- Only 31% of companies say they have accurate AI software visibility – 36% for overall IT visibility
- AI is complex to track because it is a layer that sits across existing categories
- IT leaders are also under pressure to prove AI ROI
New data revealed in Flexera’s State of ITAM report has revealed that only 31% of companies have accurate visibility into their AI software – an area of IT spending that continues to grow as new use cases emerge and models evolve.
This comes as almost three in five (59%) reveal that wasted AI spend has increased over the past year, with increasingly complex software stacks blamed for a general decline in visibility.
Flexera found that complete visibility across IT assets has dropped to 36% – just shy of AI visibility – thanks to complex and intertwined SaaS, public cloud and hybrid environments.
IT stack visibility is getting worse, not better
According to the report, ITAM professionals now spend more of their time optimizing software (32%), but audit responses (22%) also take up a significant portion of their time.
As for AI, Flexera believes it is difficult to track because it does not occupy its own category. Instead, models, agents and platforms sit across multiple systems as an additional layer.
“What we’re seeing is a familiar pattern of rapid adoption followed by a battle for visibility and control as spending rises,” Chief Product Officer Becky Trevino wrote.
But ironically, Flexera also found that AI promises to automate some ITAM work, including processing software contracts, purchase orders, licenses and renewals.
With IT professionals under more pressure to prove AI ROI, the next steps go beyond identifying which AI tools are used to consider how they are used, how much they cost, and what data they access.
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