A new SolarWinds survey of over 1,000 global IT professionals reveals growing tension between organisations accelerating artificial intelligence adoption and IT teams’ readiness for such rapid change.
The research highlights concerns around trust, oversight, role disruption and increasing workplace pressure.
Over one-third of IT professionals surveyed anticipate that IT operations will become primarily or almost entirely automated within the next two to three years.
This demonstrates the pace at which organisations are transitioning towards automated environments and AI-assisted workflows. However, the transition presents significant challenges that teams must navigate.
Nearly half of respondents expressed concern about the quality and accuracy of AI systems. Approximately one-third worried about disruption to their own roles within the changing landscape. The survey found that the majority of IT workers across all functions report that AI has already made their positions more demanding, adding pressure to daily operations.
Barriers to implementation
Data privacy and security concerns represent the largest obstacle to AI adoption, cited by 43 per cent of respondents. Platform fragmentation follows as the second-largest challenge at 28 per cent, with 17 per cent identifying a lack of clear human oversight mechanisms.
Support & Governance
To successfully adapt to this shift, IT teams are requesting greater structure and support. Over half of respondents stated that clearer AI policies and guardrails would assist with implementation, whilst 50 per cent highlighted the importance of formal training programmes. These findings suggest organisations are moving rapidly but lack adequate frameworks for supporting their teams.
In expert commnent the Chief Product Officer at SolarWinds, Cullen Childress, commented, “Across industries, AI adoption has been uneven. There is clear pressure to secure growth through innovation, with AI positioned as the accelerator. However, speed alone can create more friction than progress, and many IT teams are stretched between innovation and accountability.”
Childress added that success depends on organisations treating AI as an operational discipline built on visibility, control and shared ownership rather than as a fast-moving experiment without proper governance.
This research demonstrates that whilst automation is advancing rapidly, many organisations are still figurding out how to implement these technologies in ways that support rather than further strain their teams.
The gap between adoption speed and team preparedness remains a critical challenge requiring attention to policy development, training and governance structures.
SolarWinds Image: ALLVISIONN
Source: Cyber Security Intelligence