Survey Reveals Over 50% of AI Leaders Plan to Augment Hyperscaler AI Investments

Over 200 AI leaders cite interoperability, governance, and scalability as key challenges limiting AI impact

Survey Reveals Over 50% of AI Leaders Plan to Augment Hyperscaler AI Investments

DataRobot, the provider of AI that makes business sense, today released a global survey of AI leaders in partnership with CIO.com that found over 50% plan to augment hyperscaler and cloud service provider investments to address gaps limiting AI impact.

Despite significant investment in hyperscaler AI offerings, AI leaders face critical challenges due to lack of interoperability, limited governance and compliance capabilities, and high costs – all of which impact their ability to scale AI use cases across their organization.

Key findings include:

Limited scalability: Only 38% of respondents have adopted AI across their entire organization, highlighting challenges scaling AI with hyperscaler tooling.
Speed of delivery: 47% reported that hyperscaler AI tools fall short on project delivery speed. Just 22% reported that AI improved business decision-making.
Security gaps: 84% cited challenges validating the security of AI models using hyperscaler-specific tools with nearly half citing data privacy concerns. Data leaks, third-party security risks, and damage to brand reputation were prominent worries. Over 50% of respondents plan to invest in solutions to address AI security and regulatory compliance gaps.
Vendor lock-in: Over 60% of respondents cited vendor lock-in concerns, specific to cross-cloud compatibility. This prevents customers from using a multi-cloud cloud approach, or adding new AI techniques or LLMs to existing workflows.
High costs: 51% of AI leaders who have invested in hyperscaler tools for more than three years – and 43% of all respondents – expressed concerns over the high costs of maintaining AI projects.

“CIOs today face two difficult options: build AI from scratch, or buy a point solution that doesn’t quite fit their business needs and hinders impact,” said Venky Veeraraghavan, Chief Product Officer, DataRobot. “At DataRobot, we believe in integrated AI solutions that hold down costs, provide robust security, and ensure compliance while improving productivity and collaboration. As the ISV of choice for CVS, BMW Group, and the U.S. Army — and with deep experience working hand-in-hand with cloud providers — DataRobot partners with CIOs and AI leaders across industries to infuse AI into their business processes and rapidly accelerate AI initiatives at scale.”

The DataRobot enterprise AI suite offers a new way for organizations to deliver AI use cases effectively and efficiently - while augmenting existing tools, infrastructure, processes and data models. By providing customizable AI applications and agentic flows, an open architecture, and pre-built AI pipelines and orchestration for governance and security, DataRobot accelerates and scales AI impact while ensuring compliance — enabling users to develop and deploy AI up to 83% faster than traditional methods and reduce costs by up to 80%.

To download the full report, visit https://www.datarobot.com/resources/what-ai-tools-arent-delivering-for-ai-leaders/.

Methodology
This research, conducted via an online questionnaire from October 1–16, 2024, surveyed 209 senior decision-makers in the U.S. and UKI. Respondents included CIOs, CTOs, and Directors or above in AI/ML or Data/Analytics roles, representing enterprises with an average size of 5,472 employees. The survey aimed to better understand how enterprises are leveraging hyperscaler AI investments, the challenges they encounter, and the solutions they are exploring to enhance their AI strategies. The 21-question survey focused on measurable outcomes, risk considerations, and shifting priorities as IT leaders work to align with business goals and build for the future.

About DataRobot
DataRobot delivers AI that maximizes impact and minimizes business risk. Our platform and applications integrate into core business processes so teams can develop, deliver, and govern AI at scale. DataRobot empowers practitioners to deliver predictive and generative AI, and enables leaders to secure their AI assets. Organizations worldwide rely on DataRobot for AI that makes sense for their business — today and in the future. For more information, visit our website and connect with us on LinkedIn.