How to prioritize AI initiatives

Leadership and governance 

Leadership is crucial in ensuring that AI initiatives align with business goals. CIOs and senior leaders must provide strong leadership, direction and, most importantly, supporting the roadmap. This is especially critical during the execution phase of the journey in order to navigate the bumps that are bound to arise at the business process, people and culture pillars. Effective leadership involves strategic planning and active engagement with AI initiatives, championing AI efforts, communicating their strategic importance, building a culture of alignment and ensuring they are integrated into the business strategy. 

Most importantly investing in the right team of people to bring this vision to reality. For most of the 22% of AI leaders who have emerged, the time since ChatGPT went live in November of 2022 has been a period of AI incubation, investment, and focused effort. Much of that energy has been spent assembling the right team and fully backing them with robust leadership and change management. The dynamic nature of both AI and business environments warrants this approach because it requires continuous evaluation and adjustments of AI initiatives. That’s just the nature of this beast. 

Governance starts with data and is then integrated into AI. Data-driven decision-making is at the heart of any successful AI implementation. Ensuring that data is used responsibly and compliantly is a prerequisite. As AI becomes more embedded in data processes, governance in AI encompasses data integrity and quality.