Marketers might be feasting on AI tools like kids running wild in a sweetshop but most of their tech counterparts are feeling sick over whether the data generated by their efforts is legal or not.
That is according to a new report by Splunk, a Cisco company and cybersecurity and observability specialist, which quizzed 500 UK tech chiefs from companies of more than 250 staff.
It found that over half (51%) are “not very” or only “somewhat” certain that the data they are using is compliant with UK GDPR. This is despite the fact that 88% of them are currently running or have already worked on an AI project.
And, 64% of tech decision makers are concerned that compliance is set to become even more challenging over the next three years with additional research from Splunk revealing that over a third (36%) of UK tech, engineering, and cybersecurity professionals have already experienced significant negative impacts due to general compliance failures.
Moreover, nearly a third (30%) claim that the EU AI Act, specifically, has become one of the biggest compliance challenges facing their team, despite not being fully implemented yet. Compliance with the EU AI Act will be key for UK companies looking to operate AI products internationally.
Nearly three-fifths (56%) claim AI is fuelling an “unmanageable explosion” in data volumes, with a similar proportion (60%) reporting challenges in processing and storing the increased amount of data AI creates.
A third (33%) cite AI as “one of the main causes for runaway data growth” within their organisation, while 89% report that the general data volumes their business deals with have increased by half or more in just three years, but one in three (33%) say they currently lack an effective data management strategy.
Splunk general manager and senior vice-president EMEA Petra Jenner said: “There’s no doubt that AI has huge potential to revolutionise workloads, scale human efforts, and become a core part of every business’s future roadmap. But it also brings potential complexity, especially when it comes to ensuring compliance with evolving regulations, and overseeing how data is governed and secured.
“On balance, the good news is that almost half (47%) of UK tech decision makers are ‘very certain’ that the data generated by their AI is compliant, suggesting many businesses have made confident strides in their compliance journey. But that still leaves more than half expressing some measure of doubt over whether the data created by their AI tools was compliant – suggesting some degree of business risk.
“Effective data management is key to building the visibility and control needed to support safe, scalable AI. The real differentiator won’t necessarily be how fast companies adopt AI, but how well they embed trust, discipline, and compliance into every layer of their data strategy.”
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