Covering Disruptive Technology Powering Business in The Digital Age

Written By: Sandie Overtveld, Senior Vice President, Asia-Pacific and Japan and Middle East and Africa, Freshworks

Sandie Overtveld, Senior Vice President, Asia-Pacific and Japan and Middle East and Africa, Freshworks

In an era of rapid technological advancement, Artificial Intelligence (AI) stands out as a beacon of transformative power, especially for overworked IT staff. This transformation is echoed by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, emphasising the urgency for Malaysia to master this innovation swiftly to keep pace with global advancements.

However, in PwC’s 27th Annual Global CEO Survey (Malaysia), a startling revelation was made: half of Malaysian CEOs were yet to integrate GenAI across their companies as of January. Moreover, nearly half (43%) believe their organisations may not be economically viable in a decade if they continue down their current technological path.

The stakes are high in 2024, as the same report also finds that 70% of Malaysian CEOs were concerned about a skills shortage, with a significant 64% of them citing a lack of technological competencies. There’s a critical need for Malaysian organisations to embrace emerging technologies, such as AI, in order to compete globally.

The IT Perspective on AI

IT teams around the world understand the dual nature of AI—its vast potential and its limitations. According to a comprehensive survey by Freshworks, which included responses from 2,000 IT professionals, a whopping 95% acknowledged the benefits of employees using GenAI in the workplace.

This technology automates mundane tasks, allowing staff to concentrate on more strategic and impactful activities. According to the survey, 86% of IT professionals report that their organisations are already leveraging the capabilities of GenAI, with 51% stating their companies actively advocate its use.

Interestingly, the younger generations are playing a critical role in AI adoption within IT. Eight out of ten (81%) Millennials and 75% of Gen Z IT professionals use AI to support their workloads, compared to 57% of Gen X and 27% of Baby Boomers.

Meanwhile, the rise and rise of generative AI has resulted in roughly 71% of IT workers using AI tools to enhance personal productivity, with 39% finding that these tools significantly free up time to focus on higher-level tasks.

Addressing the Bloat

There’s an immense opportunity for AI within organisations’ IT departments struggling with software bloat, especially with the growing number of business software apps and systems that seem to expand in complexity every year and drag down productivity, budgets, and morale.

Maintaining an ever-expanding tech stack is a formidable task; the same Freshworks report notes a 71% increase in the number of apps available to IT teams since 2022, yet these teams utilise less than a third of the available technology. Many of these apps sit unused because they fail to provide tangible value, wasting resources and money.

AI has profound financial ramifications within the IT sector. Globally, IT workers believe that utilising AI to tackle repetitive jobs might save them more than five hours per week. For example, in the United States, this corresponds to an annual savings of nearly USD $15,122 per IT worker, or an astounding total of more than USD $183 billion throughout the IT sector.

“AI has profound financial ramifications within the IT sector. Globally, IT workers believe that utilising AI to tackle repetitive jobs might save them more than five hours per week. For example, in the United States, this corresponds to an annual savings of nearly USD $15,122 per IT worker, or an astounding total of more than USD $183 billion throughout the IT sector.”

This indicates not only cost savings, but also the potential for AI to drive strategic organisational transformations by redirecting human talent to more innovative endeavours.

Caution Amidst Rapid Adoption

As with any new technology, AI introduces new risks. A whopping 87% of IT professionals told Freshworks they were concerned about employees using GenAI, with 73% citing potential privacy issues and 59% concerned about rude or inaccurate communications.

Despite the potential productivity gains that AI promises, some IT workers expressed reticence to Freshworks about full adoption. 34% of IT pros said they do not want AI to help them complete their workload, even though 45% estimate that this game-changing tech could easily handle half of their overall duties.

The Crucial Role of Leadership

Addressing these issues hinges on decisive and proactive leadership, not least where cyber risks are concerned. In an era where AI tools enhance capabilities to penetrate corporate defences, it is crucial for leaders not to underestimate the possibility that they are playing catch-up with threat actors. A two-pronged strategy is critical here.

The first element of this approach is to continuously train employees to be aware. Humans are always my first and best lines of defence. That must be followed up with investment in enterprise-grade security products that will soon emerge to solve for the post-generative-AI era.

However, it is not just about throwing money at the latest, shiniest toys. Spending must be deliberate and considered. Chiefly, look for tools that come equipped with powerful automation capabilities and an intuitive interface to help organisations swiftly turn those insights into data-driven decisions.

As AI continues to reshape the world of IT and beyond, utilising this powerful technology hinges on empowering people to use these tools seamlessly. That requires strategic planning on the part of Malaysian organisations, who can then leverage AI to deliver comprehensive experiences at scale for customers, employees, business users, and developers by building on pillars that matter to these key stakeholders.

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