That there is an AI race amongst companies and nations is no secret. It is also no secret that whosoever; a company, group of companies, or nation, wins the race, will lead the world for quite some time. It can also be more than one nation. The fact of the matter is that it will still take some time for the air to clear, but the indications have been loud and clear since the release of ChatGPT, or even much before, given the resources being invested by companies and nations. Of late, at least one visible challenger has hit the race and we can visibly see the AI innovation race intensifying.
The wherewithal to create products and services at the cutting edge of AI, is the threshold the winners are supposed to reach. The early leads, the fast adopters and challengers are all in the ring. This would be by the most fascinating race mankind has ever witnessed. The NetApp’s 2025 AI Space Race Report, states that 81% of the global organisations are piloting or scaling AI and 88% of the organisations consider themselves ready for transformation. Then what will decide the eventual winner? Most likely the regional disparities and internal misalignments would decide the eventual winner.
The report is based on a survey of 800 CEOs and IT leaders across the US, China, UK and India. Ambitions all have but execution is the challenge. On this front the US was found to be the most synchronised of the lot with 86% of IT executives and 77% of the CEOs reported active AI deployment. China sees a clear cut disconnect. Around 92% of the CEOs claimed active AI initiatives but only 74% of counterparts agreed with them. If this is the stage at the survey level, a deep dive can bring forth further discrepancies. 68% of Chinese CEOs feel they are AI ready but only 58% of IT leaders felt the same. This divergence can impact execution more so in areas that are prioritising speed over architecture.
UK and India though behind have stronger alignment between leadership and tech functions. The report reveals intelligent data infrastructure as a critical determinant to AI success. US, UK, India find integration of core systems as crucial, China prioritises scalability, 35% cited so 11% above global average. Russel Fishman of NetApp said, “Winning organisations will be those that invest in secure, scalable data architecture that removes friction from AI deployment.” Though there is widespread optimism, why are the global leaders concerned? Around 79% of them feel that weak data and cloud strategies could lead to AI failures. It could end up in anything between broken models to security breaches.
WHAT INDIVIDUAL COMPANIES DECIDE WILL FINALLY WILL BE THE FATE OF AI, NATIONAL STRATEGIES AND POLICY WILL REMAIN ON THE SIDELINES.
Sanjay Sahay
Have a nice evening.