Most AI projects are still struggling to reach production, Rebura research finds
Most organisations are keen to move faster with AI. But new research from Rebura suggests many are still getting stuck before their projects reach production.
Only 27% of AI initiatives are making it into production and delivering measurable business value, while 58% of organisations describe their current approach as ad hoc experimentation.
The issue is not always the technology. More often, AI projects slow down because the basics are not yet in place: clear outcomes, trusted data, strong governance and a secure way to scale.
There is also pressure to show progress quickly. The research found that only 25% of organisations have fully defined business outcomes for their AI initiatives, and 37% say their activity is mainly driven by executive mandates.
That matters because AI pilots need a clear purpose. Without one, teams can spend time testing tools without agreeing what success should look like.
Data readiness remains another challenge. Only 14% of small businesses believe their data is AI-ready, and one in five organisations report significant gaps. Poor-quality or fragmented data makes it harder to trust AI outputs and act on them with confidence.
Security and compliance are also holding projects back, with almost half of organisations citing them as barriers to deployment and scale. For AI to move beyond pilots, these questions need to be built into the plan from the start.
The organisations making the most progress are taking a more practical approach. They are starting with the business problem, checking the data and security foundations, and then building AI into a delivery model that can be governed and scaled.
Rebura, an AWS Premier Partner, works with organisations on the cloud, data, security and governance foundations needed to take AI from experiment to production.
The message from the research is simple: AI success is not about launching more pilots. It is about making sure the right foundations are in place so AI can be used securely, reliably and at scale.
Read the full report to explore the findings in more detail. If you are planning an AI project, or want to understand what is holding one back, talk to Rebura about our AI offerings.
