As AI continues to shape cloud strategies, UK IT leaders are prioritising investments in cloud technology, but they are also facing significant challenges.

A recent survey conducted by Censuswide on behalf of Red Hat polled 609 IT managers across the UK and other major markets.

More than 80% of IT managers report an urgent AI skills shortage, particularly in areas such as generative AI, large language models (LLMs), and data science, up from 72% last year.

Nearly all respondents (98%) see advantages in using enterprise open source solutions for AI, highlighting benefits like accelerated innovation and cost-efficiency.

AI-driven cloud strategies raise concerns, with 43% of leaders worried about data privacy and 39% about sustainability impacts due to energy consumption.

Cloud-native application development and evolving cloud strategies are top priorities for IT managers, with UK businesses expected to significantly boost cloud investments by up to 50% in 2025.

Internal silos are a key barrier to cloud adoption, with 96% of leaders acknowledging the issue. Additionally, rising cloud costs are a growing concern, as three in five businesses report increased spending, with nearly 40% seeing cost hikes over 25%.

it’s vital that businesses not only prioritise investment in AI technology but also in its people to ensure they have the skills to oversee its development and maximise its potential.”

Laura Lodwick, chief for talent at AND Digital, said: “It’s vital that businesses not only prioritise investment in AI technology but also in its people to ensure they have the skills to oversee its development and maximise its potential.

“However, it’s not as simple as just training AI skills. AI demands a wider skillset of data, soft skills, and ethics to balance how models are trained and utilised and to ensure outputs are trustworthy, especially when used to inform business decision-making. As businesses look to AI to underpin cloud and other technology projected, upskilling and reskilling staff to understand and drive forward AI development should be the first step, otherwise they may open up risks during implementation.“

“It’s encouraging to see business leaders recognise the value that AI can bring when accelerating innovation and cost-efficiency, but that needs to be governed by a people AND innovation approach.”

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Tags: AI, Red Hat, research, skills