Most CIOs say app sprawl is a problem. AI could make it worse

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Each of those apps plays a necessary role, but the fact remains that modern workplaces use a lot of external programs to perform myriad different tasks, and they can sometimes end up replicating the same function outside of the purview of centralized IT departments. The situation could get more tangled as more companies try to mold generative AI into new office tools.

A recent report from Canva and Harris Poll found that 72% of chief information officers (CIOs) are concerned about app sprawl, or the surge of different platforms used in the workplace, especially in terms of the potential security risks and added complexity. That could be a particularly big issue, since, according to the report, 94% of these execs said they plan to up their investments in AI this year, and 84% said there is a glut of AI services available.

“There’s too many AI tools in the market—it’s confusing the people inside their organization. It’s making it hard for the IT teams to figure out which one to use, which one integrates the best for their needs,” Canva’s co-founder and chief product officer, Cameron Adams, told Tech Brew. “And that all contributes to app sprawl as well.”

Adams also pointed to the fact that 70% of CIOs said that they have already established guardrails for the safe and responsible use of AI. That could be important, as surveys have indicated a general lack of trust in how the new wave of generative AI is being used. But Adams also said the AI industry has felt, recently, somewhat like the Wild, Wild West.

“The last couple of years, you’ve seen a lot of innovation. Also, a lot of cowboys in the AI space, just launching new tools, and you’re not quite sure where the provenance of the data comes from that goes into their models; you might not be sure how your data is used when you’re putting it into their applications,” Adams said.

As generative AI has continued to captivate the business world, companies ranging from tech giants to startups have rolled out tools that cover everything from text and image generation to summarization and data retrieval.

Canva is no exception; the design platform began integrating various AI tools, including text-to-image features, in the fall of 2022. The goal is to provide enough different AI capabilities that workers won’t have to shuffle between different apps.

“[Users] don’t have to go out to a ton of different apps to achieve what they need. It’s there right when they need it; it’s integrated,” Adams said.