AI without governance? Not recommended, IDC says

Dive Brief:

To compensate for the accelerated innovation and cut IT spending, IDC predicts 70% of CIOs will pursue data and AI solutions for IT operations, tools and processes by 2021.
With the increase in risk and responsibility brought by AI, businesses also have to address governance. Governance policies will undergo a transformation by 2022 as 65% of CIOs prepare for new risks brought on by artificial intelligence, machine learning and data privacy and ethics, according to an IDC report.
CIOs are encouraged to cultivate an accessible AI code of ethics for employees that clearly outlines data privacy rules, makes policies that aid the compliant deployment of AI, and tests AI-driven apps for inaccuracies to prepare for the changes AI will bring, according to IDC.

Dive Insight:

Predictions help form the base of a roadmap for the year ahead. When a company can make clear their transformative intentions, CIOs are more equipped with knowing what avenues to take and what technologies will drive business value.

Innovation for the sake of innovation is almost always a fruitless task and can unintentionally rack up IT spending. But AI is one disruptive, innovative technology with a rightful place in enterprise technology.

Still, AI and ML solutions can unintentionally invite risk from faulty or biased algorithms, unreliable data or too much data collected through IoT devices. Such risk can wreak havoc on a CIO's good intentions.

At the end of the day, the CIO is responsible for the protection of employees and customers, which highlights the important of good governance. Governance sets a precedent for how technology should be handled, creating an ethical safety net around disruptive tech.

Just as the cloud freed up controls for employees, it also indirectly encouraged data overconsumption. CIOs had to react to unforeseen costs by implementing third-party reporting tools or creating a consumption hierarchy.

Governance, among optimizing operations and cutting costs, is a basic expectation of CIOs. Creating policies to mitigate risk and cost created by nontechnical employees, it also sets the tone for a CIO's authority.