Security Concerns Hinder Adoption of GenAI in Major Companies

PagerDuty, a provider of AIOps, announced the latest findings from its recent study which sheds light on the sentiments of technology executives at America's largest companies regarding the adoption of generative AI (GenAI). The findings reveal apprehension among executives, driven by concerns about security and moral implications associated with GenAI.

According to the study, which surveyed 100 Fortune 1000 executives reporting directly to a CIO with a minimum seniority of VP, 98 percent have instructed their teams to halt internal GenAI initiatives until their companies establish clear guidelines and policies. This cautious approach points to the concerns around future growth and the integration of GenAI into organizational workflows.

The study also found that despite the apprehension, almost half (46%) of respondents did say that they risk falling behind if they do not embrace GenAI swiftly, irrespective of the parameters in place.

When it comes to the nature of concerns surrounding GenAI adoption, respondents expressed anxiety regarding GenAI's potential impact on their organization's reputation, and a majority (51%) said they are troubled by copyright and legal exposure issues.

Despite the prevalent caution and the ongoing establishment of formal guidelines — only 29% of companies said they have established such guidelines, with 66% currently setting them up. Also of note, 64% of executives said that GenAI is already being utilized in most or all departments, with 98% of companies actively exploring use cases for GenAI.

“Tech executives are usually early adopters eager to deploy advanced technologies, but only if they can do it safely and within a company’s prescribed guidelines. Our survey shows there’s hesitation to experiment with GenAI until they can trust the results,” said Eric Johnson, chief information officer at PagerDuty. “Key to deploying GenAI at scale is providing these organizations with the right technology and a solid foundation of trust that helps them experiment in a safer environment than what exists today.”

“We want to help companies use GenAI with confidence and trust, to dig deeper and complete more complex tasks. With automation, you’re in a position to ‘roll back or fail forward’ as quickly as possible to minimize the impact for yourself and your customers.”