Month: July 2025

The latest results of Vanson Bourne’s ongoing AI B2B research series, based on insights from the Vanson Bourne Community, are in. Among them are quite a few findings that speak to UK leaders’ current AI concerns of the AI revolution. There are almost no aspects of AI that, in one form or another, businesses aren’t struggling to get to grips with.

Here are three key themes:

“Reg-u-lation time, come on!”

Seven in ten respondents to our March survey signalled that they need help preparing for AI regulations, such as the EU AI Act. The act is part of a broader EU strategy to ensure that AI systems are safe, lawful, and align with fundamental rights.

What’s particularly interesting about this statistic is twofold. These are UK respondents and the UK doesn’t even have its own AI Act. But there’s no doubt that aside from anything homegrown, business and IT leaders in the UK are fully aware of the implications for them of regulations originating across the Channel, such as GDPR.

If you’re a technology vendor currently extolling the virtues of your AI-centric solutions, ask yourself how well developed your organisation’s position is regarding the evolving regulatory environment. And how effective you are at communicating that position to the market. Vanson Bourne’s recent report on marcomms effectiveness would suggest the answer to be “not very”. And yet your audience cares … a lot.

Desperately seeking DeepSeek

In January, DeepSeek took the AI world by storm. It literally came from nowhere. Challenging the incumbent AI vendors and forcing us all to rethink whatever preconceptions we might have had about the future of AI.

In the last third of January, it was THE most talked about AI vendor. Building on this platform, by March it was … nowhere.

Whether or not DeepSeek makes a return or is eclipsed by the Next Big Thing, who knows? But that’s not the question we should be asking. The question we should be asking is: what impact has this had on the way that enterprise IT views the investment case for AI?

AI in cybersecurity: the poacher and the gamekeeper?

AI has the potential to enhance productivity, automate tasks and accelerate innovation. For all of us. And when I say “all of us”, I mean cyber criminals too. Nobody is excluded.

Cybersecurity is an arms race. IT decision makers are looking to vendors to deploy sophisticated AI solutions to counter … the sophisticated AI solutions being deployed by cyber criminals. And around half of our respondents are of the view that the criminals are winning.

But until AI grows a conscience, fighting fire with fire is all we have.

The AI Barometer

Each month we survey 100 IT and business leaders across the UK, from our expert network: the Vanson Bourne Community. We explore their AI plans, perceptions, priorities and pain points in their organisations and industries. From emerging trends to current concerns, we investigate what UK leaders are really thinking and doing when it comes to AI strategies and investment.

Explore more insights in a selection of recent articles and reports below:

• More players, more pressure? How the AI market is being shaken up
• Why building trust should be a top priority for AI vendors in 2025
• AI: The race for a use case

 

 

This blog is in collaboration with:

 

Last year marked the mainframe’s 60th anniversary, a milestone that serves as a timely reminder of its endurance. But this isn’t about nostalgia. Our findings show the mainframe remains highly relevant today: 98% confirmed their organisation depends on the IBM mainframe to execute key functions. Neither is this reliance waning, an overwhelming 99% indicated they expect to continue depending on this technology well into the future.

However, the mainframe environment is not without its challenges when it comes to using it as a development and delivery vehicle. Almost all (96%) organisations report difficulties in the development and testing process. Our research highlighted these issues span a broad spectrum of operational pain points. Concerns include a lack of cost efficiency (39%), inflexibility (39%), debugging difficulties (38%), sustainability challenges (38%) and struggles to meet regulatory and compliance requirements (33%). Organisations clearly recognize these concerns, acknowledging them as both critical to their operations and in need of improvement.

Nearly four in five (79%) organisations express concerns that staffing limitations could hinder their ability to achieve core business objectives. The biggest skill gaps are in the more traditional mainframe technologies: only a third or fewer rate their teams as having a good skill/knowledge level in ISPF 3270 (33%), Assembler (29%), or REXX (27%). Without modern tools, many (83%) face difficulties recruiting and retaining the next generation of talent.

Organisations are seeking modern solutions that deliver a balance of flexibility, control and sustainability, without increasing costs. One approach to this is expanding mainframe environments: enabling efficient, scalable, and risk-conscious growth, and helping organisations to remain agile through constant change. Notably, over a third (34%) report an urgent need for additional environments to meet the demands of mainframe delivery.

What initiatives would our respondents prioritise if they could deliver mainframe deliveries faster?

Over half (53%) believe that modernising their mainframe capabilities could significantly help resolve skill gaps and improve talent attraction and retention. Other key benefits include:

• Increased agility/flexibility (58%)
• Easier regulatory and data compliance (52%)
• Accelerated innovation (51%)
• Quicker implementation of changes/deliveries (46%)
• Delivering IT-related sustainability objectives (43%)
• Improved cost efficiency (42%)

Mainframes remain mission critical platforms, delivering immense value for the organisations that rely on them. However, as business demands and technology continue to evolve, so too must the mainframe. Organisations that proactively invest in more agile and scalable mainframe environments are likely to be better equipped to navigate operational challenges, drive innovation and attract the new generation of talent.

Derek Britton, CMO at PopUp Mainframe, commented “As a mainstay of high-stakes enterprise computing, the mainframe is a powerhouse production server – but it needs to do more and more to support future needs and can be hampered by a range of factors. At PopUp Mainframe, we wanted to learn the details of what’s blocking mainframe teams from accelerating their output. Vanson Bourne have helped us unearth a range of genuine, topical insights from the mainframe market.”

 

Note on this research: The research included 175 senior decision-makers in DevOps and IT roles across a wide range of sectors, comprising financial services, insurance, retail, transportation, logistics, IT services, energy, media, leisure, and entertainment. Their organisations had to be using the IBM mainframe and have a minimum of 500 employees, representing both the US (100) and the UK (75).