American Honda IT to fuel innovation with generative AI

Generative AI takes a front seat

As for that AI strategy, American Honda’s deep experience with machine learning positions it well to capitalize on the next wave: generative AI.

The ascendent rise of generative AI last year has applied pressure on CIOs across all industries to tap its potential. For automakers such as Honda, generative AI provides an opportunity to enable their automobile designers and developers to innovate on a higher level, says Craig Powers, research director for worldwide digital business strategies at IDC.

“The automotive sector has not been traditionally among the leading industries when comes to transforming into a digital business, but the use of automation and AI has been of great interest to streamline supply chains and manufacturing processes,” Powers says. “Taking the next step with the use of gen AI to augment product development could be a major boost for automakers. The first companies to take that step forward are likely to reap the benefits from faster and broader innovation.”

In light of this, Brizendine has developed a five-pronged generative AI strategy to help move American Hone ahead of its rivals — one that is focused on internal use to enhance employee productivity and efficiency.

The strategy boils down to full corporate control over how generative AI is used by American Honda’s IT pros and knowledge workers, enabling a security strategy that can stand up to any variables. It also includes well-steered applications of generative AI for specific domains, such as development, legal, and customer engagements.

For more complex needs, in roughly 20% of use cases, American Honda is standing up dedicated environments internally for specific uses that require ingestion of Honda-specific content or additional security or data segmentation for effectiveness, according to company officials.  Examples include internal policies, call centers, and product development.