FINANCE & SPEND
Despite AI being the buzzword of the latest decade, Skills Dynamics’ 2026 report paints a more complex picture. While most organisations( 83 %) believe that they feel at least somewhat prepared to leverage AI and automation, 47 % still cite the technology as the single biggest skills gap.
“ There’ s a clear difference between feeling prepared and having the capability to properly govern what the technology produces,” says Sam Pemberton, CEO at Skill Dynamics.“ AI outputs still need human validation, which means organisations need to ensure the people who understand the process stay in it. When that expertise is lost, so is the ability to catch errors and correct course.”
And the stats continue to validate this concern, with 25 % of teams feeling‘ highly prepared’ to scale AI tools effectively, meaning most organisations are deploying automation without the workforce’ s confidence to properly audit, challenge or govern its outputs.
Sam adds:“ We’ ve already seen cases where companies have deployed automation too quickly without keeping human judgment in the loop, leaving no one with the depth of understanding needed to spot what was going wrong. Businesses need to get this balance right.
“ From a financial auditability perspective, that’ s a risk boards can’ t afford to ignore, and it will only compound if left unaddressed.”
procurementmag. com 111