Future of Workplace Technology Report 2024
How technology advancements, artificial intelligence, and digital environments will transform business practices.
Employee expectations are shifting rapidly due to new technologies, modern workstyles, and economic uncertainties. Aberdeen Strategy & Research surveyed 304 decision-makers to understand how their global organizations are empowering their employees.
This report provides data-driven insights into how organizations of all sizes are using advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, and IT infrastructure to transform business operations to stay agile and competitive. The findings offer strategic guidance to help organizations navigate the challenges and capitalize on the opportunities presented by the ever-evolving digital landscape.
Key Takeaways
AI is driving significant operational improvements, particularly in areas like analytics, performance monitoring, and cybersecurity.
Investment in IT infrastructure is critical for supporting remote work and ensuring operational resilience.
Cybersecurity remains a top priority as businesses address the complexities of hybrid and remote work environments.
AI was the #1 most influential technology in the workplace, followed by collaboration tools and remote work support.
Over 60% of companies have experienced cybersecurity incidents affecting availability, data privacy, and compliance.
More than 1 in 5 respondents don’t feel their tech stack fully supports the needs of remote and hybrid employees.
Small businesses are lagging on AI advancements, with 41% saying they are unprepared for the potential shift toward AI-based automation.
Artificial Intelligence Statistics
Organizational adoption in AI is changing workplace culture
When asked about the biggest influences on their workplace culture, business leaders shared that AI is at the top of the list. Specifically, the use of AI for productivity is a major driver for cultural shifts (37%), followed by the use of collaboration tools (34%), remote work support (34%), and desire for professional development opportunities (32%).
The cultural shift comes as businesses formalize their use of AI tools. Many employees were first introduced to free tools that they casually experimented with in daily tasks, but between 2023 and 2024 this type of usage dropped from 32% to 19%. Now 80% of organizations have strategic or formal use of AI on the organizational level.
Casual AI Usage has Decreased in Favor of Dedicated Strategic Investment
Level of Organizational Involvement with AI
Casual
Individual use of free tools for ad hoc business needs 32% in 2023 vs 19% in 2024
Embedded
Machine learning or cognitive computing integrated into existing technologies 43% in 2023 vs 42% in 2024
Strategic Investment
AI or data science roles develop solutions or use commercial tech 26% in 2023 vs 38% in 2024
Hope in AI is giving way to game-changing initiatives
While AI tools were first met with a healthy mixture of hope and skepticism, business decision-makers are starting to change their outlook. The number of people uncertain of AI’s impact has reduced by 7%, and now 41% of decision-makers believe AI can significantly improve operations.
While some business leaders are still hesitant about AI, a majority of decision-makers (52%) are now supporting new AI initiatives. The key areas where these leaders see AI improving their workflows are analytics (49%), issue resolution (45%), performance monitoring (43%), and cybersecurity (42%).
Top Business Areas to be Impacted by AI
Respondents who Believe AI Adoption in Each Use Case Would Significantly Impact Their Business
The future of work relies on investment in skills
AI has solidified as a key facet of the future of work. Businesses have moved beyond testing new tools, and they are seriously considering how AI can best improve their operations. Any businesses that have not yet developed an AI strategy should make it a priority.
As businesses continue to examine use cases for AI and invest in AI-enabled tools, employees will likely need to acquire skills for working with AI, such as prompting, productivity tracking, compliance, and critical thinking, to adapt to this new AI-rich work environment. Organizations can make the most of their investment dollars by coordinating workforce planning around AI and upskilling employees to work effectively with advanced technology.
“With advanced analytics, faster problem-solving, and AI-trained employees, companies leveraging AI can set themselves up for success. They are better equipped to take action based on patterns in data, establish cycles of continuous improvement, and capitalize on growth opportunities.”
– Sarah Miller, Manager of Research Data & Operations
Cybersecurity and Compliance Statistics
Workplace policies are shaping investments
Cybersecurity has always been a high priority, but the way threats impact the modern workplace drive motivation to invest in robust protections. Sixty-two percent of respondents have experienced incidents affecting availability, like unplanned downtime or slowdown of back-end systems. These incidents especially impact businesses using virtual environments.
