Businesses globally are increasingly embracing agentic AI, significantly enhancing their capabilities to deliver value quickly by leveraging digital labour across various lines of business. A report released by MuleSoft and Deloitte Digital, titled the 2025 Connectivity Benchmark Report, reveals that an overwhelming 93% of IT leaders intend to introduce autonomous AI agents within the next two years, with nearly half of them having already implemented such technology.
This report, which encompasses insights from 1,050 IT leaders worldwide, indicates the challenges many enterprises face with data integration. Currently, respondents report using an average of 897 applications, with 45% indicating they utilise more than 1,000 applications. This fragmentation hinders IT teams from creating a unified experience. The report identifies that only 29% of enterprise applications are integrated, which restricts effective information sharing across businesses.
The growing push towards AI integration is accompanied by an anticipated 86% increase in IT workloads over the next year, as IT leaders are tasked with not only maintaining existing systems but also governing enterprise-wide automations. Furthermore, 66% of respondents noted that they still do not provide an integrated user experience across their various channels, despite the rise in enterprise-wide automation.
Integration challenges persist as a prominent obstacle to the effective implementation of AI agents. Almost 95% of IT leaders identified integration as a significant hurdle, although APIs are seen as a potential facilitator in overcoming these obstacles. The report highlights that 55% of IT leaders believe that APIs have positively impacted their IT infrastructure, while 45% acknowledge their role in enhancing user experiences.
The report outlines major takeaways crucial for Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and IT leaders, including the expectation that IT budgets will grow by 85% in 2025, reflecting the increasing demand for AI. Additionally, it notes that 25% of IT budgets are being allocated to data infrastructure and management, contrasting sharply with just 5% dedicated to AI itself.
Anticipated increases in workload will require IT teams to deliver an average of 18% more projects, which is leading to expectations of a 61.9% rise in staffing budgets. Moreover, the report states that the percentage of projects not delivered on time has climbed to 29%, indicating a potential challenge as demand increases.
Integration remains a central concern, with 83% of organisations highlighting it as a major barrier to modernising legacy systems. Moreover, the struggle to provide seamless end-user experiences is underscored by the fact that 97% of IT leaders report difficulties in this area, primarily due to disconnected data.
The need for improved integration is further emphasized, with 71% of customer engagements occurring in a digital format, making the seamless integration of applications paramount for success. Most organisations (74%) contend with overly interdependent IT systems, exacerbated by a lack of data mobility as a leading challenge.
In terms of automation, central IT teams govern 70% of automation initiatives, with a striking 98% of IT leaders identifying a need for enhanced automation within their organisations. More than half (65%) of organisations have initiated strategies to empower non-technical users through low-code and no-code solutions.
The report reflects a landscape where grounded strategies for integrating AI and automation are essential for fostering productivity and enhancing user experience, all while addressing the critical challenges posed by legacy systems and entrenched data silos.
Source: Noah Wire Services