What C-suite executives need to know about AI adoption

Business leaders need to understand AI to make informed decisions about the technology’s role in the strategic direction of their organizations. supplied

While Canadian businesses still lag in AI adoption compared to G7 peers, Cam Linke, CEO of Amii (Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute), sees an encouraging uptick in leadership interest.

Increased C-suite awareness is the primary driver for accelerating momentum, he proposes. “Companies are starting to realize the potential of AI and machine learning – opening their eyes to opportunities for adoption. While urgency could be higher, we are seeing increased willingness.”

Yet barriers persist, says Mr. Linke, including some that originate in macroeconomic trends, with uncertainty and variability in the international economy making leaders more cautious about deploying capital, including for AI strategies.

“Leaders need to understand AI to make informed investment decisions, manage risk and foster in-house AI capabilities, rather than delegating these decisions entirely to technical teams,” he says.

This requirement for executive fluency is the catalyst for the CEO Circle at Upper Bound, a program track curated by Mr. Linke to move leaders from understanding to action.

Research underlines the importance of leadership buy-in. Data by RAND shows an overall failure rate of AI projects of over 80 per cent, with Pertama Partners pointing to leadership issues in 84 per cent of failures, among them lack of clear metrics, underinvestment in foundations and loss of C-suite sponsorship within six months.

While such numbers may inspire caution, they don’t tell the whole story, emphasizes Mr. Linke. “Having a project that is not working as envisioned doesn’t necessarily mean it is a failure, especially if the goal is to learn from the experience and set up the organization for success for future AI integration.

“Each failure, if you learn from it, can move you closer to success. What we see is that even the companies that are the most successful in adopting AI had a number of failures. They failed their way to success through a long-term commitment to AI – and through setting themselves up to learn and to grow.”

A long-term commitment is key since companies that invest in AI may start with incremental improvements, such as more data and operational efficiencies or new users and better products, he says. “From there, they enter a cycle where they stack learnings and progress to a strong trajectory.”

This cycle of stacking learnings is a core objective for Amii. Mr. Linke believes that breaking out of internal echoes is key to this progress, which is why Upper Bound, Amii’s flagship AI event, is designed to facilitate unexpected collisions with the high likelihood of “finding something that is important to you or that will expand your horizon,” Mr. Linke notes.

“It’s the only conference that brings together researchers and core technical leaders with students, startups, investors, businesses of all sizes, civil society, government and universities. This makes for very rich encounters and opportunities to learn from many different perspectives.”

Connecting with peers – and sharing institutional knowledge for working through different steps in AI adoption – can spark confidence in leaders for moving their organization’s AI journey forward. Increased AI uptake, in turn, can lead to “a proliferation of proofs of concept,” which is neither good nor bad, says Mr. Linke. “But we kind of bury the lede: strategic alignment is what’s most important.

“You want to empower your team to try out new things and surface new opportunities,” he advises. “But you will see the most amplification of value when investments are aligned with strategic pillars and business objectives.”

His ultimate message to CEOs is that it is time for them to take action. “We’re not saying you should make reckless bets,” Mr. Linke says. “But if you’re not stacking up your wins, you run the risk of falling behind.”

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