Skip to main content

5 Research Insights: Generative AI's Accelerating Enterprise Adoption

Melissa Burroughs
Alteryx

The rapid rise of generative AI (GenAI) has caught everyone's attention, leaving many to wonder if the technology's impact will live up to the immense hype. A recent survey by Alteryx provides valuable insights into the current state of GenAI adoption, revealing a shift from inflated expectations to tangible value realization across enterprises. By examining the perspectives of over 5,000 business leaders and members of the public, the survey uncovers crucial trends that shape the future trajectory of this transformative technology. Here are five key takeaways that underscore GenAI's progression from hype to real-world impact.

1. Generative AI Delivers Tangible Value Beyond the Hype

Defying the traditional hype cycle, GenAI appears to be delivering substantial value to organizations, as evidenced by 78% of leaders reporting it adds value, up from just 34% in 2023. This significant increase suggests companies are realizing tangible returns as adoption matures across use cases like data analysis, cybersecurity, and customer support. Consequently, 62% plan to boost investments, driven by more teams recognizing generative AI's potential. The results challenge notions of inflated expectations, implying the technology may bypass the "trough of disillusionment" phase.

2. Adoption Accelerates With Successful Pilots and Mitigated Risks

Fueling GenAI's accelerating adoption are successful pilot projects and mitigated risk perceptions: 77% of companies reported successful pilots since 2023, while 55% found implementation easier than expected. Crucially, only 17% perceive GenAI as high risk, contrasting sharply with typical emerging technologies. Limited negative impacts from misuse further reduces fears, with 44% experiencing none and 48% facing inconsequential misuse. As familiarity grows through successful deployments, risks appear manageable, paving the way for organizational commitment exemplified by investment ramp-up plans.

3. Empowering Knowledge Workers Through Access and Democratization

The survey underscores GenAI's democratization within enterprises, with 74% providing open access and 77% believing employees have appropriate levels of access to the technology. This openness signals a shift toward empowering knowledge workers, backed up by 42% workforce utilization currently. Notably, 66% of leaders reported changes to job responsibilities due to GenAI's advent, reflecting its transformative impact across roles. Democratized access coupled with workforce integration highlights how the technology is essential for augmenting and enhancing employee capabilities organization-wide.

4. IT Leadership Spearheads Generative AI Innovation and Strategy

While CEO influence initially propelled generative AI strategy, the mantle has shifted to IT leadership (47%) steering innovation, reflecting the technology's maturation. This transition leverages IT's expertise in understanding GenAI's capabilities, limitations, and strategic business alignment, mitigating risk while maximizing ROI through informed deployment. Furthermore, innovation led by a company's IT team can drive cross-functional collaboration for holistic adoption roadmaps. As generative AI's impact broadens organizationally, it empowers IT departments to lead the innovation to ensure cohesive, transformation-aligned enterprise strategies.

5. Contrasting Public Sentiments Highlight Familiarity's Impact

A stark divide emerges between business leaders' and the public's GenAI sentiments, underscoring familiarity's influence on perceptions: 89% of leaders express positive emotions like excitement, compared to only 76% of the public, with 61% feeling skeptical. This separation extends to awareness of AI hallucinations (55% leaders vs. 29% public) and job displacement concerns (65% leaders vs. 35% public). The results suggest that with experience comes trust and confidence, while lack of exposure fuels public apprehension from limited understanding, emphasizing education's importance for widespread adoption.

Finally, as GenAI continues its rapid evolution, the results from this survey offer a valuable snapshot into its current state, revealing a technology progressing from hype to tangible impact. While challenges remain, the findings paint an optimistic picture of accelerating adoption, driven by successful implementations, mitigated risks, and a commitment to empowering knowledge workers. Moreover, the contrasting public sentiments highlight the pivotal role of familiarity and education in shaping perceptions. As enterprises continue to democratize access and IT spearheads strategic innovation, generative AI's transformative potential across industries becomes increasingly palpable, transcending the hype to reshape the future of work.

Melissa Burroughs is Director of Product Marketing at Alteryx

Hot Topics

The Latest

Industry experts offer predictions on how AI will evolve and impact technology and business in 2025. Part 5 covers the infrastructure and hardware supporting AI ...

