CEOs are looking to CIOs to unlock the potential and value of generative AI

CEOs are turning to CIOs to help them unlock the potential and value of generative AI for an organisation.

At the Gartner IT Symposium at the Gold Coast, Kristin Moyer, distinguished VP analyst Gartner told attendees that the CIO is the C-Suite member that the chief executive is most reliant on for generative AI education.

According to Gartner research, 31 percent of CEOs say CIOs are the C-suite executive they turn to for AI insights, compared to 20 percent speaking with their chief digital officers. 

She explained with prior trends like digital transformation CIOs kept quiet.  

“With digital, CIOs in general held back as that was emerging. Then there was a new role that had to be made, the chief digital officer, and I know some of you have that role,” she said.

“But don't hold back, don't wait, frame the AI future. Be bold, build a business reasoning, and lean in to win.

Moyer highlights two action items for CIOs as they head into 2024, firstly, they need to find what the foundations of this “post-crisis, business strategy” will look like.

By post-crisis, Moyer clarified saying, "We have moved from 'poly-crisis' issues like the pandemic and geopolitical conflict to a new post-crisis era in which many dynamics have changed. So CEOs need a new, post-crisis business strategy."

Moyer said, “Most CEOs are creating this strategy now and if they haven't already done it, they are in the process and will have it done by the end of the year."

Moyer said CIOs should assert their influence and position, as the organisation needs their insights for the post-crisis strategy.

“Look at how AI is going to change the terms of competition in your industry,” she said.

“Maybe your organisation won't be the one to do that. But it needs to have an idea of what that will look like going forward.”

She also recommends CIOs frame the AI future of the organisation.

“The executive team wants to make some bold bets, but first, they need to frame what this AI future is going to look like. Why do it? Because your CEO and board are doing it already,” she said.

Turning concerns into actions

To ensure that CIOs understand and can translate CEO concerns into action, Moyer recommends four steps for IT leaders to take.

According to Moyer, CIOs need to identify the business capabilities that the organisation is going to need in this post-crisis strategy.

“We know M&A is going to go back up. So maybe that's going to be a key part of the post-crisis strategy is what are the targets for M&A?

“How do we do post-merger integration? How do we defend our brand? Identify the business capabilities that will be most important for the business strategy,” she said.

Next, CIOs should brainstorm how AI can make a difference in an organisation.

“How can AI address those critical business capabilities to include improved like the quality and productivity of engineers using CAD models,” she explained.

Moyer said the next step is to “challenge and embarrass” any AI-washing behaviour. For both those leaders who want to put AI in everything and those on the other side of the spectrum who want nothing to do with the technology.

“This is a transformational technology,” she said.

Finally, Moyer said CIOs should figure out the unique AI training data, the proprietary data that you can use, that will make the biggest difference for your organisation.

“You can't use all of it, it's too expensive. For example, if you're in the financial industry, maybe you would use AI to listen to the last two years of discussions with financial advisors so that you can see new trends, new opportunities and how to use AI,” she added.

Athina Mallis travelled to the Gartner IT Symposium in the Gold Coast as a guest of Gartner.