| | MARCH 202319CIOReviewCXO INSIGHTSMy intent in this article is to share some of my personal experience that spans both the AI world and the role of the CIO in hope to help you plan and execute a smoother AI augmented future.I have been leading IT, for multiple companies, in multiple industries for over 20 years. My DNA is on digital transformation and talent development. Between 2 VP-CIO positions, I worked as delivery director in the AI software space, on the solution implementation side. I witnessed first hand the challenges from the solution development perspective and from the customer side. A few months before having that delivery director position, I was acting as master of ceremony for a digital transformation conference. On my opening speech I remember making the point that CIOs did not need to have AI on their list of competencies but that those who did would differentiate themselves from the others. Today, looking forward, I would state this to be a prerequisite for long term success!In my role of delivery director, there were two main issues we frequently faced with customers and that CIOs should likely have on their radar when considering AI solutions. Number one issue related to the data foundation and having to deal with a multiplicity of challenges in quality dimensions. Without good data, algorithms just won't provide reliable value. The second most important issue we faced related to the costs of building and implementing our AI solutions. Although there were great opportunities, the development proved challenging and longer than planned, requiring highly talented and expensive resources, the hardware necessary to run the algorithms were very expensive and the business expectations, often overinflated. Both sides of the economic ratio were going in the wrong direction! Each customer had its own challenges but these came up consistently. Now let me wear my IT leader hat. In my opinion, and by far, the most challenging task to prepare for a successful AI future relates to establishing a robust and comprehensive data foundation. To do so, tackling the mess built up over years is an unavoidable and daunting task. By mess, I mean years of misaligned data history, from multiple sources, coming from multiple business acquisitions, in different technologies, format, locations, with bad and inherited habits... a mess! Therefore, organizationally align, clean up, harmonize and standardize! Easy! The reality is that it is impractical and likely impossible to tackle it all at once. Therefore consider prioritizing data sets based on use cases that align to your organisation's strategy, while leveraging quick wins (tactical and visible initiatives) to build momentum. I also strongly suggest you leverage cloud ARE YOU READY FOR YOUR AI JOURNEY?By Eric Martin, Vice President, Information Technology and Digitalization, Deschenes GroupEric Martin
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