Industry experts offer predictions on how AI will evolve and impact technology and business in 2025. Part 4 covers advancements in AI technology ...

Industry experts offer predictions on how AI will evolve and impact technology and business in 2025. Part 3 covers AI's impact on employees and their roles ...

Industry experts offer predictions on how AI will evolve and impact technology and business in 2025. Part 2 covers the challenges presented by AI, as well as solutions to those problems ...

In the final part of APMdigest's 2025 Predictions Series, industry experts offer predictions on how AI will evolve and impact technology and business in 2025 ...

E-commerce is set to skyrocket with a 9% rise over the next few years ... To thrive in this competitive environment, retailers must identify digital resilience as their top priority. In a world where savvy shoppers expect 24/7 access to online deals and experiences, any unexpected downtime to digital services can lead to significant financial losses, damage to brand reputation, abandoned carts with designer shoes, and additional issues ...

Efficiency is a highly-desirable objective in business ... We're seeing this scenario play out in enterprises around the world as they continue to struggle with infrastructures and remote work models with an eye toward operational efficiencies. In contrast to that goal, a recent Broadcom survey of global IT and network professionals found widespread adoption of these strategies is making the network more complex and hampering observability, leading to uptime, performance and security issues. Let's look more closely at these challenges ...

Image
Broadcom

The 2025 Catchpoint SRE Report dives into the forces transforming the SRE landscape, exploring both the challenges and opportunities ahead. Let's break down the key findings and what they mean for SRE professionals and the businesses relying on them ...

Image
Catchpoint

The pressure on IT teams has never been greater. As data environments grow increasingly complex, resource shortages are emerging as a major obstacle for IT leaders striving to meet the demands of modern infrastructure management ... According to DataStrike's newly released 2025 Data Infrastructure Survey Report, more than half (54%) of IT leaders cite resource limitations as a top challenge, highlighting a growing trend toward outsourcing as a solution ...

Image
Datastrike

Gartner revealed its top strategic predictions for 2025 and beyond. Gartner's top predictions explore how generative AI (GenAI) is affecting areas where most would assume only humans can have lasting impact ...

5 Research Insights: Generative AI's Accelerating Enterprise Adoption

Melissa Burroughs
Alteryx

The rapid rise of generative AI (GenAI) has caught everyone's attention, leaving many to wonder if the technology's impact will live up to the immense hype. A recent survey by Alteryx provides valuable insights into the current state of GenAI adoption, revealing a shift from inflated expectations to tangible value realization across enterprises. By examining the perspectives of over 5,000 business leaders and members of the public, the survey uncovers crucial trends that shape the future trajectory of this transformative technology. Here are five key takeaways that underscore GenAI's progression from hype to real-world impact.

1. Generative AI Delivers Tangible Value Beyond the Hype

Defying the traditional hype cycle, GenAI appears to be delivering substantial value to organizations, as evidenced by 78% of leaders reporting it adds value, up from just 34% in 2023. This significant increase suggests companies are realizing tangible returns as adoption matures across use cases like data analysis, cybersecurity, and customer support. Consequently, 62% plan to boost investments, driven by more teams recognizing generative AI's potential. The results challenge notions of inflated expectations, implying the technology may bypass the "trough of disillusionment" phase.

2. Adoption Accelerates With Successful Pilots and Mitigated Risks

Fueling GenAI's accelerating adoption are successful pilot projects and mitigated risk perceptions: 77% of companies reported successful pilots since 2023, while 55% found implementation easier than expected. Crucially, only 17% perceive GenAI as high risk, contrasting sharply with typical emerging technologies. Limited negative impacts from misuse further reduces fears, with 44% experiencing none and 48% facing inconsequential misuse. As familiarity grows through successful deployments, risks appear manageable, paving the way for organizational commitment exemplified by investment ramp-up plans.

3. Empowering Knowledge Workers Through Access and Democratization

The survey underscores GenAI's democratization within enterprises, with 74% providing open access and 77% believing employees have appropriate levels of access to the technology. This openness signals a shift toward empowering knowledge workers, backed up by 42% workforce utilization currently. Notably, 66% of leaders reported changes to job responsibilities due to GenAI's advent, reflecting its transformative impact across roles. Democratized access coupled with workforce integration highlights how the technology is essential for augmenting and enhancing employee capabilities organization-wide.

