Austin, Texas, USA, June 24, 2025
New Futurum Research Reveals That 52% of Organizations Prioritize AI Expertise Over Price When Selecting Vendors, Signaling a Strategic Shift Toward Capability-Driven Procurement as Enterprises Mature Their AI Implementations
More than half of organizations now prioritize technical expertise over price when selecting AI vendors, marking a fundamental shift in enterprise procurement strategies as AI adoption moves from experimentation to strategic implementation, according to new research from The Futurum Group.
The comprehensive survey of 876 decision-makers reveals that expertise and experience with AI (52%) have emerged as the top selection criterion, closely followed by data handling and privacy controls (51%). At the same time, traditional price considerations rank third at 45%. This represents a significant evolution in how organizations evaluate AI partnerships as they progress beyond pilot programs toward enterprise-wide deployment.
Figure 1: Top AI Vendor Selection Criteria
Nick Patience, VP & AI Practice Lead at Futurum, said, “The prioritization of expertise over price signals a fundamental maturation in how organizations approach AI vendor selection. Companies recognize that the right technical capabilities and proven experience deliver far greater long-term value than the lowest upfront cost.”
The research highlights several critical trends shaping AI vendor selection strategies:
Security and Compliance Take Center Stage: Data handling and privacy controls (51%) are the second-most important criterion, reflecting heightened awareness of data governance challenges and regulatory requirements as AI implementations scale across enterprise environments.
Value-Based Evaluation: Organizations are increasingly focused on measurable outcomes, with 42% prioritizing projected time to value and 43% emphasizing deployment and support capabilities. This indicates a shift from feature-based to results-oriented vendor evaluation.
Implementation Sophistication: The emphasis on expertise (52%) and deployment support (43%) over basic implementation speed (39%) suggests organizations are prioritizing quality and strategic alignment over rapid deployment timelines.
Specialized Capabilities Matter: Model development and customization (36%) and vendor technology stack (33%) demonstrate that organizations seek partners who can deliver tailored solutions rather than one-size-fits-all approaches.
The survey reveals a maturity-driven approach to AI vendor selection, with organizations moving beyond cost optimization toward strategic partnership evaluation. While price remains important for 45% of respondents, the clear preference for expertise and security capabilities indicates that enterprises are willing to invest in vendors who can deliver sustainable, scalable AI solutions.
“The findings underscore a clear evolution in AI procurement maturity,” noted Patience. “Organizations recognize that successful AI implementation requires advanced technology, proven expertise, robust security frameworks, and comprehensive support capabilities. This shift drives vendors to differentiate based on competency and results rather than competing solely on price.”
The research also reveals that regulatory compliance expertise remains a secondary consideration (17%), suggesting that while data privacy is paramount, organizations may address regulatory requirements through other means or may not fully appreciate the complexity of AI governance challenges.
Read more in the reports “2H 2024 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Software & Tools Market Sizing & Forecast Report” and “2H 2024 AI Software & Tools Decision Maker Survey Report” on the Futurum Intelligence Platform.
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Author Information
Nick Patience is VP and Practice Lead for AI Platforms at The Futurum Group. Nick is a thought leader on AI development, deployment, and adoption - an area he has researched for 25 years. Before Futurum, Nick was a Managing Analyst with S&P Global Market Intelligence, responsible for 451 Research’s coverage of Data, AI, Analytics, Information Security, and Risk. Nick became part of S&P Global through its 2019 acquisition of 451 Research, a pioneering analyst firm that Nick co-founded in 1999. He is a sought-after speaker and advisor, known for his expertise in the drivers of AI adoption, industry use cases, and the infrastructure behind its development and deployment. Nick also spent three years as a product marketing lead at Recommind (now part of OpenText), a machine learning-driven eDiscovery software company. Nick is based in London.
