U.S. Presidential Election Will Have Marked Impact, Tech Leaders Predict 

Tech industry leaders predict the outcome of the U.S. presidential election will impact the sector's ability to stay ahead of global competitors.

Leaders in the technology industry expect the outcome of the 2024 U.S. presidential election to impact artificial intelligence (AI) regulation, initial public offering (IPO) activity, innovation, and global competitiveness, according to a new Ernst & Young LLP survey. Conducted in October 2024, EY’s latest pulse poll asked 500 business leaders how they think the upcoming U.S. election will impact the technology industry.

In their responses, tech industry leaders said they plan to significantly increase AI investments in the next 12 months, However, they indicated that future progress toward AI growth may be contingent on the outcome of the elections. Specific focus areas of AI investment include hiring AI-specific talent, back-office functions, and cybersecurity.

U.S. Presidential Election
Credit: Adobe Stock/Generated with AI by Marta P. (Milacroft)

Nearly three-fourths (74%) of technology industry leaders surveyed think the results of the upcoming U.S. election will have a major impact on the U.S. tech sector’s ability to stay ahead of global competition in the next two to four years. Notably, they think that the outcome of the U.S. election would most impact the following areas of regulation: cybersecurity/data protections, AI and machine learning, and user data and content oversight.

“Regardless of the presidential outcome, technology companies will continue significant investment in AI,” commented James Brundage, EY Global and Americas Technology Sector Leader. “However, all eyes will be on how election results impact the direction of fiscal, tax, tariff, anti-trust and regulatory policies and the resulting impact on interest rates, mergers and acquisitions, IPOs, and AI regulations. Coming off of a sluggish tech market in 2024, the 2025 trajectory is bullish, as companies focus on raising capital to invest in growth and emerging technologies like AI.”

Here are some additional findings from the EY survey: 

  • Tech leaders double down on AI: The majority of technology leaders (87%) said their company plans to increase AI investments by 50% or more in the next year. The key areas where they plan to focus AI investment over the next year include AI-specific talent (60%), cybersecurity (49%), and back-office functions (45%). Most tech industry leaders surveyed also plan to allocate/reallocate resources toward AI investments in the next 6–12 months, with 78% of tech leaders reporting their company is thinking about divesting noncore assets or businesses as part of their growth strategy during that time.
  • Size hinders AI speed: Tech leaders said around 63% of their organization’s AI initiatives have successfully moved to the implementation phase. However, organizations that employ more employees report less success moving AI initiatives to the implementation phase. Among those who indicate that fewer than half of their AI initiatives have been implemented successfully, data quality issues (40%) and talent/skills shortages (34%) are the most common reasons for AI initiatives failing to progress to the next stage.
  • The search for AI talent accelerates: As companies continue to integrate more AI into their businesses, the need to hire AI-specific talent will increase, as well as the need to restructure or reduce headcount from legacy job functions. In fact, 80% of tech leaders surveyed said they foresee reducing or restructuring headcount from legacy functions to other in-demand functions, and 77% anticipate an increase in hiring for AI-specific talent. Additionally, 40% of technology leaders said their company plans to focus next year’s AI investments on human capital efforts such as training.

“As companies pivot to more investments in AI talent, there are key considerations for tech leaders as they strive to bridge the gap between AI investment and implementation,” remarked Ken Englund, EY Americas Technology Sector Growth Leader. “These include hiring talent with both hard and soft skills, offering AI training programs, and upskilling their workforce.” 

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