Australian businesses face infrastructure challenges with Gen AI

New research from Console Connect, a global Network-as-a-Service provider, has revealed that businesses hurrying to adopt generative AI tools will likely face prolonged challenges with their existing infrastructure. The findings stem from a comprehensive survey involving Chief Technology Officers (CTOs) and senior IT leaders across the UK, US, Australia, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

The survey's results indicate greater apprehension among Australian business leaders and CTOs compared to their global counterparts. About 87% of Australian respondents believe the swift adoption of generative AI (Gen AI) could have long-term impacts on their technology infrastructure planning. This is notably higher than the global figure of 76%.

Australian organisations appear less prepared for the implementation of Gen AI than those in other markets. A significant 86% of Australian business leaders acknowledge that their network infrastructure lacks the capacity to fully embrace Gen AI, despite 95% having it on their strategic roadmap. Globally, 69% share the sentiment of inadequate infrastructure capacity, with 88% planning to integrate Gen AI into their technologies. Additionally, 88% of Australian IT teams feel increased pressure to adopt Gen AI, compared to 76% globally.

The research highlights that the large volumes of data generated by Gen AI and the necessity to transfer this data between private and public clouds are beginning to add more cost and complexity to enterprise networks. As companies move towards hybrid and multi-cloud architectures to support generative AI, it becomes essential to reassess their cloud access methodologies.

Paul Gampe, CTO of Console Connect, remarked on the unprecedented demands placed on networks by the rapid advancement of generative AI. "The rapid development of generative AI creates a demand on networks that we have not seen before," Gampe said. "As CTOs and senior IT leaders adopt Gen AI tools within their organisation, they need to consider the short and long-term implications of moving larger volumes of sensitive data to and between private and public clouds."

The survey points out that security remains a significant concern for organisations adopting generative AI. Security fears are heightened in Australia, where 90% of respondents worry that Gen AI adoption will expose their networks to cyberattacks or data breaches, compared to 71% globally. Cybersecurity risks and a lack of IT skills and expertise to support Gen AI are seen as primary barriers to its adoption.

Gampe emphasised the criticality of secure connections for deploying mission-critical AI applications. "These survey results demonstrate that when it comes to deploying mission-critical AI applications, businesses are growing increasingly concerned about the need to be securely connected, and that the public internet is no longer suitable for handling many of these applications and workloads," he stated. "Automation and the move to Network-as-a-Service present a way for businesses to break away from traditional network infrastructure and the public internet, and instead utilise automated, private and secure network connections to the cloud that can be dynamically adapted to meet the needs of generative AI."