Artificial intelligence and machine learning has the potential to boost many, many areas of the enterprise. As explored in my recent post[1], it is capable of accelerating and adding intelligence to supply chain management, human resources, sales, marketing and finance. Oh, and one more area, by the way -- IT management.
The inevitable impact of AI on IT departments was touched on in a recent survey[2] of 2,280 business leaders from MIT Sloan Management Review and SAS, which finds that in these early days of AI, IT professionals will be feeling the greatest impact -- both from a career and an operational point of view..
CIOs, chief data officers, and chief analytics officers will be on the front lines of AI implementations, the study finds. IT road maps, software development, deployment processes, and data environments are likely to be transformed in the near future.
Most IT managers report that they are still developing foundational capabilities for AI -- cloud or data center infrastructure, cybersecurity, data management, development processes and workflow.
Cloud services in particular are a critical piece of the AI puzzle, according to Eric Monteiro, senior vice president and chief client experience officer at Sun Life, quoted in the report. "Paying for on-demand cloud computing resources is more cost-effective than buying and operating the computing infrastructure required by AI. It also offers more flexibility to serve different business units according to their individual needs and to access the latest technologies."
A majority of IT managers, 61 percent, report that AI is dramatically changing software development and deployment processes, and 57 percent expect it to similarly influence software deployment processes. Those who have already implemented AI are more likely to report a strong impact on both software development