The race to innovate
Looking at how companies are seeking to improve their talent acquisition programmes, it was clear that recruiting staff with AI skills was a major priority. 62% told us that they were prioritising hiring AI experts to capitalise on the advancements of AI technology in the business world. The US led the way in this area with 75% prioritising it, compared with 68% in Germany, 54% in the UK and only 44% in the Netherlands.
Despite previous budget cuts, many companies were positive about increasing their investment in tech during the year ahead, with 81% saying they were planning to do so. Again, the US topped the list at 86%, followed by Germany at 82%, the UK at 79% and the Netherlands at 77%.
Technology has consistently delivered value for our business, enabling growth, driving productivity, simplification and future-proofing our company. Our priority investments are in digitising our route to consumers and unlocking the value of AI through a secure digital backbone of integrated and standardised data and business platforms.
Our research showed some serious concerns around a lack of tech innovation within the business, with 44% of respondents saying they felt they were falling behind. This concern was most prevalent in the US where it was selected by 50%.
Broken down by job title, we discovered that 54% of CEOs felt they were falling behind, compared to just 38% of tech leaders. This could suggest that although tech leaders are attuned to opportunities and threats, their efforts have not always translated into building confidence with the CEO.
Respondents felt that overall, recruiting the next generation of technology talent was going well, with 76% agreeing. However, in Germany nearly one third (31%) felt that it wasn’t going well. Additionally, 76% confirmed that they have a diversity and inclusion strategy in place when it comes to hiring technology talent into the business.
Building a stronger tech team was a major stumbling block, with 38% of companies admitting that they were falling behind as a whole in terms of diversity. The US was the most concerned about this issue with 48% agreeing.
