AI will evolve the role of the CIO

AI is a leadership opportunity for CIOs.

Why? The technology has the potential to disrupt and benefit your organization, and CIOs are well-positioned to support the board, prepare the organization for it, and lead the business into the age of AI.

“Everything starts with the board, who are asking, ‘How can we anticipate the unexpected threats brought on by AI?’” says Dr. Arthur M. Langer, Associate Vice Provost, Professor of Practice and Director, Center for Technology Management and Digital Leadership at Northeastern University. “So there is fear in the boardroom.”

Langer notes that not all boards are fearful. AI allows organizations to use growing data more effectively, a fact recognized by the entire leadership team.

Mark Read, CEO of global advertising giant WPP recently told shareholders: “AI will also offer the ability to develop new business and financial models.” Langer believes CIOs should seize this opportunity to inform leadership about AI-driven possibilities.

Taking the lead

Dr. Norman Jacknis, professor of practice, innovation, and entrepreneurship at Northeastern University notes that leadership and intellectual curiosity about AI is crucial: “As CIOs, you need to be open to surprises in this world of AI.”

AI can support an organization’s current operations while driving change, making it essential for CIOs to lead its adoption as both a business driver and support system.

“As a support technology, AI works on data that is dependable, proven, and secure,” says Langer. He also warns CIOs to be mindful that AI, currently a disruptive technology at the base of the S-curve, will eventually become commoditized.

“Lead the conversation with the board on risks, pros and cons, and talk like a businessperson. Do not dismiss yourself from being the driver, and reinvent yourself,” Langer advises.

This means that CIOs will have to harness their ability to communicate to the board and the wider business about the impacts and benefits of AI. Jacknis advises CIOs to focus on the three reasons why AI is such a hot topic.

“It’s back to Moore’s Law. We’ve already seen that AI depends on a lot of compute power. Secondly, the software is getting better, and thirdly, there is a lot of data available. Your job is to explain this to the board,” states Jacknis.

He urges CIOs to use all available visualization tools to educate the board on AI and explain how generative AI processes data, much of which comes from the often inaccurate or unreliable public internet.

Lead AI disruption

CIOs face the challenge of protecting intellectual property and data as AI tools make it easier for cybercriminals to launch potentially devastating attacks.

“One of the things about disruption is that the legal sector is always so far behind. The reality is that enforcing laws such as copyright is going to be very difficult. We have enough problems with intellectual property as the fact remains there will be bad actors out there,” says Langer.

Jacknis agrees, noting that “It will be one of the great legal debates of this century” but reassures CIOs that this is a well-traveled path for technology adoption. “One hundred years ago, Picasso said good artists copy, great artists steal. He would take traditional pictures and modify them into what became cubism. Was he stealing?”

Preparing for AI

If CIOs are to lead the adoption of AI in their organizations, they must also deliver the technology foundation. “If you are building your own models, then you need to make sure that you get the confidence levels in the data right,” says Jacknis adding an increase in cybersecurity will be needed.

Langer stresses the need for stronger protection, while Jacknis emphasizes the importance of testing internal controls.

AI bias has already got organizations such as online retailer Amazon into hot water, and here again, the CIO must play a pivotal role in protecting the business.

“The computer is only learning from the data that you put into it,” Jacknis observes. “So you need to make sure that the models represent the behaviors your organization wants to model, and don’t end up using a data set that is so limited that you end up with bias.”

AI presents a key opportunity for CIOs to expand their influence, building on their leadership in cloud computing, mobility, and remote work.

Learn about Nutanix’s AI platform, GPT-in-a-Box, and the latest IT industry trends in the 2024 Enterprise Cloud Index report.