Before the pandemic, knowledge workers operated mostly or entirely on-site. While there has been a shift to return to the office, four out of five organizations currently support some degree of remote or hybrid workforce for the longer term. For IT and cybersecurity professionals, the top five drivers for cybersecurity investments are based on the complex computing environments required for these working models.
Top drivers of current and planned cybersecurity investments:
- Staffing: The capacity to hire qualified IT and cybersecurity professionals for in-house roles, as opposed to using service providers.
- Users: The expanded user populations with authorized access to enterprise resources, including contractors, business partners, third-party service providers, and in some cases customers.
- Devices: The fleet of personal user devices used for work, ranging from laptops to smartphones and browsers.
- Attack surface: The potential vectors in an expanded attack surface, from the diverse range of users, endpoints, and network connections to cloud services and applications.
- Social engineering: Attacks like phishing that are designed to trick authorized users into introducing ransomware, installing other malware, or giving up sensitive or regulated data.
Top protections for hybrid environments
As user environments evolve, threat actors’ tactics evolve with them. That’s why it’s most important to bolster foundational cybersecurity technologies that can adapt to new threats. Businesses need capabilities to govern, identify, protect, detect, respond, and recover, as opposed to chasing after the latest vulnerabilities or exploits.
Based on current rates of adoption, organizations are focusing on providing secure access to data from anywhere, on any device. The top investment is remote desktop technology (68%), followed by robust password policies (67%), data monitoring and loss prevention (67%), virtual private networks (65%), and data encryption (64%).
Security Tech that Reduces Remote risk is a Top Priority
Cybersecurity Technology Adoption
Endpoint detection and response (EDR) tops the list (37%), followed by zero-trust capabilities for endpoints (34%) and security awareness training for users (34%).
“In support of the realities of the modern workplace, organizations are placing a strong focus on their users. Correspondingly, traditional cybersecurity approaches are giving way to more advanced technologies like EDR and remote monitoring and management.”
– Derek Brink, VP & Research Fellow, Cybersecurity and IT GRC
Infrastructure and Network Management Statistics
Infrastructure improvement aims to support remote workers
Because flexible work policies have become more prevalent and more desirable for employees, companies are taking proactive steps to enhance remote work options. The most top action item is investing in IT infrastructure and IT service management (ITSM) solutions (29%). With a strong infrastructure to support remote work, businesses not only hope to enable productivity but also attract and retain new talent.
Modernization drives organization-wide benefits
While investing in IT infrastructure initiatives are partially motivated for employee satisfaction and productivity, the benefits extend beyond the workforce. Enhanced infrastructure leads to measurable improvements to operational efficiency, including improved security (50%), reduced expenses (46%), and decreased downtime (37%).
50% of businesses have seen security improvements
46% have reduced expenses
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37% have reduced downtime
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New technologies are being adopted to help IT modernize and deliver on the promise of new work models. Cloud and edge solutions lend themselves to a decentralized infrastructure, but many organizations are also turning to hybrid cloud to right-size their infrastructure, increase reliability, and control costs. IT teams are complementing these investments with remote IT service management (ITSM) tools to better support remote workforces.
“While there is certainly spending in cloud and remote IT technologies, further research from Aberdeen also shows that many businesses are increasing their spend on on-premises server and storage technologies. Part of the drive towards hybrid cloud is the unexpected costs and complexities that come from an over-reliance on public cloud systems.”
– Jim Rapoza, VP & Principal Analyst, IT
IT Services Statistics
Supporting employees with remote IT capabilities
To manage a less centralized IT infrastructure, remote ITSM tools are critical. These management solutions offer a wide range of capabilities that help IT teams handle devices, networks, helpdesk, workflows, and more remotely. The portion of businesses with each capability currently implemented ranges from 32% to 52%, while another 36% to 47% plan to implement them.
Businesses are Investing in Tech to Support Remote ITSM
Remote IT Technology Adoption
Practices of "Best-in-Class" businesses
High-performing companies act as a model for how remote ITSM tools can be utilized. These companies, referred to as “Best-in-Class”, perform in the top 20% of businesses based on indicators like customer satisfaction, employee engagement, and productivity.
