GenAI will become the most important technology trend in 2024, and for CIOs, reviewing new tools, configuring infrastructure, addressing new risks, and delivering new user experiences will become top priorities.
While most vendors are rolling out new GenAI capabilities, it can be difficult for CIOs to determine whether they are truly valuable rather than leading to costly failures. Therefore, CIOs need to develop a business case for these tools to ensure they deliver real value.
The impact of new GenAI tools and infrastructure on CIOs will be far greater than expected. In addition to upgrading data infrastructure and processes, CIOs will be responsible for budgeting for new cybersecurity tools, attracting new talent, upskilling teams, and redeploying staff tasks. These measures will lead to more efficient processes and better business results for the enterprise.
In addition to GenAI, CIOs will play an increasingly important role in reviewing the ROI of cloud infrastructure, integrating warehouse automation infrastructure and considering the value of new digital twin tools.
Here’s how different trends will impact CIO priorities in 2024.
Tilak Doddapaneni, executive vice president and global head of engineering at Publicis Groupe, said that CIOs will A major challenge is how to discover the business value of GenAI technology. This is no easy task given the rapid development of this technology.
He said: "CIOs currently face a key challenge, their first task is to understand the business team and work with them to deal with the impact of GenAI."
CIO will need to work closely with the business team Collaborate to identify applications for GenAI and drive the delivery of necessary tools and platforms while strategically planning the business cases and costs associated with their implementation.
The key to achieving success is establishing architectural abstractions, and CIOs also need to have a deep understanding of the costs associated with these advancements.
Some companies will continue to experiment with and sometimes expand GenAI initiatives, but Yugal Joshi, a partner at consulting firm Everest Group, said, More companies will turn to existing platforms such as ServiceNow, SAP, Salesforce and Microsoft for simplicity and speed. AI tools are currently too volatile for most CIOs to want to invest in.
One big concern will be the pricing increases required by platform providers. Joshi said that in some cases, their GenAI products are 200% more expensive than their other products and services. On the other hand, these vendors are also starting to offer indemnification protections, which may help ease concerns about new liabilities.
As companies flock to GenAI, CIOs will increasingly be tasked with responding to the risks that must be managed . Scott Laliberte, managing director and global head of Protiviti's emerging technologies group, said CIOs must set appropriate expectations and ROI projections.
They will need to ensure that new use cases are aligned with the overall business strategy by working with key business executives. They may also be involved in establishing a solid AI governance framework. CIOs must cultivate a continuous culture of innovation that emphasizes the symbiotic relationship between AI and human capabilities to build trust and drive adoption of new tools.
CIOs also need to understand the user experience and user interface requirements of internal and external stakeholders.
Doddapaneni said: "There is a paradigm shift happening in traditional user interface concepts, especially for platforms using GenAI, which requires a significant rethink of user experience strategy." Since many types of interactions do not fit into the Chatbot model , so different UI approaches are essential.
Doddapaneni predicts that 60% to 70% of the upcoming tasks that solve GenAI needs Will revolve around data engineering. CIOs will need to establish core data architecture. They will also need to develop appropriate data formatting procedures, put data in the appropriate place for model training, ensure the accuracy of data versions, and evaluate the current performance of data platforms such as data warehouses and customer data platforms. state.
Nick Kramer, head of application solutions at global consulting firm SSA & Company, predicts that despite the endless headlines and hype about AI, adoption of AI will continue to be slow. . In the current environment, the most innovative CIOs will focus on data management and governance. These CIOs recognize that managing high-quality data, bringing unstructured data into management, and building data literacy need to be a priority, and these efforts often Be justified within innovation budgets while driving direct impact through visibility, knowledge sharing and better decision-making.
In 2024, AI will amplify the tactics, techniques and procedures of threat actors. Stephen Ross, director of Americas business development at global corporate intelligence and cybersecurity consulting firm S-RM, predicts that this will increase rates of highly targeted spear phishing, streamline fraud attacks, and drive vishing (voice phishing).
Ross is concerned that the average U.S. cybersecurity budget grew by only 1% last year, while threat factors are evolving much faster. Security tools that worked five years ago are no longer effective, and even seemingly bulletproof vendors are under threat. Ross said: "CIOs need to fight for critical technology updates within budget time, and their companies need to stay ahead of threat actors."
In 2024, as the challenge of balancing risk management with operational efficiency continues, aligning cybersecurity strategy with overall business needs will remain a key issue for CIOs, said Andrew Morrison, principal at Deloitte Risk & Financial Advisory priorities.
Morrison said, “While the execution of network projects often falls on the shoulders of the CISO or information security director, the CIO will need to align with the network as part of their overall business strategy, which is often a challenge. , especially as the pace of digital transformation accelerates."
