How low process maturity is derailing IT strategies: Insights from 600 senior leaders

Organisations are pouring significant investments into AI initiatives, hoping to unlock new efficiencies, drive innovation and gain a competitive edge. Yet, a stark reality often emerges: a significant number of these initiatives fall short. Why? Because the foundation upon which AI is built – your organisational processes – is often not ready for it. 

Many organisations overestimate their ability to scale AI because they lack a clear understanding of their actual AI readiness. Without this clarity, even the most promising initiatives risk being built on an unstable foundation. 

So how do you know if your processes are truly AI-ready? The board is asking, but internal answers are often elusive. Many vendors might tell you what you want to hear without truly identifying the underlying gaps. What is needed is an objective, data-driven assessment. 

AI investment is at an all-time high, and organisations are rapidly accelerating their AI ambitions. However, GBTEC’s global process excellence & AI-readiness report reveals a significant readiness gap: while 78% of organisations plan major AI and automation initiatives over the next two years, fewer than 20% currently have the operational foundation required to succeed (GBTEC, 2025). In many cases, the root cause lies not in the AI technology itself, but in weak process foundations, fragmented operations and limited organisational readiness. 

Unstructured workflows, fragmented systems and data silos create an environment in which AI struggles to perform. Organisations often lack transparency into their own operations, and without clear governance structures, initiatives quickly lose direction. 

These challenges are not isolated; they are systematic. They reflect a broader gap between AI ambition and process readiness, which continues to derail digital transformation efforts. 

Attempting to scale AI on immature processes is like building a skyscraper on unstable ground. The ambition may be high, but the outcome is unpredictable. 

GBTEC’s Report indicates that fewer than 17% of organisations operate at an advanced, “AI-powered” level of process maturity. Most remain in intermediate stages of process maturity, where processes are documented but not yet optimised, automated or predictive. (GBTEC, 2025) 

This gap becomes particularly problematic in regulated industries such as banking, insurance and healthcare. In these environments, precision, compliance and traceability are essential. Without a solid process foundation, AI initiatives introduce more risk than value. 

Our analysis of 600 senior leaders across industries highlights a consistent pattern: while organisations are investing heavily in AI, they rarely have an objective view of their own readiness (GBTEC, 2025). 

Many lack a structured AI readiness assessment framework and have never measured key AI readiness dimensions such as automation potential, data availability or governance maturity. 

As a result, strategic decisions are often based on assumptions rather than evidence. This leads to misaligned investments and slows overall digital transformation readiness. 

So, what does AI readiness truly entail from a process perspective? It goes beyond simply having documented procedures. It demands a holistic approach that considers several key dimensions: 

• Standardisation & documentation: Are your processes clearly defined, consistent and easily accessible? 
• Automation potential: How much of your process can be automated – and how effectively? 
• Data quality & availability: Is the data feeding your processes accurate, complete and readily available for AI to leverage? 
• Process performance management: Do you have robust mechanisms to monitor, analyse and continuously improve process performance? 
• Collaboration & human-machine interaction: How well do your human teams and technological systems interact within your processes? 
• Agility & adaptability: Can your processes quickly adapt to new demands, market changes and technological advancements? 

Each of these dimensions plays a crucial role in determining whether your organisation can truly harness the power of AI. Neglecting even one can significantly impede your digital transformation journey. 

The good news is that understanding your process maturity doesn't have to be a daunting task. You can proactively identify your gaps and get a clear path forward before your next AI investment decision is made. Our interactive AI Readiness Benchmark tool offers a data-backed score in just 5 minutes, covering the six key dimensions of process readiness. 

"600 leaders were asked how AI-ready their processes really are. Most weren't. Take the benchmark and find out if you're one of them." 

This benchmark is validated against the insights from those 600 senior leaders, providing you with a credible, objective assessment. It's free, quick and based on real data – offering a unique selling proposition compared to anecdotal advice or biased vendor claims. 

Don't risk the failure of your next AI initiative. Find out where your organisation actually stands on AI readiness. Identify your process maturity score, understand your strengths and uncover the areas that need immediate attention. This objective insight is crucial for CIOs, Heads of Process Management, VPs of IT and Business Transformation Leads to make informed strategic decisions. 

Once you understand your current process maturity, you can begin to build a scalable and future-ready process landscape. Companies like yours, medium to large international enterprises with distributed IT structures in regulated industries, face unique challenges. Our solutions, including BIC Process Design, BIC Process Execution and BIC EAM, are specifically designed to address these complex environments. 

Whether it's ensuring seamless IT integration, providing cloud and on-premise flexibility or supporting robust security and compliance, GBTEC offers the tools to optimise your IT-supported business processes. With continuous improvement and integrated risk management at its core, our approach helps you achieve the "Optimised" or even "AI-powered" level of process maturity. 

AI investment is accelerating rapidly, yet many organisations still lack the operational foundations required to scale AI successfully. As AI initiatives become more complex and business-critical, process maturity, governance and operational transparency are emerging as key differentiators for long-term success. 

The window to get ahead, to truly leverage AI successfully, is now. Stop guessing and start measuring. Don't let low process maturity silently derail your IT strategies and digital transformation efforts.