IT decision-makers prioritizing investment in AI over cyber security, finds report
Artificial intelligence (AI) is commanding such interest that IT decision-makers in Canada are now prioritising AI investment over cybersecurity spending, according to a recent report by Amazon.
In particular, generative AI (GenAI) is the leading priority for IT budgets in 2025, with 42% of Canadian companies ranking it ahead of cybersecurity (34%).
This enthusiasm for AI has led to a major shift in leadership structures: More than half (52%) of employers have already appointed a Chief AI Officer (CAIO), and a further 23% plan to do so by 2026.
“Generative AI is creating a new class of C-suites who will drive change in organisations,” says Amazon. “As generative AI becomes an integral part of the workplace, organisations are creating new C-suite positions dedicated specifically to AI strategy to stay competitive and meet the growing demand for AI leadership.”
Employers’ increasing use of AI has introduced new cybersecurity threats for many. Overall, 80% of Canadian organisations experienced AI-related incidents in the past year, according to a previous Cisco report.
Despite the focus on AI, few employers (11%) of employers have a change management strategy in place, according to Amazon’s survey of 424 Canadian IT decision-makers.
And while the majority of companies will have such a strategy in place by 2026, about a third (32%) of organisations will still lack the same strategy by the end of next year.
This is the case even though most AI experiments have failed. Currently, more than 85% of companies are running experiments with the technology, and nearly 90% either already have guidelines for responsible generative AI use or will develop them in 2025.
In 2024, Canadian organisations ran an average of 35 GenAI experiments, with just 14 of those reaching end users.
While 4 in 10 organisations have successfully advanced beyond the proof-of-concept stage, the report identifies a shortage of skilled GenAI professionals as a major barrier to full-scale implementation.
Despite the continued popularity of AI among Canadians CEOs, few have been able to adopt the technology throughout their organisation, according to a previous IBM report.
To address this, 87% will hire GenAI talent, with 15% planning to do it extensively, notes Amazon.
Also, 50% of organisations have a GenAI training plan today, and another 18% will develop one by the end of 2025.
“Generative AI is set to reshape Canada’s business landscape, with organizations seeing investment in generative AI tools as a priority,” says Amazon in its Generative AI Adoption Index. “The rise of CAIOs marks a shift towards dedicated AI leadership, as organizations actively explore and implement generative AI. However, overcoming the talent shortage will be crucial for large-scale deployment.
“To maximize long-term value, organizations should ensure strategic oversight at the highest levels, prioritize workforce preparedness, and adopt scalable AI solutions that seamlessly fit into existing workflows.”
Less than three years after the debut of the GenAI tool ChatGPT, most employers appear ready to embrace the next evolution of AI: Agentic AI, according to a recent study from KPMG.
