As a leader, are you AI ready?

As a leader, are you AI ready?

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More than 60% of CIOs say AI is part of their innovation plan, yet fewer than half feel the organization can manage AI’s risks.


Whether your organization’s ambition is to augment everyday processes or create something game-changing, it’s up to you as a leader to help your organization set up foundational AI capabilities necessary for success.

GenAI has enabled machines to transition from being tools to being teammates. This is a big shift that comes with a potential dark side. The C-suite often expects CIOs to lead the organization’s AI strategy, capitalizing on its benefits while avoiding unnecessary risk. 

The stakes are high, given the combination of AI excitement and disillusionment that exists because so many AI projects have failed to deploy as projected.


“The AI Hype Cycle has many innovations that deserve particular attention within the two-to-five-year period to mainstream adoption that include generative AI and decision intelligence,” says Gartner Director Analyst Afraz Jaffri . “Early adoption of these innovations will lead to significant competitive advantage and ease the problems associated with utilizing AI models within business processes.”



Gartner research finds that between 17% and 25% of organizations have said they planned to deploy AI within the next 12 months every year from 2019 to 2024, yet the annual growth of production deployments has only been 2% to 5%.


To help increase the success rate, CIOs should start by helping set their organization’s AI ambition — that is, decide where and how you will use AI. Given that today’s AI can do a lot, including decide, take action, discover and generate, it’s important to know what you do and don’t intend to do with AI. 

AI opportunities exist for any organization in four areas:

  • Products/services
  • Core capabilities
  • CX/front office 
  • Back office.

The impact of AI lies on a spectrum between:

  • Everyday AI, which enhances productivity by enabling humans to work faster and more efficiently at the things we already do.
  • Game-changing AI, which enhances creativity by either enabling you to create results via new products and services, or through new core capabilities. Game-changing AI will disrupt business models and industries.


Investment expectations will influence everyday AI and game-changing AI decisions, given that game-changing AI is not cheap. Though 73% of CIOs say they plan to invest more in AI in 2024 than they did in 2023, CFOs are skeptical about the results: 67% of finance heads say that digital investments have underperformed expectations.


To define realistic AI ambitions, consider three AI investment scenarios with your C-suite team:

  1. Defend your position.
  2. Extend your position.
  3. Upend your position.

Note that the biggest opportunities are likely disruptive innovations that could upend an industry and deliver high economic returns, but these are short on feasibility because they involve unproven technology and/or unwilling stakeholders. Read more about AI ambitions and engaging the executive team to choose which AI opportunities to pursue.

Gartner sees five approaches emerging for deploying AI:

  1. Consume
  2. Embed
  3. Extend GenAI models via data retrieval.
  4. Extend GenAI models via fine-tuning.
  5. Build custom foundation models from scratch.

Each deployment approach comes with trade-offs between benefits and risks. Read more about the five approaches and key factors influencing these trade-offs.

Finalizing which AI opportunities an organization will pursue requires business leaders to articulate the level of risk they are willing to accept related:

  1. AI reliability
  2. AI privacy
  3. AI explainability
  4. AI security


CIOs play a key role by helping to define the relative roles of humans and AI. The goal is to strike a balance between the degree of automation (from fully automated to “human in the loop”) and the degree of explainability (from fully opaque “black box” AI to fully explainable). Read more about working with executive leaders to define their risk ambition.


Who leads the charge on AI for business

  • Many organizations are still debating where the responsibility for AI and GenAI initiatives lies. A recent Gartner survey found that a diverse set of leaders is currently accountable for AI delivery.
  • Our research shows that the head of AI must combine business and technology leadership to effectively assess the possibilities, power and perils of AI and GenAI.

Download Now: Your AI Strategy Workbook 

Whether your organization’s ambition is for AI to augment everyday processes or create something game-changing, the organization needs a set of foundational capabilities to succeed.

Download our guide for IT leaders to ready your organization to:

  • Define its “AI ambition” and spot AI opportunities
  • Prepare AI cybersecurity
  • Make data AI-ready
  • Adopt AI principles

CIO's fears and concerns about AI:

More Gartner resources for your c-suite:


Markus Kopko ✨

2*LI Top Voice | 20K Follower | IT Program & Project Management | AI Business Transformation | Coach/Mentor | Speaker | CAITL™ (Certified Artificial Intelligence Transformation Lead) | PgMP® | PMP® | ITIL4 Strategist

7mo

Absolutely crucial insights, Gartner. As leaders, we must embrace AI not just as a tool, but as a strategic partner in driving organizational success. Subscribing to your guidance is a step every forward-thinking executive should take to stay ahead of the curve.

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Shruti Pawar

Award-winning B2B Marketer| Strategic Thought leadership and 2X Marketing & Sales pipeline for High-Tech B2Bs| Personal Thought leadership for Mid-Senior professionals| Corporate Trainer| Ex-Siemens Healthineers

10mo

The need to adapt to AI- driven processes is indispensable. Yet, clear guidelines on various aspects regarding use if AI is the need of the hour. Implementing AI without looking at the possible 'what could go wrong' aspects is something leaders should avoid, in simple terms. While the productivity and efficiency AI can impart is tantalizing, it is equally vital to look into the practical aspects.

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Garrett Koenig, BBA

Claims Specialist at State Farm | BBA in Business Analytics | Committed to the Good Neighbor spirit | Using data-driven insights to enhance claims processes and help people in need |

10mo

Wonderful article as always, Gartner! Conservative estimates suggest that nearly 40-45 percent of jobs will be displaced as AI becomes integrated into various industries and subsequently into particular companies, although the specific timeline is difficult to quantify due to the volatile progression of developments. That said, a significant influx of novel opportunities will flood the global market, making it imperative to adapt and develop specific skills as soon as possible to mitigate this impending disruption. I hope that jobs and overall careers won’t be completely displaced, and that such displacement could alter the overall demand and change the ‘type-of-work’ that conventional jobs once had. This article is crucial, and as employers and employees, we must gain an advantage early before the changes take too dramatic an effect for us to react.

Craig Dickson

Head of Finance at CCI South Africa | Driving value in BPO, Technology & Financial Services | It always seems impossible until it's done.

11mo

AI is like a wild ride of excitement, disillusionment, and a lot of head-scratching over where the responsibility for the initiatives lie.

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