According to new research from data management platform Qlik, 11% of businesses in the U.K. have over 50 AI projects stuck in the planning phase. This could be due to the fact that the technology is not able to provide value in these cases. An AI strategist claims that many U.K. businesses are struggling to get their AI projects off the ground because the technology is simply not applicable. The research also found that 20% of businesses have had up to 50 projects progress to planning or beyond, but then had to pause or cancel them.
James Fisher, Qlik’s chief strategy officer, explains that while AI has the potential to impact nearly every industry and department, it is not universally applicable. He says, “Some projects fail because of infrastructure and data issues, but in other cases, AI is simply not the right tool for the job. It’s essential for businesses to understand the problem they are trying to solve and to apply AI where it can bring the most value.”
This aligns with previous research from Gartner, which predicts that at least 30% of generative AI projects will be abandoned after the proof-of-concept stage by the end of 2025. The biggest reason for AI project failures, according to the Qlik research, is data governance challenges. Fisher explains that without a solid data strategy, AI models will struggle to deliver meaningful insights. Incorrectly implementing a strategy can also have disastrous consequences, such as AI-generated code causing outages.
The study also found that 41% of U.K. senior managers lack trust in AI, which could be related to high-profile failures in recent years. However, there are areas where AI has proven to be useful, such as supply chain optimization, fraud detection, and personalized marketing. Fisher notes that these are use cases where AI models are fed high-quality data, aligned with clear business outcomes, and can produce actionable insights. It is important for businesses to carefully consider the problem they are trying to solve and ensure that AI is the right tool for the job.