4. IT Leadership Spearheads Generative AI Innovation and Strategy

While CEO influence initially propelled generative AI strategy, the mantle has shifted to IT leadership (47%) steering innovation, reflecting the technology's maturation. This transition leverages IT's expertise in understanding GenAI's capabilities, limitations, and strategic business alignment, mitigating risk while maximizing ROI through informed deployment. Furthermore, innovation led by a company's IT team can drive cross-functional collaboration for holistic adoption roadmaps. As generative AI's impact broadens organizationally, it empowers IT departments to lead the innovation to ensure cohesive, transformation-aligned enterprise strategies.

5. Contrasting Public Sentiments Highlight Familiarity's Impact

A stark divide emerges between business leaders' and the public's GenAI sentiments, underscoring familiarity's influence on perceptions: 89% of leaders express positive emotions like excitement, compared to only 76% of the public, with 61% feeling skeptical. This separation extends to awareness of AI hallucinations (55% leaders vs. 29% public) and job displacement concerns (65% leaders vs. 35% public). The results suggest that with experience comes trust and confidence, while lack of exposure fuels public apprehension from limited understanding, emphasizing education's importance for widespread adoption.

Finally, as GenAI continues its rapid evolution, the results from this survey offer a valuable snapshot into its current state, revealing a technology progressing from hype to tangible impact. While challenges remain, the findings paint an optimistic picture of accelerating adoption, driven by successful implementations, mitigated risks, and a commitment to empowering knowledge workers. Moreover, the contrasting public sentiments highlight the pivotal role of familiarity and education in shaping perceptions. As enterprises continue to democratize access and IT spearheads strategic innovation, generative AI's transformative potential across industries becomes increasingly palpable, transcending the hype to reshape the future of work.

Melissa Burroughs is Director of Product Marketing at Alteryx

Hot Topics

The Latest

Industry experts offer predictions on how AI will evolve and impact technology and business in 2025. Part 5 covers the infrastructure and hardware supporting AI ...

Industry experts offer predictions on how AI will evolve and impact technology and business in 2025. Part 4 covers advancements in AI technology ...

Industry experts offer predictions on how AI will evolve and impact technology and business in 2025. Part 3 covers AI's impact on employees and their roles ...

Industry experts offer predictions on how AI will evolve and impact technology and business in 2025. Part 2 covers the challenges presented by AI, as well as solutions to those problems ...

In the final part of APMdigest's 2025 Predictions Series, industry experts offer predictions on how AI will evolve and impact technology and business in 2025 ...

E-commerce is set to skyrocket with a 9% rise over the next few years ... To thrive in this competitive environment, retailers must identify digital resilience as their top priority. In a world where savvy shoppers expect 24/7 access to online deals and experiences, any unexpected downtime to digital services can lead to significant financial losses, damage to brand reputation, abandoned carts with designer shoes, and additional issues ...

Efficiency is a highly-desirable objective in business ... We're seeing this scenario play out in enterprises around the world as they continue to struggle with infrastructures and remote work models with an eye toward operational efficiencies. In contrast to that goal, a recent Broadcom survey of global IT and network professionals found widespread adoption of these strategies is making the network more complex and hampering observability, leading to uptime, performance and security issues. Let's look more closely at these challenges ...

Image
Broadcom

The 2025 Catchpoint SRE Report dives into the forces transforming the SRE landscape, exploring both the challenges and opportunities ahead. Let's break down the key findings and what they mean for SRE professionals and the businesses relying on them ...

Image
Catchpoint

The pressure on IT teams has never been greater. As data environments grow increasingly complex, resource shortages are emerging as a major obstacle for IT leaders striving to meet the demands of modern infrastructure management ... According to DataStrike's newly released 2025 Data Infrastructure Survey Report, more than half (54%) of IT leaders cite resource limitations as a top challenge, highlighting a growing trend toward outsourcing as a solution ...

Image
Datastrike

Gartner revealed its top strategic predictions for 2025 and beyond. Gartner's top predictions explore how generative AI (GenAI) is affecting areas where most would assume only humans can have lasting impact ...