Omdia: Enterprise AI has reached critical mass

LONDON, 25 May, 2022 – In what can only be described as a pivotal moment, a new report from Omdia suggests that the enterprise AI market has reached critical mass (adoption is becoming self-sustaining), and the market is now in the early majority phase. The impact of what comes next will be far-reaching.

“The next two years will be a time of explosive growth for enterprise AI as an unprecedented number of enterprises seeking to operationalize AI begin their AI journeys,” said Mark Beccue, Principal Analyst, Omdia, “Live AI deployments will likely double and funding for AI projects will grow exponentially. It will also be a time of instability for AI solutions (end to end, tools and platforms, SaaS solutions with embedded AI) – with surging demand, pricing will likely drop, and AI solution specialization will increase.”

Omdia estimates 20-25% of enterprises are scaling AI projects across multiple business units. Scaling of AI deployment is a key sign of AI maturity – it shows commitment to AI projects, that budget and resources have been invested, typically over several years. The scaling metric places AI squarely in the early majority phase of market adoption, according to the Diffusion of Innovation Theory (E.M. Rogers, adoption of a new idea, behavior or product accelerates rapidly once a market surpasses 16%). 

Potentially one of the most transformational technologies of the 21st Century, it’s difficult to parse the facts of AI versus the fiction, to understand the who, what, why and how of pragmatic AI adoption and use. Based on a survey of 414 enterprises representing every global region, a range of company sizes by revenue and 7 distinct industries, “AI Market Maturity Survey 2022: Reaching Critical Mass”, examines the state of enterprise AI market maturity. The report provides:

• A reading of the current state of AI market adoption and what that level of maturity means to the AI market ecosystem
• Insights into key success factors for AI