U.S. business executives forge ahead with tech investments, despite poor economy, talent shortage and financial pitfalls, a new FIS Global Innovation Report found.

The report, which sought to understand the risks executives face, how they’re managing them and how new technology is being leveraged to help, found that 83 percent of U.S. executives across a variety of industries have either already been impacted by financial risk or expect to be within the next 12 months.

Nevertheless, 95 percent have either already begun pursuing innovation strategies to thwart emerging risks, or plan to do so within the next 12 months.

Budget constraints were the top issue impeding innovation according to 48 percent of respondents, but they also cited other hurdles to overcome, such as a lack of in-house expertise/knowledge.

Technology and systems innovation were the most common innovation strategies, according to 60 percent of executives with 55 percent of those leaders citing becoming more competitive as the reason.

The report found that 53 percent of surveyed leaders reported that they’re pursuing artificial intelligence (AI) to be more competitive, and 52 percent are pursuing generative AI tools to be more competitive.

Embedded finance capabilities was another area tapped to improve competitiveness, according to 49 percent of executives surveyed and 49 percent also reported gaining a competitive edge as their reason for pursuing open banking capabilities.

“U.S. financial services firms have been leading the charge in adopting innovative technology to enhance security, customer experience and overall competitiveness,” said John Durrant, banking solutions president at FIS. “Now, as the findings in this report suggest, business leaders everywhere are shifting from a ‘wait-and-see’ approach to a deliberate investment and experimentation strategy. FIS believes this trend will continue as automation and AI pose unique opportunities to streamline operations and enhance customer service while future-proofing against competitors who are diving into digital head first.”

Variables impeding executives’ ability to implement innovative strategies in response to their respective risks, include budget constraints reported by 48 percent of firms as well as internal struggles relating to talent and infrastructure in the U.S.

FIS said a talent gap and a change-resistant culture are placing pressure on industry executives.

Half of respondents said their firms reported a lack of in-house expertise/knowledge, while 49 percent reported employees were resistance to change.

Nearly half of those surveyed (48 percent) reported a lack of internal technology and/or data and 44 percent reported a resistance to change among top management.

“While the adoption of emerging technology is key for growth, leaders must double-down on closing the talent gap in tech in order to realize the full potential of their investments,” added Durrant. “As leaders lean on internal talent to help digitally transform their organizations, it is critical that it comes with a focus on up-skilling and building a culture of innovation that has employees rallying around change instead of running from it. Meanwhile, companies can close the skills gap faster by finding the right partners that can help them launch the innovative capabilities they seek.”