Artificial intelligence is a big opportunity across enterprises in multiple sectors and boards of directors need to think through practical use cases that drive returns, said Karen Higgins-Carter, a former CIO who serves on multiple boards.

Higgins-Carter, a member of Constellation Research's BT150, has been a CIO multiple times including stints at Gilbane Building Company, Webster Bank, MUFG Americas and various GE divisions.

I caught up with Higgins-Carter to talk shop. Here are some of the takeaways.

AI as common opportunity. Higgins-Carter said that boards need to recognize that AI returns cut across multiple sectors and enterprises "AI is a common opportunity across sectors," explained Higgins-Carter. "What comes to mind first is that AI is for a technology, or heavily digital company, but AI also applies to warehouses, planes, trucks, logistics and construction. Sectors with a physical product have a tremendous amount of information flow that is involved in the delivery of the product. Same with pharma and same with financial services. So, make sure that you're thinking about the opportunity holistically and not necessarily from a biased point of view about what business you are in."

What AI doesn't change. Higgins-Carter said boards need to explore AI for their businesses, but in the end businesses are all about creating value in the short- and long-term. "You have to manage unit economics and that doesn't change with AI," she said. "I think boards are interested in practical experimentation, but they're more interested in AI from a strong point of business acumen. What are the practical opportunities in the experiments and inherent risks."

Buy vs. build AI approaches. "If you don't already participate in the technology sector you don't have building your own AI as a core competency," said Higgins-Carter. "Starting with buying and partnering with other companies to develop a capability is a place to start. You can get near-term value. Then you can explore how AI is operationalized within your company; what roles stay and what roles go away?"

Over time, Higgins-Carter said enterprises can figure out AI's implications for workforce planning, culture and commercialization. Companies need to think about opportunities for real differentiation and whether it makes sense to create in-house AI applications.

The buy approach has served Higgins-Carter in her CIO roles largely because the industries were not focused on technology, which was more of an enabler. "I've seen the model that corporations can contribute their knowledge of the industry, their data and develop something unique," she said. "You have to partner with others that bring the depth of technology knowledge to go with industry knowledge."

Hype vs. reality with AI. Higgins-Carter said enterprises are seeing AI automate tasks, but not necessarily roles. Companies are being smarter about tailored approaches to AI, top use cases and process optimization as well as risks. "I think the focus has changed from running a lot of prototypes  to taking a few use cases all the way through the process," she said.

Digital labor and agentic AI. Higgins-Carter said agentic AI will initially support the workforce, but the reality is that it will reshape jobs. "It's a moral obligation for teams to prepare the workforce for that eventuality," said Higgins-Carter. "How people can participate in the future is fundamental to human capital management."

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Business Research Themes

Data to Decisions, Future of Work, Next-Generation Customer Experience, Tech Optimization

Roles

Chief Information Officer

Tags

#AI #artificialintelligence #machinelearning #ML #generativeAI, #transformation