Investment in AI now is vital to maintaining competitiveness in the future, according to a survey of senior decision makers working in IT by Feefo, which was published in April.

Furthermore, such professionals have an almost entirely positive view of the potential impact on the technology when it comes to customer engagement.

Two of the most prominent AI technologies being embraced by enterprise are chatbots and intelligent assistants. According to research by Spiceworks, published in April, a significant minority of businesses across North America and Europe are either already using or planning to use intelligent assistants or chatbots by 2019.

Perhaps more surprising is the providers that are seeing the widest adoption. While Microsoft’s Cortana – installed on all Windows 10 devices – has failed to garner much enthusiasm among consumers, in business it is the most popular product in this space.

When it comes to who is using chatbots or intelligent assistants, it is no surprise that IT departments are currently the biggest adopters, but it is clear that the technology is seeing growing support in other departments.

However, when it comes to the tasks currently being automated by these technologies, the range is already significant, with voice dictation leading but a host of administrative tasks also seeing considerable use.

Despite headline-grabbing revelations about the number of jobs set to be replaced by AI and automation, employees are not as concerned about the issue as might be thought. A Gallup poll of workers in the US, conducted between September and October of 2017 and published in February of this year, found that less than a quarter were very or somewhat worried about losing their jobs to automation, robots or AI, with the percentage even lower among white collar workers or those with higher education.

For the most part, professional software developers are optimistic about the potential of AI, which is good news for businesses hoping to focus more on the technology. However, there are also some concerns. In an exhaustive survey by leading online developer community Stack Overflow, published in March, developers were split over the biggest concerns around the technology, but expressed excitement over the potential for job automation.

However, despite the importance of industry leaders in the implementation of AI, developers believe they take primary responsibility for ensuring that AI’s impact is a positive one.

Despite concerns, however, developers are excited about the prospects of the technology.