IT professionals lack confidence in their organization’s readiness to deploy emerging AI technologies, according to a SolarWinds survey of nearly 700 enterprise technologists published last week. 

Less than half of respondents believe their company’s internal databases are ready for AI and more than one-third expressed concerns about data used to train large language models. 

Despite the wariness, organizations are racing to adopt the technology. Nearly two-thirds of companies have already invested $5 million or more in emerging AI capabilities and almost one-third have spent over $25 million on the technology, according to the report. 

IT pros are bullish on the potential of LLM-based technologies. As enterprises build complex hybrid cloud ecosystems, their tech teams have leaned on machine learning to automate IT processes, assist in anomaly detection and help nip technical glitches in the bud. 

But generative AI’s rapid advance has set off alarms, as IT practitioners assess the state of the data that animates LLMs. 

While nearly 90% of IT staff and leaders hold a positive opinion of AI, over half want more tangible proof of the technology’s benefits, the report said. Nearly half reported a negative experience with AI, mostly related to data privacy and security issues. 

More than one-third of businesses already use AI tools to ease IT operations, according to the survey. But security concerns remain the most significant adoption barrier for nearly one-quarter of IT professionals, according to the survey. The majority of respondents — 72% — said they’d welcome increased government regulation addressing security.