Today, innovation-driven businesses are investing significant resources in artificial intelligence (AI) systems to advance their AI maturity journey. According to IDC, worldwide spending on AI-centric systems is expected to surpass $300 billion by 2026, compared to $118 billion in 2022. In the past, AI systems have failed more frequently due to a lack of process maturity. About 60-80% of AI projects used to fail due to poor planning, lack of expertise, inadequate data management, or ethics and fairness issues. But, with every passing year, this number is improving.

There's no existing classification for what makes a company an "AI company." Unfortunately for some, AI is just a buzzword that gets tacked onto marketing materials to attract funding. Startups are leveraging AI, and while this has brought some truly innovative solutions to the market, it's also been the spawning ground of a lot of fake AI startups. One of the most telling surveys of 2019 was conducted by London-based MMC Ventures, where it was revealed that 40% of Europe's AI startups are not using any AI at all. This might seem to be a controversial finding, but for many of us who work with AI on a daily basis, it's not particularly surprising.