In almost 60% of all firms in the Netherlands, the application of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) to enhance business processes has now transitioned from theory to reality. This is supported by the newly released research study Foundry for AI by Rackspace (FAIR) 2024, conducted by Coleman Parkes Research and commissioned by managed hosting provider Rackspace Technology.
“Earlier IT advances, such as client servers, cloud computing, and mainframes, frequently had years of lead time. Organizations, meanwhile, are barely waiting to see when it comes to AI,” said Boudewijn van Dulken, GM of Northern Europe at Rackspace Technology.The study also demonstrates how quickly AI is being adopted in the Netherlands. AI is currently fully integrated into employee productivity tools at 30% of Dutch enterprises, and another 26% of businesses are just getting started in this area.
The benefits of AI for internal operations are also recognized by the respondents: 36% of them are still in the early stages of integrating AI, while 25% believe they have already done so. However, the creation of products and services for consumers is already where artificial intelligence is being used most extensively. According to this, 35% of Dutch businesses are still in the early phases of integrating AI, while 30% of them have already done so. The majority of Dutch respondents (48%) claimed to be ‘operationally ready’ for AI.
“Earlier IT advances, such as client servers, cloud computing, and mainframes, frequently had years of lead time. Organizations, meanwhile, are barely waiting to see when it comes to AI. Indeed, they are going in headfirst across the board,” said Rackspace Technology’s General Manager of Northern Europe, Boudewijn van Dulken. “As AI becomes more commonplace, thanks in part to simpler usage models, it is a tool that fits almost everywhere, and has a broad impact on all aspects of the organization.”
AI Investment Still Rising
According to the analysis by the managed hosting provider, AI spending in the Netherlands will quadruple from 2023 to 2024. These initiatives are yielding significant rewards as well: 87% of Dutch respondents - a staggering 10% increase over the 2023 Rackspace survey - said that integrating AI has had a positive impact on their companies.
Respondents in the Netherlands cite efficiency in intelligent search (60%) and document processing (61%) and customer retention (55%) as the main justifications for launching AI/ML initiatives. 56% of respondents said that their company's IT department is the main driver of their AI strategy. However, IT teams also receive support from several other departments, such as customer service (48%) and marketing, sales and finance (41%). “The widespread adoption of AI in various business units indicates that organizations recognize it as an impactful technology with unprecedented new opportunities,” added Van Dulken.
Security and Ethics Remain a Concern
Even while AI in the Netherlands is being adopted quickly and widely, corporations are still wary of the risks involved, such as security and ethical concerns. Just 49% of Dutch respondents stated they had effective policies in place for compliance with data management and security regulations, but 60% of respondents identified IT security as the largest barrier to the adoption of AI.
Ethics would represent a significant issue as well. More than half of those surveyed believe that ethical and responsible use is a component of AI governance. Respondents defined ‘responsible AI’ as confidentiality preservation (62%), responsibility (57%) and openness (52%).
AI Talent and Ongoing Education
The Rackspace FAIR survey in the Netherlands would confirm that there is still a lack of individuals with AI expertise. Companies are looking for technicians in the domains of machine learning (46%), automation (45%), and governance (49%) as well as software development (53%), machine learning (46%), and data analytics (49%). Furthermore, 34% of businesses presently provide AI learning and training programs, and another 50% intend to do so in the near future.
Research Methodologies
The FAIR 2024 AI Research was conducted in January and February 2024 by Coleman Parkes Research on behalf of Rackspace Technology. The findings are based on responses from 1,420 IT decision makers from the manufacturing/logistics, retail, hospitality/tourism, energy, healthcare/pharmaceutical/biomedical, government, media/entertainment and financial services sectors in the Americas, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Most companies/organizations surveyed have 1,000 to 10,000+ employees and annual sales between $50 million and $15 billion.
Rackspace Technology introduced Foundry for AI (FAIR) in June 2023. This strategy assists companies in implementing generative AI in a sustainable and responsible manner.
