AI has become the key priority for IT and customer experience (CX) leaders dealing with the future of work and the changing workplace over the next six years.
That’s according to 8x8’s Future of Work: 20230 Vision Report, which surveyed the opinions of over 400 IT and CX leaders from organisations worldwide.
It looked at the projected makeup of the global workforce in 2030, organisations’ technological priorities between now and then, and the current and future challenges they may face.
Jamie Snaddon, EMEA managing director at 8x8, said, “Two years after the previous report, we can see distinct shifts in attitudes as AI has exploded. Across regions priorities and concerns vary too. The UK is leading the way on single-vendor cloud environments and is the most prepared for the multifaceted and complex challenges the future of work presents. It is, however, the most pessimistic about AI replacing human jobs.”
According to the report, in the U.K., AI is the joint first tech priority (65 per cent), alongside cloud communications (65 per cent). This is in stark contrast to the priorities in the U.S., where cloud communications is seventh (37 per cent).
When it comes to the future of CX employee experience (EX), UK leaders rank AI (88 per cent), big data (85 per cent) and cloud communications (82 per cent) as the most impactful. U.K. leaders are also the most cynical about AI taking human jobs. Sixty-eight per cent believe AI will take more jobs than it creates and only 20 per cent think AI will be a net job creator. The global average was 57 per cent and 27 per cent respectively.
Elsewhere, only 12 per cent of U.K. organisations’ communications and contact centres remain on-premises. Two years ago, the global average is over two-fifths (42 per cent).
The U.K. is also leading the way in adopting single-vendor cloud-only environments. Twenty-four per cent of firms have fully migrated and consolidated, whereas the global average is 15 per cent. But almost two-fifths globally (39 per cent) say they plan to soon follow the U.K.’s lead.
Sixty-four per cent of U.K. IT and CX leaders also believe that by 2030, the average number of days a full-time employee will need to work is either three (33 per cent) or four (31 per cent). Only 20 per cent see a continuation of the current five-day week.
According to the findings, hybrid working will continue to be the norm (68 per cent), and in this environment, U.K. leaders expect video meetings (66 per cent) to be the number one communication tool they’ll use – as do all other regions (69 per cent). The U.K., however, places the use of virtual reality (61 per cent) much higher than other regions (50 per cent).
Globally, IT leaders’ top three challenges and their preparedness for them are cybersecurity (68 per cent), digital transformation (60 per cent), and digital disruption (60 per cent). For each, the U.K. is 10 per cent above the average for preparedness.
The U.K. is also above the average for preparedness for the top three CX leaders’ challenges, which are retaining talent (65 per cent), adapting to customer expectations (75 per cent), and reducing operational costs (62 per cent). For all three, the global average is 60 per cent.
Demonstrating its preparedness, 78 per cent of business leaders report that they have a defined strategy in place for the future of work. This is much higher compared to North America, where 67 per cent of U.S. and only 48 per cent of Canadian business leaders have a defined future of work strategy in place.