Enterprise IT is awash in AI strategies, yet few are seeing meaningful results.
That’s the takeaway from DXC Technology’s study of nearly 2,500 business and IT leaders, which was published to coincide with the IT services giant’s December launch of its AdvisoryX AI-centric consulting unit.
More than three-quarters of respondents said AI was a board-level priority, while 94% acknowledged serious implementation challenges. The AI revolution has backing and buy-in, but little to show for it beyond pilot projects, the report suggests. As DXC noted, “experimentation doesn’t equal transformation.”
Implementation struggles represent a channel opportunity. Enterprises have models and frameworks but lack the people and partners to translate boardroom intent into functioning, governed, revenue-producing systems. Pressure, more than outcomes, is driving AI adoption, according to DXC.
Managed service providers, system integrators and similar channel partners can turn the chaos into clarity. DXC found that organizations face common AI pain points that don’t differ significantly from tech adoption issues partners have helped navigate over the years.
Difficulties integrating AI with legacy systems is one of the salient hurdles. Yet, the challenges extend beyond technical issues to a need for revamped business processes, DXC found.
A lack of AI leadership and strategy alignment is also slowing initiatives. Only 37% of respondents said they’ve addressed leadership issues. Nearly two-thirds acknowledged their organization struggles to secure executive approval for AI business cases and more than 9 in 10 faced implementation obstacles despite significant investments in the technology.
The channel can help bridge the gap between enterprise ambitions and revenue-generative outcomes, providing technical and organizational guidance, according to DXC, which highlighted four key focus areas:
- Strategic advisory: Two-thirds of executives can’t articulate an AI business case, according to DXC’s report. MSPs, SIs and consultants should step up help clients identify high-impact use case, including compliance automation, ESG reporting and R&D acceleration.
- Governance and compliance: Less than half of organizations have mature frameworks for governing agentic or semi-autonomous AI. Partners fluent in responsible AI design, auditability and model validation can position governance as an accelerator rather than a roadblock.
- Human-AI design. Four in 5 leaders expected AI to expand rather than reduce workforces and 87% are actively retraining staff for hybrid roles where AI handles scale and humans provide judgment, DXC found. That opens doors for partners who can integrate reskilling, workflow redesign and change management into AI strategy.
- Managed AI services. A majority — 83% — of enterprises are exploring managed services for AI operations. Whether it’s lifecycle management, model monitoring or cost governance, this demand aligns with what mature MSPs already offer.
DXC also identified a shift in AI buying priorities. When asked what matters most in evaluating AI solutions, respondents ranked data security, privacy and reliability ahead of ROI and cost savings.
Trust, rather than economics, is a gating factor for enterprise AI adoption. If AI initiatives are judged by trustworthiness rather than novelty, then partners versed in governance and compliance have a credibility advantage over AI labs chasing quick proofs of concept.
The race is on. Three-quarters of organizations are exploring partnerships for AI projects, according to the report. Nearly 4 in 5 said partners provide a better overall experience by assessing AI readiness, training employees, determining AI strategy and implementation approaches and developing custom models.
Organizations that lead the next 10 years will do so through three key actions, DXC said: elevating AI to executive strategy, designing for human-AI collaboration and building strategic partnerships.
“The competitive advantage window is open,” the report concludes. “Organizations that act decisively on these three imperatives will define the competitive landscape for the next decade.”