Best-in-Class organizations are prioritizing greater control, visibility, and accessibility for remote ITSM to enable their success. In fact, 3 in 4 of these businesses have unified IT monitoring and management systems for all users and assets. Compared to all organizations, they are also 89% more likely to build IT workflows into remote technologies and 73% more likely to control access to company assets by all devices.
Greater Control, Visibility, and Accessibility for IT is Critical for Remote ITSM Success
Best-in-Class Remote IT Technology Adoption
Investments don’t stop with traditional ITSM solutions; Best-in-Class businesses are also more likely to adopt new technology like wearable devices, AI, and VR to better support remote workers. These top performers are over twice as likely to leverage real-time video assistance and 40% more likely to use AI to enhance ITSM workflows.
“Best-in-Class organizations invest in ITSM strategies that put them ahead of their peers. They realize the importance of adopting remote IT technology and the implementation of key service technologies, and this leads them to realize improved results like greater customer satisfaction and improved productivity overall.”
– James Glagola, Senior Analyst, Research Data & Operations
Small Business AI Statistics
Bridging the gap in AI adoption
Small businesses are not necessarily disinterested in a formalized approach to AI. There is a desire for innovation and a wide swath of applications, but the obstacle for small businesses is the need for resources, complex infrastructure, and internal know-how. There are three focus areas that can help small businesses overcome these hurdles and move forward on their AI-readiness journey.
The path forward for small businesses
While AI has promising potential in the workplace, small companies (100 employees or fewer) are overwhelmed by the expectation of AI’s involvement in everyday tasks. Forty-one percent of respondents at small companies view themselves as unprepared for this potential shift toward AI-based automation.
There is a large disparity between the maturity of AI use and company size. While 26% of large and mid-sized companies have made dedicated investments in AI infrastructure, skill sets, and homegrown AI training models, only 5% of small companies have made similar investments. Meanwhile, 65% of small companies still use AI casually as an ad hoc solution, while mid-size and large organizations have moved past casual use.
Make it a priority
___
While IT modernization is often associated with large enterprises, 52% of small companies are in some stage of updating their infrastructure. Small businesses have numerous opportunities to update legacy systems, and AI readiness can be improved with an updated infrastructure.
Strengthen your data pipeline
___
Examining the data lifecycle, from collection through usage, is critical for companies building out AI-based capabilities. Sixty-five percent of small companies report that their ability to integrate data from multiple sources is only “basic” or “intermediate,” but enhancing clarity, consistency, and fluidity in their data value chain will help small companies advance in their AI journey.
Map your customer-related AI use cases first
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While there are seemingly endless ways to deploy AI in a business setting, the rubber meets the road with practical line-of-business use cases. Small businesses are more likely to cite customer-related metrics when measuring productivity, and similarly, they lean toward customer use cases for the greatest impact.
“Very few companies consider themselves amply staffed and richly funded enough to fully take advantage of AI, and small businesses are no exception. Limited resources, however, should not prevent the proverbial ‘axe sharpening’ that can position a company for future success as its investment of time and resources in AI starts to ramp up.”
– Mike Lock, Managing Director of Aberdeen
Conclusion
As businesses navigate the complexities of the modern workplace, the integration of AI and advancements in technology are pivotal. The ability to adapt to remote work demands, enhance cybersecurity measures, and leverage AI for improved customer experience and workforce management will define organizational success. By investing in innovative solutions and addressing key challenges, companies can position themselves for future growth and resilience.
About This Report
Aberdeen Strategy & Research
Aberdeen Strategy & Research, a division of Spiceworks Ziff Davis, has over three decades of experience conducting independent, credible market research that helps illuminate market realities and inform business strategies. Our fact-based, unbiased, and outcome-centric research approach provides insights on technology, customer management, and business operations, to inspire critical thinking and ignite data-driven business actions. Contact Us for questions regarding this report or inquiries about our services.
Research Methodology
In March of 2024, Aberdeen Strategy & Research conducted a global, 10-minute online survey among 304 business professionals involved in workforce and technology infrastructure decision-making. The respondent demographics span multiple regions, job titles, and company types.
This asset is the result of primary research performed by Aberdeen and represents the best analysis available at the time of publication. Unless otherwise noted, the entire contents of this publication are copyrighted by Aberdeen and may not be reproduced, distributed, archived, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written consent by Aberdeen.
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