CIOs should start developing their AI ambitions within two years and develop the corresponding scenarios. These recommendations were made by researchers from Gartner at the annual Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo event in Barcelona. In the council, they set CIOs on their way ahead.
The rise of (especially generative) AI is a major step in how people and machines will interact in the coming years, according to Gartner. It is no longer a technology or business trend but a real game changer. “We are moving from what machines can do for us to what machines can be for us,” the Gartner experts stated at the meeting.
This means today’s CIOs must be well prepared for this and also play a major role in taking advantage of the opportunities AI can offer. Ideally, they develop a plan in the next 12 to 24 months. To capture these ambitions, they do need to get the entire C-level team on the same page and also work closely with the IT department, according to Gartner.
Two areas for AI ambitions
For the role CIOs can play in this process, Gartner lists two areas on which they should focus their attention. First, they need to define their AI ambitions. Do they want to use AI to increase productivity, or will they use AI for more creative solutions and ideas?
The second role is that of running some scenarios to facilitate this implementation. For this, the consultants identify three scenarios or initiatives. First, CIOs should establish so-called “AI-ready principles”. These are a set of target principles consistent with the company’s norms and values. With this, they can form a guide of how humans and machines should interact.
A second scenario or initiative is to make company data suitable for AI. In doing so, this data must meet five criteria. Data must be secure, enriched, fair, accurate and finally “managed” by the “norms and values”.
The third scenario is that companies must adapt cybersecurity to the advent of AI. AI can be used in beneficial ways, but it also presents opportunities for the bad. CIOs must, therefore, consider the dark side of AI and also, in collaboration with the entire C-level team, develop an acceptable use policy for public generative AI solutions.