Going all-in on cloud could set your business up for AI success

A new PwC survey has uncovered that cloud-powered companies are more likely to reap the rewards of their investments into AI tools in the workplace.

The study of 400 business and technology execs across the UK found that more than half expect to enhance customer experience (58%), stakeholder trust (57%), and cyber resilience (55%), respectively.

A further 54% said that they expect to make cost savings by adopting cloud and unlocking generative AI productivity enhancements.

To make the most of AI, you need to first master the cloud

Despite the positive trends associated with being cloud-first, PwC found that only 16% of UK organizations are considered to be ‘cloud-powered’, with adoption spreading across all functions of their business.

Around one-third were found only to be using cloud for IT improvement and rewriting existing applications. A further one in ten was found to be using cloud for the migration of existing applications and workloads only.

PwC UK Cloud and Digital Transformation Leader Warren Tucker said: “Organisations that drive their modernisation agenda with conviction and clear cloud-powered commercial strategies are creating a competitive advantage.”

More than twice as many UK respondents than have been going all-in on cloud said they would be investing in AI and ML, at 38%, with intentions to reduce costs, improve efficiency, and add intelligence to help them make decisions and predictions.

Chris Oxborough, PwC UK Cloud Transformation Leader for Risk, added: “Access to richer, better data and insights enables more robust reporting, and smarter decision-making across the organisation, supply chain and logistics network. The organisations most tuned into these opportunities with the technology to enable change will reap the rewards.”

However, businesses continue to face challenges as they seek to adopt more cloud and AI technologies. More than half (55%) of the businesses questioned plan to hire to plug skills gaps, while another third (35%) will outsource to deliver the skills they need.