01732 759725 magazine 29 AI also more likely to have planned additional investment, with 30% intending to further review cybersecurity processes and best practices, and 25% planning new technology investments, compared to an average of 15% and 16% across other surveyed countries. Dan Middleton, Veeam Regional Vice President UK&I, said: “Given their readiness to invest and improve, it’s unsurprising that 90% of UK IT decision-makers feel confident in their ability to comply with regulatory requirements – the highest confidence in EMEA. This is good news ahead of the upcoming Cyber Security and Resilience Bill. While the details are yet to be released, any moves UK businesses make now to enhance their cyber and data resilience will benefit them when this regulation comes into force. This includes the planned investment by over one-third (36%) of UK respondents in upskilling existing employees, which will help tackle the growing skills gap, an issue putting a third (30%) of UK businesses under more pressure than any other common IT challenge.” https://www.veeam.com Other findings 90% of EMEA businesses have experienced at least one security incident that the NIS2 directive could have prevented in the past 12 months, 65% of which were categorised as ‘highly critical’. 74% of respondents see NIS2 as beneficial, but 57% doubt it will have a substantial impact on the EU’s overall cybersecurity posture. Of these, 42% blame inadequate consequences of noncompliance causing widespread apathy towards the directive, 35% say it is not sufficiently comprehensive, 34% believe compliance won’t guarantee security and 25% say it overlaps with existing regulations. Other barriers are lack of focus on NIS2 compliance (20%), tight timelines (19%), the cybersecurity skills shortage (19%), directive complexity (19%) and organisational silos (19%). AI investment must deliver ROI or be cut Four out five Chief Financial Officers plan to increase their AI investment over the next 18 months, but half say they will cut AI spending if it doesn’t demonstrate measurable ROI within a year, reveals a survey of 400 finance leaders commissioned by AP automation firm Basware. According to Basware’s From AI to ROI report, while CFOs recognise the value of AI for transforming administrative processes (cited as a staff priority by 70% of CFOs) and for enabling their workforce to focus on more strategic activities (cited by 75%), many just ‘don’t know where to start’. It states that the biggest barriers to finance transformation are change management and an unclear AI strategy; 40% of finance leaders say their organisation lacks change management capabilities, while 31% lack a clear strategic vision for AI within the finance function. This, together with macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties, is preventing 41% of finance leaders from prioritising AI investment. Perttu Nihti, Chief Product Officer at Basware, believes we are at the AI tipping point and that focusing on high-value wins that demonstrate quantifiable ROI quickly will help justify investment across an organisation. He said: “AI-powered automation can help to reduce hours and relieve pressure. But the success of AI investment hangs on knowing where to start and proving impact.” Basware recommends Accounts Payable as a good starting point, where AI’s ability to reduce errors, detect fraud faster, lower operational costs and improve regulatory compliance can deliver impressive ROI. https://www.basware.com/ en/resources/from-ai-to-roi-cfosand-the-fast-track-to-value AI projects failing to progress New reports highlight difficulties of moving beyond most basic use AI cases • A new study from sales CRM specialist Pipedrive suggests that many organisations are struggling to move beyond the most basic level of AI adoption. Its State of AI in Sales Report reveals that while 75% of companies use AI-powered tools to create content, and 52% use them to summarise content, very many do not move beyond these initial use cases. Nearly half (47%) of current AI users say they have no immediate plans to further integrate AI into their workflows. www.pipedrive.com • Some of the failings identified in Pipedrive’s report are also evident in the Avanade Trendlines: AI Value Report 2025 based on the insights of 4,100 business and IT decision-makers in mid-market businesses with revenues of $500 million to $5 billion. Most respondents are positive about AI – 85% are worried about losing ground to competitors without rapid AI adoption and 53% plan to increase AI budgets by up to 25%. Even so, nearly half are stuck at the business case (48%) or proof of concept (44%) stage. Three quarters (76%) say their progress with AI is limited by poor data quality and governance. With 94% citing sensitive data protection as critical, 44% are planning to implement new data platforms and 41% are setting governance standards. www.avanade.com Discover more at Basware.com From AI to ROI CFOs and the Fast Track to Value This report was produced by Under Embargo
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