Look back to look forward: A recap of last year Annual Trend…

With insights from 6,000 plus senior decision-makers across the UK organisations, our previous Annual Trends Report, AI Rising: Navigating the Artificial Intelligence Boom, served as a comprehensive blueprint for business leaders to navigate complex business challenges.

As we kick off another year and look forward to our upcoming Annual Trends Report 2024/25, let's take a moment to reflect on those key highlights and statistics from last year's findings.This retrospective will not only remind us of the past year's learnings but also set the stage for what's to come. Meanwhile, pre-register for 9^th Annual Trends Report today!

What were the key findings from the 2023/24 Annual Trends Report?

Skills & Talent

• Our survey highlighted that attracting and retaining talent was the number one challenge (41%) for organisations in the UK, and addressing this is a priority for almost half (47%) of all respondents.
• Diving more deeply into our findings, some specific sectors positioned talent attraction and retention as an even higher priority than the 41% average, with 59% of those working in education, 57% of those in Local & Central Government, and 57% in the NHS and Health & Care sector, highlighting this as an on-going challenge.
• Furthermore, looking at some of the sector-specific data we collected last year, 62% of Health & Care providers told us they experienced difficulties in attracting and retaining staff. In contrast, in the legal sector, 45% said that time to hire is a real problem, taking three to six months to replace a fee earner.
• We also identified that organisations looked to AI as a solution to solve this problem. However, if they want to leverage AI to the greatest extent possible, they need to address the digital skills gap and implement new ways of learning that embed AI to address talent acquisition challenge.

Technology Infrastructure

• In 2023, 67% of organisations had plans to upgrade their technology solutions to remain competitive.
• 85% of respondents were confident that their technology infrastructure can support their business model, with significant reliance on Managed IT Services for cloud transformation.
• However, a closer look at the data we collected revealed disparities between what the youngest and oldest groups of employees believe about technology in the workplace.
• While an average of 67% of senior leaders said their organisations had plans to upgrade their IT infrastructure, noticeably more (77%) from the 18-24-year-old group said this than the mere 45% of the over-55s.

Cloud Technology

• Overall, our survey showed that 39% of UK businesses were fully committed to Cloud-based applications only, with over half (53%) of IT businesses and 46% of those working in HR & Personnel only using the Cloud.
• 36% of organisations were juggling the challenges of working with a combination of Cloud and on-premises systems.
• Of the 36% using both Cloud and on-site systems in combination, some were undoubtedly in the process of migrating to the Cloud, perhaps following a modular adoption process that has prioritised certain functions for earlier Cloud migration while others are left with older, on-premises systems for now.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

• Our survey revealed a significant 29% of UK organisations, and almost half (49%) of those working in London were already using AI tools in the workplace. Additionally, more than half (54%) of all respondents said their organisation is now investing in AI.
• Looking ahead, 36% of finance, spend & governance professionals say they believe that AI technology will be used to support critical business decisions by 2030, and within that time, it will replace at least 50% of manual work.
• On the other side, almost one in ten (9%) of all respondents said their organisation has no plans to introduce AI tools.
• Due to the lack of regulations, AI is a definite concern for leaders and more than two-thirds (67%) of those in the position of company president say they are still getting to grips with AI and working out how it might help their organisation, in contrast to an average of 28% for respondents across all levels.

Environment, Social & Governance (ESG)

• In our survey, 60% of organisations said they lack an ESG strategy with defined targets, despite increased regulatory pressure.
• 62% of businesses said their reason for prioritising ESG is to be compliant or improve the reputation of the business, and there doesn't seem to be a desire to actually live and breathe it.
• 79% told that meeting net zero targets is not a main driver for their ESG strategy
• This lack of authenticity is bound to be exposed at some time and may possibly be branded 'greenwashing'.
• With AI in the ascendent in 2023, it is interesting to note that 42% of organisations are investing in sustainability against 54% investing in AI. It remains to be seen whether AI may, in itself, be a driver and enabler of lower emissions and reduced carbon footprint for businesses.

Diversity, Equality & Inclusion (DE&I)

• More than half (55%) of all respondents in our survey told us their organisation has a clear DE&I strategy which is 'owned and driven by our HR Director/CPO', compared to 36% in 2022 who told us that their leadership was prioritising diversity and inclusion at all levels.
• Only one-third (33%) of organisations carry out gender and diversity pay gap reporting, which is essential for collating accurate data for benchmarking and measuring improvements.
• More than half (58%) of all respondents told us they have programmes running across their organisation dedicated to furthering inclusive practices and only 38% agree with the statement: 'We work hard to remove bias in our recruitment practices'.

Cybersecurity

• We identified that one-quarter (25%) ranked cyber security as the second biggest challenge for organisations in 2023.
• 90% told us they feel their digital systems are secure, or very secure, from cyber-attacks and just 9% said they feel less prepared than they were 12 months ago or are unprepared for a cyber-attack.
• One reason for people's increased confidence in the security of their systems may be the adoption of Cloud-based solutions that provide significantly more security than legacy, on-premises systems.
• Overall, 85% said they are more prepared than they were 12 months ago, compared to 80% in 2022.
• Professionals in some other sectors also felt cybersecurity was a greater challenge than the average 25%, with 32% of those working in Finance & Financial Services and 30% working in Law. At the other end of the scale, just 13% of those working in charities, membership & associations highlighted cybersecurity as a challenge, ranking it in ninth place.

In addition, the report also highlighted that senior leaders often exhibit high confidence in their organisation's technological and strategic capabilities. However, there is a noticeable difference in perceptions between leaders and less senior employees regarding digital strategy and AI use.

9th Annual Trends Report 2024/25 is on its way!!!

The insights from our 2023 Annual Trends Report provided a roadmap for navigating the future of business technology. As we have already moved to another year now, AI is still in the spotlight, offering opportunities for growth, efficiency, and innovation.

We are excited to see what our upcoming 2024/25 Trends Report will reveal and how it will guide our customers toward success in this ever-evolving landscape. Are you excited? Keep an eye out and pre-register for 9th Annual Trends Report to gain cutting-edge insights from industry experts.

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