As companies push more data to the edge, increase their reliance on the cloud, and adopt advanced technologies such as GenAI to achieve growth, they may also Creating new vulnerabilities that attackers can exploit to compromise their systems. CIOs who prioritize a secure-by-design approach in their own strategies while applying this thinking to new technology implementation will be well-positioned to help their companies gain a competitive advantage in the years to come.
John King, partner in the business transformation practice at Lotis Blue Consulting, predicts 2024 CIOs of 2020 will need to prioritize upgrading, managing and retaining key talent in their organizations. Technology trends in cybersecurity, AI, cloud migration and digital transformation all require distinct and upgraded skills. Without significant upskilling and reskilling efforts, the ROI of new technology projects will be insufficient, resulting in slower business uptake.
Success will require working closely with HR, workplace learning and talent acquisition teams to coordinate the investments required to upgrade existing employee skills and introduce new capabilities, which will be significant.
King said: “If companies don’t view IT as a highly strategic asset, this conversation will happen sooner or later because highly skilled employees will be vulnerable to poachers if they are not kept employed and compensated. It's extremely attractive."
Bringing in new resources with the right profile can be more expensive than previous IT recruiting. Over time, implementing technologies like GenAI for coding and integration will reduce the overall headcount required in IT, but the overall cost will likely remain the same.
Once these programs are launched, CIOs will also need to ensure that their employees remain engaged and motivated at work and that they are not at risk of fleeing, especially given the increased investment in their careers. Partnering with HR is critical to developing an approach that monitors the health of the IT organization, identifies areas at risk of turnover, and can quickly intervene to retain employees.
Stephen Watt, CIO of content management platform Hyland, predicts that workforce management will be the first step for CIOs to adopt new technologies in 2024 (including those that require employee training and engagement). new AI systems).
Companies will continue to find new and innovative ways to close the workforce gap through smart, customized AI interactions and processes. Still, they need skills from team members who can build them.
Watt said: "We need to improve our own AI skills within our technology teams and our business groups so that they too can understand where and how these technologies may have the greatest impact."
GenAI is a transformative technology, but the transition to GenAI systems and processes will still require people to make it work. "As leaders, our job will be to ensure that we can train, retain and compete for the best talent to develop this skill set," Watt said. "I think this will be the trend that will require the most time and effort, rather than the technology itself. ."
Instead, CIOs must also prepare for GenAI-driven productivity improvements in the coding process and changes to the software engineering lifecycle. impact planning. Joshi expects board members to push CIOs to rethink the IT talent model, the number of employees needed to build and run systems, the new roles and skills required, and chart GenAI-centric career paths for individuals.
Joshi said: "This will be a difficult task for CIOs, who will need to understand the impact of talent more deeply than previous technology disruptions."
GenAI-related productivity gains could free up talent for chronically understaffed areas like cybersecurity. "Every CIO is complaining, but they can't do anything because they don't have the funds." Josh said. He predicts that boards will ask CIOs to use GenAI to improve these talent issues.
Infrastructure
CIOs of physical products and logistics companies will increasingly prioritize technology stacks for warehouse automation. Historically, automation solutions have been difficult to integrate because they tend not to speak the same language and require complex custom code to bring everything together.
Rowan Stott, a research analyst at consulting firm InterAct Analysis, said: "We are now seeing more and more systems being developed with open interfaces and interoperability platforms like SVT Robotics, which Platforms make it easier to integrate and connect systems," he said. "CIOs should consider how to develop more interoperable technology stacks that make it easier to leverage innovations in robotics and transportation systems to streamline operations and reduce costs."
CIOs are increasingly being drawn into discussions about inflated cloud bills. Everest Group found that 87% of customers were dissatisfied with the value they received from adopting the cloud. Joshi predicts that cost discussions in 2024 will increasingly focus on ROI.
Companies will want their cloud providers and technology services partners to build ROI models that show their cloud adoption journey and estimate the timeline for positive ROI, how much upfront and annual investment is required, and what migration they will need The number of cloud workloads can reach positive levels.
While GenAI seems to be getting all the media coverage this year, innovations in physics-based simulation and digital twins may have a role to play in manufacturing products A key role in democratizing a previously expensive and complex tool. (Physics simulation is computer-based modeling that uses mathematical equations to replicate real-world behavior.) For example, in late 2023, researchers at Google demonstrated a new weather simulation model that ran several times on a single machine. minutes instead of hours on dozens of machines, the CIO can be responsible for determining the cost-benefit ratio of this pairing and associated infrastructure and training.
Christian Buckner, Altair’s senior vice president of data analytics and IoT, expects more companies to combine AI with physical simulations. Physical models can sometimes take up a lot of computer power and time, while AI is limited by the historical data available. As these tools are mixed and matched, they will bring the best of both worlds while reducing limitations.
Buckner said: “Increasingly, we will see physical models accelerated together with AI, AI models trained on synthetic data from physical models, and simulated user workflows accelerated through natural language interfaces. “The result will be faster, more accurate iterations that require significantly less computational cost and less user effort.
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