Nearly half of CIOs now plan to deploy artificial intelligence

It's no surprise that artificial intelligence is catching on this year, but fully half of all CIOs now have plans to implement AI technologies in their organizations according to Gartner Inc. Gartner is hosting its annual Data and Analytics Summit in Grapevine, Texas this week, which has attracted over 3,000 IT and data executives and professionals to learn more about the potential and opportunities with AI. A recent study by Garner, the 2018 CIO Agenda Survey, found that while "meaningful artificial intelligence (AI) deployments are just beginning to take place … four percent of CIOs have implemented AI." But another 46 percent have developed plans to do so. Artificial intelligence, which is an umbrella term referring to nearly a dozen different technologies such as machine learning, deep learning or robotic process automation, seems to be top buzzword in IT this year, but there is a great deal of hype around the topic, according to Gartner. "Despite huge levels of interest in AI technologies, current implementations remain at quite low levels," said Whit Andrews, research vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner. "However, there is potential for strong growth as CIOs begin piloting AI programs through a combination of buy, build and outsource efforts."