Europe’s public sector is deploying AI faster than it can use it, a report finds
A new global study on autonomous AI, commissioned by Dell Technologies, highlights key challenges for Europe.
International Data Corporation (IDC), in partnership with Dell Technologies, has published the new world study to examine how European governments and civil society are approaching autonomous AI and agent and what will be required to implement the technology at scale.
To gather data for the report, IDC surveyed 258 government IT managers in multiple countries, including France, Germany and the UK. Responding organizations included national governments, military and defense organizations, federal, state and local government organizations, research institutes and private companies closely associated with government operations.
The findings are that, while leaders in the European public sector show a strong drive to accelerate modernization with agent AI, they also face a critical gap in the skills needed to implement this advanced technology. According to research, this creates a huge gap between ambition and performance.
About 70pc of European public sector IT leaders who contributed to the report explained that their employees cannot keep up with developing technologies, and more than 74pc believe that agent AI will accelerate the adoption of AI in government and public services.
“This IDC study confirms what we’re hearing from our public sector clients across Europe – the age of agency AI is here, but the biggest challenge is operational readiness,” said Nicole Jefferson, vice president of government affairs at Dell Technologies.
“Our role is to provide a simple button for governments, to deliver a seamless, secure and scalable AI infrastructure that closes the skills gap and gives them the confidence to embrace next-generation applications.”
A challenge and an opportunity
According to the research, there is a clear intention to advance the skills and the belief is accompanied by the investment plans in the near future. More than 50pc of donors have plans in place to allocate part of their budget to agency AI and 64pc have an investment strategy for independent AI technology within the next 18 months.
This is largely driven by the belief that the investment will deliver “expected benefits”, such as improved productivity (57pc) and improved productivity (51pc). However, there is also a strong belief that the rapid pressure for adoption brings with it major challenges for the performance of European organizations and their leaders.
According to the report, the skills gap was identified as the biggest risk when trying to use AI by almost 50pc of participating organisations, especially as shortages were found mainly in roles that are considered important. 69pc agreed struggling to hire cybersecurity professionals and 52pc can’t find the productive AI experts needed to manage and secure advanced systems.
“Agent AI is rapidly moving from concept to practical consideration for government and senior decision makers,” said Alan Webber, program vice president of national security, defense and intelligence at IDC.
“The survey shows strong momentum, with public sector leaders looking to private initiatives to help close skills gaps, reduce workforce stress and accelerate the adoption of AI. However, that momentum is conditional. Governments will only go so far if they trust the security, privacy, sovereignty and infrastructure foundations that support these initiatives.”
Shared desires, different paths
The report also suggested that its data shows a consensus on the need for “regulated collaboration” and that autonomous AI will need to be developed collaboratively. Almost 60pc of Europeans who responded to the survey agreed that public-private partnerships from the start are the most effective way forward; this is compared to 60pc of world leaders who feel the same way.
However, for this to be achieved, key obstacles to Europe’s success will need to be overcome – particularly barriers to data sharing (69pc) and a lack of clear legal frameworks (58pc) – the survey found.
The IDC and Dell Technologies report also revealed that in Europe, there is a shared desire but different approaches will be taken. Take, for example, Germany, where 44pc of civil society organizations plan to deploy artificial intelligence and agents, compared to 36pc. in France. German respondents also showed great confidence in the agency’s AI role in government AI procurement at 39pc, compared to only one quarter in France.
One-third of respondents based in France believe that insufficient funding for skills development and training is a major problem, compared to only 11pc in Germany, while almost half of German public sector organizations find staffing and recruitment restrictions to be a concern, compared to 38pc of participants based in France.
The report said, “As governments and businesses move from experimentation to limited use of AI, success depends on precise governance. Leaders must decide where data and models reside, how AI is governed and how accountability is maintained as laws, internal policies and operational demands change.”
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