Midsize companies expect AI gains, but integration woes curb progress
Midsize companies expect AI gains, but integration woes curb progress
https://www.ciodive.com/news/midsize-AI-budgets-software-engineering/822921/
Publish Date: 2026-06-15 14:22:00
Source Domain: www.ciodive.com
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Dive Brief:
- Midsized businesses are expecting a boost in productivity from the deployment of AI tools, according to a Netrio report published Monday. More than 70% of 410 midmarket IT leaders surveyed by Censuswide in April said the technology will particularly benefit IT operations and service desks.
- However, midsized businesses still face barriers to AI development, with security, privacy and compliance concerns among the most commonly cited obstacles, identified by nearly 1 in 5 respondents. IT leaders also listed data readiness and integration complexity as key barriers.
- “AI has moved from experimentation to execution in the midmarket, but execution is where the real challenges begin,” Al Calabrese, VP of AI services at Netrio, said in the release accompanying the report. “Companies are investing in AI but are struggling with how to get real returns from it.”
Dive Insight
AI adoption and ambitions are running high, with 82% of respondents saying they’ve already rolled out the technology in production. Yet Netrio’s report highlighted a disconnect between the momentum and the operational maturity needed to sustain it, with just 26% saying they’ve scaled and governed AI across operations.
Alongside IT operations, software development and cybersecurity, emerged as areas where leaders expect the most impact, reflecting growing confidence in AI’s ability to automate routine tasks and lift workforce productivity.
As the power of more advanced AI models come into view, cybersecurity worries are lingering.
Nearly three-quarters of executives reported either a confirmed AI-related security incident or a near miss over the past year. On the matter of…
