 months. The study (which was commissioned by Expereo) found 69% of businesses are preparing to take on AI or already using it at scale. However, there are some roadblocks to get past, among them the need for robust network infrastructure to fully support AI. Only 14% of respondents said their networks are ready to support AI. Networks that do not scale flexibly on demand or deliver high application performance hinder companies from implementing large AI projects. Other issues include lack of network bandwidth for very large data transfer, or networks that don’t provide adequate connectivity to the cloud or between clouds.