Automation is arriving faster than governance is following. A SolarWinds survey of 1,040 global IT professionals finds that 35% expect their IT operations to be primarily or almost entirely automated within two to three years — while 46% remain concerned about the quality and accuracy of AI, and just over half say clearer policies and guardrails are still missing.
The findings sketch a familiar tension in enterprise AI: adoption is being driven from the top down, while the teams expected to operate and trust the systems are asking for more structure before they get there. 56% of respondents said clearer AI policies and guardrails would help; 50% want formal training. Data privacy and security remains the biggest barrier overall, cited by 43%, ahead of platform fragmentation (28%) and a lack of human guardrails (17%).
Anxiety about role disruption sits at 29%, somewhat lower than the numbers expressing concern about AI accuracy. That gap suggests practitioners are more worried about AI getting things wrong than about being replaced — a distinction that matters for how organisations frame their AI governance investment.
The majority of IT workers across all roles said AI has made their jobs more demanding, a finding that cuts against the productivity narrative often used to justify rapid deployment.
"But speed alone can create more friction than progress and many IT teams are being stretched between innovation and accountability. Success will come from organisations that treat AI as an operational discipline built on visibility, control, and shared ownership — not just a fast-moving experiment," said Cullen Childress, Chief Product Officer at SolarWinds.
The survey covered more than 1,000 global IT professionals across multiple roles and sectors. Full findings are available at solarwinds.com.
