AI in companies: Already indispensable or still unused?
Many managers have an ambivalent attitude towards the increased use of AI and are therefore hesitant to push for it in their area. This was the result of an online survey of managers conducted by the IFIDZ.
To what extent are AI tools already being used in companies and by their managers in their day-to-day work and to what extent do they expect their use to change the management culture in companies?
This is what the Institute for Leadership Culture in the Digital Age (IFIDZ) wanted to know from the participating managers in its latest Leadership Trend Barometer. The online survey of 173 managers in companies from various sectors revealed that most of them have an ambivalent relationship with the use of AI in their company and in their own day-to-day work.
Managers consider the use of AI to be relevant to success...
Although 80 percent of the managers surveyed are convinced that the professional use of AI will play a decisive role in their industry in the future, only 22 percent of them already use AI tools such as ChatGPT, Deepl and Copilot on an almost daily basis.
In addition, only 21% of them are actively campaigning for greater use of AI technology in their working environment. This is probably also due to the fact that more than a third (35%) of them state that they do not receive any support in this regard in their company.
... but are rather hesitant to push the use of AI
This corresponds to the fact that only 26.3 percent of managers feel centrally responsible for stimulating the use of AI in their area of responsibility. Most of them only feel partially responsible for this. According to the IFIDZ, this indicates a "significant commitment deficit" among managers in the field of AI.
This is contradicted by the fact that 46 percent of managers state that their companies already offer training for their employees to support AI integration, and over 40 percent say that the topic of AI already plays an important role in their strategic planning.
Middle management often lacks the necessary orientation
According to the founder and director of the IFIDZ, Barbara Liebermeister, the often inconsistent statements made by managers in the survey show that many of them are "currently still approaching the topic of AI use in their area and everyday working life in a less systematic and rather hesitant manner" - also because there is still no consensus or alignment in their companies on how to deal with this future topic. There is also a lack of corresponding strategic guidelines.
The reasons cited by managers for their rather low level of commitment to greater use of AI include data protection concerns that exist in their organization in this regard. Furthermore, in the medium term, there is a risk that increased use of AI could lead to job losses - especially if it leads to increased automation of certain tasks and processes.
Quite a few managers feel latently threatened by AI
Around 20 percent even feel more or less threatened by this themselves, partly because fewer managers will be needed if the number of employees decreases.
The results of the IFIDZ's latest Leadership Trend Barometer will also be incorporated into the (online) seminars and lectures that Barbara Liebermeister regularly holds in and for companies on the topic of "Leadership in the context of artificial intelligence (AI)".
Source and further information: www.ifidz.de
