The role of technologies in value creation is affecting budgets and investments
IT budgets remain an essential cornerstone to organizations around the world. This is because business success today correlates with technology competence, which is illustrated by the convergence of technology and business strategy. Therefore, it is not surprising that businesses are investing in a plethora of technologies to make their business operations more efficient.Cybersecurity, cloud services, and digital transformation remain among the leading IT priorities in 2023, according to IT business leaders globally. In the same year, the majority of IT professionals in North America and Europe expected their company’s IT budget to increase in 2024. Moreover, spending on data centers is also expected to increase to a record 235 billion U.S. dollars in 2024.
AI investments on the rise
Since the release of ChatGPT in late 2022, interest in artificial intelligence (AI) has increased dramatically worldwide. However, AI startup funding had already skyrocketed earlier, with a record 72 billion U.S. dollars invested in AI startups in 2021. In 2023, business leaders globally expected an increase in AI investments in the coming year. In the same year, the majority of AI investments worldwide came from venture capital firms (VCs), accounting for over 30 percent of AI investments globally. The San Francisco-based AI startup and OpenAI rival, Anthropic, had the largest funding among AI companies globally as of the third quarter of 2023.
