CIO OPINION
CIOs need to ensure that pursuing AI adoption doesn ’ t exacerbate bloatware .
Sandie Overtveld , Senior Vice President for
APJ , Middle East and Africa , Freshworks
How CIOs can take charge amid the AI revolution
CIOs should steer clear of the idea of AI as ‘ some kind of silver bullet ’ says Sandie Overtveld , Senior Vice President for APJ , Middle East and Africa , Freshworks .
From cost efficiency , regulatory compliance , and trend spotting to productivity boosts via employees freed of mundane tasks – there is no shortage of talk about how Artificial Intelligence ( AI ) will solve complex business problems . Indeed , it would probably be easier – not to mention , shorter – to list down what enterprises and people think AI cannot do .
Although significant breakthroughs – see more powerful generative models – in the past year have allowed AI to flourish , the fog of uncertainty over the business landscape today has also enhanced its draw . Businesses have already used it to cut emissions , combat fraud and money laundering , beef up cyber security and resilience , as well as plug workforce gaps .
Freshworks recently surveyed 2,000 IT professionals and found that 86 % of their organizations were already using generative AI ( e . g . ChatGPT ), with over half of these organizations actively encouraging AI use in the workplace . And this isn ’ t hot air ; 71 % of the survey ’ s respondents were already realising productivity improvements through AI – 39 % of whom reported that they were better equipped to focus on higher-level tasks .
However , a good rule of thumb is to steer clear of the assumption that technologies like AI can be some kind of silver bullet . This is especially so for CIOs who have a key role in maximizing AI tools by encouraging employees to experiment safely .
44 INTELLIGENTCIO APAC www . intelligentcio . com