The State of AI in the Enterprise 2023: How is AI Actually Affecting Jobs?
Discover AI’s impact on jobs in 2023 – surprising findings from Aberdeen’s latest study.
Derek E. Brink of Aberdeen Strategy & Research dives into the transformative world of AI and unveils surprising job impact data from Aberdeen’s latest study.
We continue to share selected findings from Aberdeen’s latest study on The State of AI in 2023. In my previous blog, I focused on the influence that AI technology tools and AI-based initiatives in the enterprise have on current investments. In this blog, let’s look at AI’s impact on people so far, at least.
How is AI affecting jobs? Here are some of the findings from Aberdeen’s new research, based on the responses from people involved in AI initiatives at about 350 organizations. Contrary to fears that AI will replace us all, at the moment, the overall headcount is increasing:
- A net +37% of all respondents increased headcount over the last 12 months
- A net +60% of all respondents anticipate that headcount will increase over the next 12 months.
- Just 17% of all respondents indicated a reduction in headcount over the last 12 months …
- … and just 3.5% attributed AI as the primary reason for headcount reduction
- Meanwhile, a significant percentage (ranging from 0% to 85%, with a median of 32.6%) of open job requisitions are listing AI or AI-adjacent (e.g., ML, data science) competencies as requirements of the position — see Figure 1
Figure 1: A significant percentage of open job requisitions are listing AI or AI-adjacent competencies (e.g., ML, data science) as requirements of the position
Source: The State of AI in the Enterprise 2023; Aberdeen, September 2023
See More: How AI Will Transform Career Progression
As a new Aberdeen infographic highlights, every organization’s journey to AI excellence differs. Aberdeen’s analysis of maturity grouping for AI infrastructure and AI workforce makes it clear that there are several paths to achieve high AI maturity in both dimensions:
- About 1 in 3 companies take a technology-first approach, allowing their employees to adapt as they build AI capabilities.
- In contrast, 15% take a people-first approach by preparing their workforce ahead of investments in solutions.
- However, more than 50% of respondents aim to achieve their AI goals by taking a balanced approach to their investments in both infrastructure and people.
How does your organization compare in terms of AI’s influence on hiring? Make your estimate for the percentage of open job requisitions that list AI-related competencies as requirements, and simply use that to “eyeball” where you fall on the research-based percentile curve in Figure 1.
Alternatively, Aberdeen has also developed an online “mini-assessment” tool — an interactive and slightly more fun way to eliminate the need to “eyeball” your results. As a bonus, it also provides you with a simple summary in PDF format that’s suitable for sharing with others.
Over the following four blogs of this series, I’ll be focusing more specifically on the state of AI in cybersecurity, including:
- Good news and ongoing challenges
- The current level of maturity for AI-related initiatives
- Leading use cases
- Leading solution categories
Hopefully, you’ll continue to find these helpful! Let us know what else you’re interested in.
How AI is transforming jobs and why specific skills are in demand? Let us know on Facebook, X, and LinkedIn. We’d love to hear from you!
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