- Only 31% of companies report having precise visibility into AI software – 36% for overall IT visibility
- AI is complex to follow because it is a layer that sits within existing categories
- IT leaders are also under pressure to prove AI’s ROI
New data revealed in Flexera’s State of ITAM report found that only 31% of companies have accurate visibility into their AI software – an area of IT spending that continues to grow as new use cases emerge and models develop.
This comes as almost three in five businesses (59%) reveal that unnecessary spending on AI has increased over the past year, with increasingly complex software stacks blamed for an overall decline in visibility.
Flexera found that complete visibility of IT assets fell to 36% – barely higher than AI visibility – thanks to complex and intertwined SaaS, public cloud and hybrid environments.
IT stack visibility is getting worse, not better
According to the report, ITAM professionals now spend more time on software optimization (32%), but responding to audits (22%) also takes up a considerable portion of their time.
As for AI, Flexera believes it is difficult to track because it does not occupy its own category. Instead, models, agents, and platforms are spread across multiple systems as an additional layer.
“What we are seeing is a familiar pattern of rapid adoption followed by a rush for visibility and control, as spending increases,” wrote Becky Trevino, chief product officer.
But ironically, Flexera also found that AI holds promise for automating some ITAM work, including the processing of software contracts, purchase orders, licenses and renewals.
As IT professionals face increased pressure to prove the ROI of AI, the next steps go beyond identifying which AI tools are used to examine how they are used, how much they cost, and what data they access.
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