As AI becomes embedded across new and existing communications estates, organisations are placing greater emphasis on governance, security, data location, visibility and control
Where AI infrastructure is hosted is now a major factor when choosing communications technology, with 84% of UK CIOs and CTOs saying it is important to their decision, and 39% naming it as their top priority compared with 30% globally, according to research.
8×8, a leading global business communications platform provider, commissioned Censuswide to survey 2,501 CIOs and CTOs across five markets, including 501 respondents in the UK. The research explored attitudes to AI-enabled communications, and the factors organisations consider when choosing a platform.
Digital Space, a UK managed services provider and 8×8 Gold Partner, says the findings reflect a broader change in how organisations assess communications technology. Performance, resilience, user experience and cost remain fundamental, but AI is widening the brief. The same considerations apply whether organisations are choosing a new platform or modernising an existing communications estate.
Nathan Steadman, Solutions and Strategy Director at Digital Space, said:
“The research backs up what we are already seeing in the market. There is real interest in what AI can add to communications, from improving customer interactions to helping staff work more effectively, but organisations are also looking much more closely at the environment in which it operates.
“They want to understand where AI infrastructure is located, where sensitive business data is hosted, what that means for sovereignty and security, and what level of visibility and control they will have once it is in use. The answer will not be the same for every organisation, which is why those choices need to be deliberate rather than based on assumptions.
“We are helping customers work through those choices from the outset, so the platform, data location, security and governance can be considered together. The AI opportunity is significant, but organisations will get more from it when those decisions are made intentionally rather than revisited later.”
The growing focus on data sovereignty shows how far these issues have moved up the agenda, with 91% of UK CIOs and CTOs saying it has become a greater priority over the past 12 months.
Technology leaders are also carrying much of the accountability for AI outcomes. Half of UK respondents identified the CIO as accountable when an AI agent makes an error in a customer interaction, while just 5% placed it with Legal or Compliance, reinforcing the need to consider how AI will be governed, monitored and controlled as its use expands across the business.
Claire Snow, UK and Ireland Channel Lead at 8×8, said:
“It’s a demanding time to be a CIO or CTO. Half of UK technology leaders say the CIO is accountable when an AI agent gets it wrong, and where AI is hosted now shapes who they buy from. That is why partners like Digital Space matter. They help customers work through platform, data location and governance together, before those choices become problems. The encouraging part is that none of this is out of reach. Organisations that make these decisions deliberately can consolidate their communications and keep control of their data.”
Download Digital Space’s new whitepaper, ‘How AI is changing the communications buying brief’, for further insight into the research and what it means for organisations adopting AI-enabled communications
For more information, visit www.digitalspace.co.uk
For additional information, visit www.8×8.com,
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