Generative AI surpasses cybersecurity in 2025 IT budgets, AWS survey finds

Generative AI will surpass cybersecurity in many corporate tech budgets this year —  with 45% of global IT leaders naming it their top spending priority for 2025, according to a new report commissioned by Amazon Web Services.

That finding from the inaugural AWS Generative AI Adoption Index, released Tuesday morning, “made me step back and think,” acknowledged Rahul Pathak, AWS VP of Data & AI Go-to-Market, in an interview about the survey results. 

Pathak said he interpreted the finding not as a sign that organizations view AI as more important than security, but as an indication of AI’s growing impact on business. Within AI projects, he noted, security is also a top concern, including data protection and responsible AI use.

The study, conducted by Access Partnership, is based on a global survey of 3,739 senior IT decision-makers across nine countries, including the U.S., U.K., Germany, Japan, and India. 

The study found that 90% of organizations are already using generative AI tools in some capacity, with nearly half moving beyond experimentation to full integration. 

“AI is rapidly, rapidly being adopted,” Pathak said. “The fact that nine out of 10 folks are looking at this actively and putting it into play — you can’t afford to wait around.”

Amazon’s cloud unit is heavily invested in AI technologies including its Bedrock platform for AI models. Asked about potential skepticism from the findings aligning conveniently with AWS’s business interests, Pathak emphasized the independence of the survey and the wide range of global respondents.

“It’s not us saying it — it’s nearly 4,000 IT leaders around the world,” he said. “If you don’t believe us, listen to them.”

More findings from the study:

• New leadership roles: 60% of organizations have already named a Chief AI Officer or similar role, with another 26% planning to do so by next year.
• Moving beyond testing: 44% of organizations have gone past pilot programs and are starting to use generative AI in real workflows.
• Focus on skills: More than half of organizations have launched training programs, and 92% plan to hire people with generative AI experience in 2025.
• Mixing off-the-shelf models and custom tools: Most companies are using existing AI models and building custom tools on top of them, rather than starting from scratch.
• Outside help: About two-thirds of organizations expect to bring in outside vendors to help roll out their AI tools.

Access the full study here.

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