According to an IBM survey, about 53 percent of IT professionals believe that their company has accelerated the rollout of artificial intelligence-based technologies due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
43 percent of Indian IT professionals said that the pandemic has increased their focus on security and threats. More than one in two feel limited knowledge and increasing data complexity and data silos as barriers to AI adoption the report added.
The report further added that according to ‘IBM’s Global AI Adoption Index 2021’ survey released during the company’s virtual conference IBM Think 2021, “Nearly all (95 percent) IT professionals in India believe that it is critical or very important to their business that they can trust the AI’s output is fair, safe and reliable”.
“Trusted AI, the rise of virtual agents using NLP, automation, and anywhere Hybrid are the top areas that have emerged as a key business enabler in the last year owing to the acceleration of technology adoption,” said Viswanath Ramaswamy, Vice President, Technology, IBM Technology Sales, India/South Asia.
As part of its $1 billion investment to support its partner ecosystem, during the virtual event, IBM introduced new competencies, skills training, and benefits in order to ensure that its partners succeed in the competitive market.
CIO’s evolving role
Enterprises, on their part, have embarked on a digitalisation journey.
IT decision-makers from leading Indian companies have zeroed in on cyber security and data-backed decision making, as their key priority areas in 2021.
According to Adobe’s survey on ‘COVID-19’s impact on the CIOs evolving role’, at least three-quarters of CIOs say their role has expanded, that their responsibilities have increased, and they have greater influence on leadership decisions within their organization.
The report also underlined that companies have been steadily taking on digital transformation projects for years, but COVID-19 put their plans on the fast track, which also quickly expanded many CIO roles and opportunities to drive progressive digital-first programs. Today, IT leaders sit at the juncture of their company’s transformation and innovation efforts providing a unique horizontal view and influence across the organization.
CIOs are fuelling their company’s customer experience journey, with 97 percent saying they are as focused on customer experience (CX) as before the COVID-19 pandemic, if not more so, despite all the new responsibilities on their shoulders.
“Over the past year, CIOs have been able to further improve digital customer experiences, but these experiences have also become more complex. Moving forward, CIOs need to think about the integrated tools and frameworks necessary to help their organizations effectively capture customer data, convert that data into valuable insights and utilize those insights to shape a personalized and enhanced customer experience”, said Cynthia Stoddard, senior vice president, and chief information officer, Adobe.
She further added that the Customers are more conscious than ever of their data value exchange with brands and gravitate towards companies they can trust to manage their data responsibly. As hybrid working models are set to become the norm post-pandemic, CIOs need to ensure their organizations have the right infrastructure and processes in place to keep data secure and compliant no matter where they are based.
“Given the proven correlation between happy employees, satisfied customers, and overall business success — it’s more critical than ever that CIOs prioritize any systems or business processes that improve collaboration, productivity, and overall employee experience”, said Stoddard.
