More businesses are turning to open source AI tools to unlock ROI – Australian Associated Press

• 85% of IT decision-makers surveyed reported progress in their company’s AI strategy for 2024, and 47% of them say they have already achieved a positive ROI.
• Nearly half of companies surveyed are turning to open source AI to optimize their investments in 2025

ARMONK, NY, December 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — A new study commissioned by IBM (NYSE: IBM) found that surveyed companies are investing in AI for the long term, with growing interest in using open source tools to drive ROI and innovation in the future.

The study conducted by Morning Consult and developed in collaboration with Lopez Research of more than 2,400 IT decision makers (ITDMs) found that 85% of respondents say they have made progress in executing their 2024 AI strategy, and nearly half (47%) already see positive ROI from their investments in AI. The data also confirms that using open source tools for AI solutions can correlate with greater financial viability: 51% of surveyed companies currently using open source AI tools say they have seen a return on positive investment, compared to only 41% of those who do not use open source.

Nearly two-thirds (62%) of all respondents indicate they will increase their investments in AI in 2025, while 48% plan to leverage open source ecosystems to optimize their AI implementations. Among surveyed companies not currently using open source, 2 in 5 say they plan to use open source for AI implementation in 2025.

“As organizations begin to implement AI at scale, many are placing greater emphasis on success metrics such as productivity gains, in part because the traditional benefits of dollar ROI hard do not yet appear in the balance sheets”, declared Maribel Lopez from Lopez Research. “Yet companies continue to rapidly advance their AI strategies, with no signs of slowing down. Companies now recognize the value of defining specific use cases and optimizing AI projects. They leverage hybrid cloud strategies and open source to drive AI innovation and generate financial returns.

Other study results include:

Companies are increasing their investments in AI, but with greater strategic focus

• 89% of organizations surveyed plan to increase or maintain their investments in AI in 2025.
  • Of the 62% who plan to increase their investments, almost two-fifths (39%) of respondents plan to increase their spending by 25 to 50%.
  • Only 5% of respondents plan to reduce their AI spending, and none by more than 50%.
• Respondents are focusing on specific areas to allocate their AI investments, particularly IT operations (the top focus area for 63% of respondents), as well as data quality management (46%) and product/service innovation (41%).
• When asked what strategic changes will be made in 2025, IT leaders surveyed identify the use of managed cloud services (51%), recruiting specialized talent (48%), and using open source (48%). %) among the most common ways they consider optimizing their AI investments. .

Open source becomes crucial for companies’ AI strategies

• 6 in 10 IT leaders surveyed say they use open source ecosystems as a source of AI tools, and more AI solutions are expected to be based on open source in the coming year (41% in 2025 vs. 37% in 2024).
• More than 80% of respondents say at least a quarter of their company’s AI solutions or platforms are based on open source.
  • As company size increases, the likelihood that the majority (over 50%) of AI solutions will be based on open source also increases.
• Respondent companies using open source ecosystems are more likely to see a positive ROI than those that don’t (51% vs. 41%).
• Additionally, respondents leveraging open source ecosystems plan to launch more AI pilot projects in the coming year than those who don’t: 38% say they plan to launch more than 21 projects AI drivers in 2025, compared to 26% in companies not using open source for AI tools.

Organizations report successfully advancing their AI projects, but often through less traditional ROI measures.

• 85% of IT leaders surveyed say they have made progress executing their AI strategy, while only 9% report no progress.
• 58% of respondents say their company typically goes from AI pilot to full production in less than a year.
• 31% of companies surveyed say their AI investments are more focused on innovation, compared to 28% who are more focused on return on investment; 41% say their organization is also focused on innovation and ROI.
• Faster software development (25%), faster innovation (23%), and time savings in productivity (22%) are the three most important metrics surveyed IT leaders use to calculate ROI investments in AI. Hard dollar/quantifiable savings came in a distant fourth at 15%.
• Nearly half (47%) of companies surveyed say they are seeing a positive return on investment from their AI projects; 33% say they are breaking even and only 14% say they are seeing a negative return on investment.
  • Among companies that have not yet achieved a positive ROI, less than half (44%) expect to start realizing savings in the next 1-2 years; 92% believe they will see a positive return on investment within 3 years.

To view the full study, visit:

Study methodology:
Morning Consult conducted a survey of October 30 to November 13, 2024 from a total sample of 2,413 IT decision makers (ITDMS) in the United States, Canada, Mexico, BrazilUNITED KINGDOM, France, Germany, Spain, India, Singapore, IndonesiaAnd South Korea. The interviews were conducted online and the data is unweighted. Respondents are employed at companies with 101 or more employees, holding management or senior positions in a technology role, with decision-making authority over at least one of the following areas: Business Consultant Management/Consulting Services, Procurement of IT products, or the purchase of business consulting services.

About IBM
IBM is a leading global provider of hybrid cloud and AI and consulting expertise. We help our customers in more than 175 countries leverage insights from their data, streamline their business processes, reduce costs, and gain a competitive advantage in their industries. More than 4,000 government entities and enterprises in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM and Red Hat OpenShift’s hybrid cloud platform to deliver their digital transformations fast, efficient and secure. IBM’s groundbreaking innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and consulting provide open and flexible options for our clients. All of this builds on IBM’s long-standing commitment to trust, transparency, accountability, inclusiveness and service. Visit www.ibm.com for more information.

Media Contact:
Marisa Conway
IBM Corporate Communications
[email protected]

SOURCE IBM