IT Leader Insights: IT leaders face rising strain as AI adoption accelerates

AI investment is accelerating across organisations of all sizes, and IT leaders are at the centre of the shift. While AI is already improving decision-making, productivity, and risk management, the operational demands of deploying, governing, and scaling AI technologies are placing growing strain on IT operations teams.

This research-backed AI whitepaper explores how IT leaders are navigating rising expectations around AI value, ROI, operational efficiency, and performance—often amid data quality gaps, skills shortages, and increasing pressure to deliver results faster.

Key challenges facing IT leaders as AI scales

Based on the latest research from SAP Concur, this whitepaper provides IT leaders with data‑backed insight into where pressure is building, and practical actions to help manage it.

AI Adoption Is Increasing Operational Pressure on IT Teams

IT leaders report strong gains from enterprise AI adoption, even as the infrastructure, governance, and operational resources required to support implementation continue to rise.

IT Leaders Face Rising Pressure to Prove AI ROI

As AI investment grows, IT teams face mounting expectations to prove AI ROI while balancing realistic implementation timelines, operational capacity, and business demands.

Poor Data Governance and Ownership Are Slowing AI Progress

Poor data foundations, weak data governance, unclear accountability, and integration challenges are constraining AI outcomes and slowing AI scalability.

AI and Cybersecurity Skills Gaps Are Creating Bottlenecks

Gaps in AI, data management, and cybersecurity capabilities across finance and business teams are adding strain to IT operations and technology teams.

Cross-Functional Collaboration Is Critical for AI Success

Strong alignment between IT, finance, and leadership emerges as a key driver of sustainable AI returns.

Why this matters now

As organisations move from AI experimentation to enterprise-wide AI adoption, the success of these initiatives increasingly depends on IT’s ability to scale AI responsibly and maintain operational efficiency. Without sufficient IT capacity, strong data governance, cybersecurity oversight, and cross-functional alignment, AI programs risk slowing delivery, increasing operational risk, and overwhelming already stretched teams.

Get insight into how IT leaders are balancing AI opportunity with operational reality—and what steps they can take to help reduce strain while sustaining value.

Looking for a finance‑focused perspective?

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