Alessio Alionço is the founder and CEO of Pipefya global leader in low-code AI-driven business process automation solutions.
As businesses increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence (AI) and automation to optimize their workflows, contain costs and increase revenue, now is the time for information technology (IT) leaders to the right questions about their teams, tools and strategies. With their view across multiple departments, chief information officers (CIOs) are uniquely positioned to assess and predict the impact of digital transformation initiatives on the overall business.
Here are four important questions CIOs should be asking in 2024.
1. How are we reducing risk?
New opportunities are always accompanied by risk. Educating employees about evolving threats will be essential to mitigating risk, protecting data and staying compliant. Cultivating a mindset of vigilance and resilience helps the entire enterprise reduce exposure across its attack surfaces.
Visibility is the foundation of any risk mitigation strategy. IT teams need clear views not only of the tools and systems that business teams use, but also of their processes and workflows. For most IT teams, this means:
• Building technology ecosystems that minimize the use of tools that lead to data silos, such as spreadsheets and email.
• Integrate applications and systems so that data and activities remain in IT’s line of sight.
• Supporting business teams with easy-to-use tools that reduce the need for out-of-the-box solutions.
Communication between IT and business teams is essential to reducing risk, and trust will be essential to help IT leaders gain insight into the challenges facing business teams.
2. What is our strategy for incorporating AI and automation?
Combining automation tools with AI promises to dramatically improve efficiency and productivity in all areas of business. In a recent survey by my company of 160 business and enterprise IT leaders, three-quarters said they expect to see efficiency gains of at least 25%, and more than a third of respondents said they expect efficiency is improved by at least 50%. .
While these potential benefits are enticing, IT leaders know that embracing AI must be done strategically. By first identifying the prioritized use cases in which using AI improves user experiences, IT leaders can better drive productivity.
Automation is a natural complement to AI and one that also requires strategic application of the right use cases. A sound automation strategy will be scalable and its impact measurable. Processes under consideration for automation must already be optimized, with automation serving to accelerate, simplify or scale them.
Whether IT leaders are applying AI, automation, or a combination of these tools to their projects, it’s essential to follow these basic guidelines:
• Define the scope of the project
• Define key performance indicators (KPIs) or metrics against which results will be measured
• Set a base
• Set up the project
• Evaluate the results
• Learn, adapt and iterate
This framework allows teams to create a solid foundation that mitigates risk and provides a clear window for return on investment (ROI). In other words, start small, succeed, and then scale up.
3. How well are we managing data?
Data almost always wins the day. CIOs know this, but other areas of the business may not be making the most of their data. This means that IT leaders will need to anticipate all areas where data visibility and quality can be improved. Assess data quality by asking:
• How well are our integrations working?
• Are teams getting the data they need to set strategy and hold themselves accountable?
• Does data quality produce actionable insights and sound decision-making?
• Can teams and departments share data efficiently, or is much of it hidden in silos?
To answer these questions and solve the problems they may reveal, it may be necessary to create a tiger team and task them with investigating the quality and overall visibility of the data. Such a team may include data specialists and engineers, but should also include stakeholders from the business side of the equation—for example, sales, marketing, or customer support teams. Insight from the perspectives of these team members can go a long way toward uncovering gaps in data visibility, problems with integrations, and data quality issues.
4. Do we have the right IT talent?
Evolving technology and the evolving expectations that businesses are placing on IT make the issue of IT talent more pressing than ever. As IT takes on more strategic roles that impact revenue, leaders must assess whether or not they have the right people now, and whether or not they have enough structure to develop talent within their organization.
Some of the strategies CIOs should ask about include gap analysis, team topology, team culture, mentoring programs, and fit/scalability of the existing technology stack. One of the warning signs that leaders should be aware of includes increasing tension between IT and other areas of the company, which may be a signal that other issues need to be addressed, including trust between IT and business teams, the presence of IT shadow and backward swelling.
Now face the future.
Moving forward, businesses will rely more than ever on their IT teams. New technologies like AI, the proliferation of the tech stack, and the talent shortage are changing the landscape and redefining what it means for IT to be successful. By asking the right questions now, CIOs and IT leaders can stay ahead of the curve and create strategies that set their businesses up for success.
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