After decades of dealing with vendors who lock customers into their own proprietary or “closed” platforms, most technology leaders today favor open ecosystems, a new Salesforce survey found.

Indeed, tech leaders are 3x more likely to believe an open ecosystem is critical to implementing new and business-critical innovation like artificial intelligence (AI) and more than half of those already deploying such technology believe open ecosystems will become standard within two years.

The survey highlights a pivotal AI debate — the choice between an open ecosystem, which supports integration with other systems, services, and platforms, or a closed ecosystem, which interacts only with a select few compatible or internal systems.

Why it matters: Ninety percent of IT teams say generative AI has forced them to re-evaluate their technology strategy, and a large part of that re-evaluation lies in the decision to adopt an open or closed AI ecosystem. The new research discovers that while tech leaders point to some open ecosystem challenges like security, interoperability, and lack of industry standards, they are bullish toward an open approach — citing increased innovation and faster adoption of AI.

The new research discovers that while tech leaders point to some open ecosystem challenges like security, interoperability, and lack of industry standards, they are bullish toward an open approach — citing increased innovation and faster adoption of AI.

More findings:

• Despite a closed ecosystem being standard for years, technology leaders aren’t sold on its future.
  • 85% of tech decision makers don’t believe a closed ecosystem will be critical to the success of future AI development.
  • 83% of tech decision makers don’t believe a closed ecosystem will still be the norm by June 2026.
• Respondents who have begun implementing AI recognize the benefits of an open ecosystem.
  • Those who have implemented AI are 16% more likely to believe an open ecosystem approach to AI will be industry standard by 2026 compared to those who have not implemented AI.
  • More than one-third of those who have implemented AI say an open ecosystem will put their company ahead of the competition. 
• Technology leaders favor an open ecosystem because of its impact on innovation, but security concerns persist and challenges vary by adoption stage.
  • Those who haven’t yet deployed AI cite security challenges and a lack of industry standard as the biggest hurdles to open ecosystem adoption.
  • Among those who have adopted AI, security challenges, interoperability issues, and resistance from major AI companies are the biggest issues for open ecosystem adoption. 

Open Image Modal

Image Modal

Salesforce Snapshot Research

AI Ecosystem Showdown: Open vs. Closed. Uncover more insights from over 500 technology leaders here.

View the infographic

More information: 

• Learn more about Salesforce’s Einstein 1 Platform and AI solutions
• Read about a new LLM benchmark for CRM
• Dive deeper into the AI balancing act between leadership and IT 

In partnership with YouGov, Salesforce conducted a double-blind survey of 502 tech decision makers. The data was fielded between June 5-12, 2024. Tech leaders were defined as those who have decision-making ability regarding the procurement of technology at their company. An Open Ecosystem was defined as ‘an artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem that freely supports and encourages integration with other systems, services and platforms.’ A Closed Ecosystem was defined as ‘an artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem that only interacts with a limited number of systems, services or platforms that are inside or exclusively compatible with that platform.’