NEWS
Over half of organisations struggle to hire essential data and AI talent
New research from Emergn reveals that 52 % of organisations are unable to recruit the data and AI skills required to operationalise Artificial Intelligence. The findings highlight a critical talent gap, with technical AI expertise and human judgement both in short supply.
Key challenges identified include: data and AI skills( 52 %); critical thinking and analytics( 35 %), problem solving( 26 %), cross- functional leadership( 24 %), leadership and initiative( 23 %) and time management( 22 %).
The shortage extends beyond technical roles, impacting the ability to apply AI effectively and drive delivery. Notably, 19 % of respondents also report difficulties hiring for web development, indicating pressure on core product delivery functions.
The talent gap is widespread, affecting all sectors. It is most acute in Manufacturing & Utilities( 67 %), Retail, Catering & Leisure( 58 %), IT & Telecoms( 52 %) and Finance( 52 %). Mid-sized companies( 1,000-4,999 employees) report the highest difficulty, with up to 60 % struggling to fill key roles, compared to 44 % in larger organisations. Only 9 % of respondents say hiring is straightforward, underscoring systemic challenges in building teams with the skills needed for modern product delivery.
“ Many organisations assume the challenge with AI is access to technology, yet the real constraint is access to the skills that make it useful. When over half say data and AI capability is the hardest to recruit, execution slows down before AI value ever shows up,“ said Alex Adamopoulos, Chairman and CEO of Emergn.
Customer experience at breaking point as organisations struggle to meet rising expectations
As customer expectations evolve, businesses are increasingly seeing data and technology as key to improving the experiences they deliver. Eighty percent of respondents agree that data is the single biggest factor in delivering good customer experience as it allows companies to personalise interactions and respond faster. Six out of 10 respondents said their organisation had lost revenue during the past three years of economic turbulence due to poor customer experience resulting from a lack of data.
As customer expectations around digital experience rise, US businesses are struggling to deliver. With ongoing economic uncertainty, millions of dollars in revenue are being lost, with twothirds( 66 %) of businesses unable to deliver the level of customer experience people expect.
AND Digital’ s Winning the Intelligent Customer report reveals this growing urgency around customer experience. It surveyed 250 C-suite and data leaders across mid-market and enterprise organisations in the US and calls for the urgent need for CEOs to prioritise customer experience to protect their customer base.
Despite this, customer experience is on the rise, with more than three-quarters( 82 %) of organisations able to increase their customer experience budget over the past year. This reflects a growing need to invest in sustainable growth through long-term customer relationships.
However, longer-term concerns remain. Seventy-three percent of respondents believe that the future of customer loyalty will be dominated by large tech budgets. This raises fears of deep inequality between those who can afford to innovate and those who cannot, who will be left behind and squeezed out of the market.
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