Despite that, 98 per cent of businesses reported an urgency to deploy AI over the past year, creating a stark gap between urgency and readiness. That urgency is due to 85 per cent of leaders stating that they only have 18 months to demonstrate ROI from AI.

The findings were revealed in the Cisco AI Readiness Index, surveying 7,985 senior business leaders with responsibility for AI integration and deployment at organisations across 30 markets with over 500 employees.

Jeetu Patel, Chief Product Officer at Cisco, said: “Eventually there will be only two kinds of companies: those that are AI companies, and those that are irrelevant. AI is making us rethink power requirements, compute needs, high-performance connectivity needs inside and between data centres, data requirements, security and more.”

Almost one-third (32 per cent) of leaders felt they had high data readiness to deploy and maximise AI technologies, while 80 per cent reported inconsistencies or shortcomings in the pre-processing and cleaning of data for AI projects.

From a talent perspective, the survey found a clear lack of skilled professionals to drive AI indicatives, with only 31 per cent claiming their talent is at a high state of readiness for AI.

While 24 per cent believed their business is under-resourced when it comes to in-house talent, and 24 per cent also stated that there is not enough talent with the necessary skillsets available within their sector to address the growing demand for AI.

Sheila Flavell, COO of FDM Group, commented: "As generative AI evolves, it is augmenting many day-to-day tasks for staff and creating new opportunities for both businesses and employees. However, the true potential of AI can only be truly leveraged if companies prioritise high-impact skills training. It is equally important to equip employees with the knowledge to work alongside AI, whether in data analytics, AI ethics, or algorithm training.

Generative AI can significantly boost productivity, and have a positive impact on young people entering the workforce. However, in order to effectively upskill workers in these areas, businesses must prioritise experiential learning, giving employees the hands-on experience necessary to apply new technologies that are used in live workplaces. With AI set to become a 'co-thinker,' businesses that invest in upskilling will be better positioned to drive innovation and adapt to the evolving AI-powered world.