How many executives say a lack of AI skills is holding their business back?

86% of C-suite executives say a shortage of AI-proficient employees is already holding back their goals. The figure comes from an ADAPTOVATE-commissioned Wakefield Research survey of 300 executives across sectors in the US and Canada. It suggests the main constraint on AI progress is now capability rather than ambition.

Why does the AI skills gap hit regional banks and credit unions harder?

They face the same pressures as global banks with far fewer resources. They compete for the same scarce AI talent on smaller budgets and carry the same regulatory scrutiny with leaner risk and compliance teams. Many are also absorbing a merger that consumes the leadership attention AI adoption needs.

Enterprise AI AdoptionFinancial Services

Climbing the Capability Wall - Why AI Strategy Stalls in Financial Services

Nearly every financial institution now has an AI strategy. For the largest global banks, that strategy comes with dedicated AI teams and technology budgets in the billions. For regional and mid-sized banks, insurers, trust companies, credit unions and asset managers, it does not. Yet across most of these institutions, the workforce is not keeping pace, and the gap between AI strategy and AI performance is widening. This paper is written for institutions that compete on relationships, trust and local knowledge rather than sheer scale. It sets out how to build AI capability across the workforce, and how to put it to work redesigning key processes: the step where most institutions stall.

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FAQs

The workforce is not keeping pace with the strategy. Nearly every financial institution now has an AI plan, but ADAPTOVATE's research finds the barrier is AI capability across the workforce, not tools or budget. Like digital and agile before it, AI is being won or lost as a people story rather than a technology one.