Security and AI
Saurabh Gugnani, the global head of digital defense and software security at French compliance firm TMF Group, is one of the IT leaders who is meticulous person regarding AI. “Adopting AI poses many security issues, such as information privacy, attack risk, and rigid regulation compliance. CIOs have a lot of important issues,” he said, “protecting sensitive data and ensuring the integrity of AI models against cyber threats, such as hostile attacks.
Also, standard security measures usually fall short of addressing the unique needs of AI systems. To mitigate these risks, CIOs may adopt AI-specific safety protocols and conduct regular security audits, which take time,” he added. “Crucially, framing comprehensive policies that govern AI use, ethical standards, and security practices is necessary to seamlessly integrate AI into corporate workflows, ensuring a safe and collaborative adoption process.”
For Neeraj Kumar, CTO of Arkreach, the frequency with which AI technologies are being developed itself poses a risk. Yet, tech giants like Google and Meta occasionally rush to release immature technology, resulting in the demise of failed AI products. “However, it’s not a good idea to rush to deliver subpar AI solutions in your product pipeline because of FOMO (fear of missing out). It can put your entire delivery program into meltdown,” he said. “It’s time to move away from the ship first, think later culture and focus on building the future by not repeating today’s mistakes, even if it leads to a delay.”
Another problem is the critical shortage of skilled professionals, which, according to Gugnani, makes it challenging and costly for companies to acquire and retain talent in machine learning, information technology, and AI connectivity. “Significant time and money are required to train existing staff members to maintain AI systems. Some companies hesitate to invest in the necessary resources, slowing the adoption of AI capabilities,” he said.
The ROI Problem
The ability to demonstrate and calculate the ROI of technology efforts is a challenge for IT leaders. According to the results of the Lenovo survey, 42% of CIOs do not anticipate a positive ROI from AI projects in the upcoming year, while 61% of CIOs find it extremely difficult to demonstrate the ROI of their tech investments.
According to Abhishek Gupta, CIO of Dish Television, one of the biggest challenges is determining ROI to persuade stakeholders to endorse costs. “Quantifying tangible benefits such as cost savings, efficiency improvements, and top-line growth is fairly simple. But calculating returns on softer elements, such as advancements in customer understanding, can be challenging,” Gupta said. “As the profile of AI projects begins to yield results, AI initiatives should be viewed as a necessary business expense that can deliver results.”
