CIOs and IT leaders must be bold to take advantage of genAI

A new one report of the IBM Institute for Business Value argues that Chief Information Officers must understand that the technology landscape has fundamentally changed in recent years and that a new era of artificial intelligence requires honing new skills and core competencies.

“IT as a standalone function is dead,” write IBM researchers. “Technology is the business.”

In the new era of generative AI – a rapidly evolving landscape of ubiquitous digital tools – technology leaders in healthcare and elsewhere must remain agile, adaptable and assertive, and proactively communicate with their CEOs, to gain a competitive advantage, said the report – which surveyed more than 2,500 CIOs, CTOs and CDOs globally and highlighted some potential blind spots that modern IT leaders may need to address.

THE BIGGER TREND
Healthcare IT News has mapped the evolution of the CIO function over the past ten years.

Back in 2014, we noted that the former “IT guy” was now a “skilled strategist at the boardroom table, with more demands on his role than ever.”

And that was before cloud-based AI and automation had permeated and transformed every corner of the healthcare system.

Since then, other profiles have shown how the mission and mandate of the healthcare CIO is “rapidly shifting toward innovation, transformation and revenue generation.”

We’ve also been tracking the rise of new C-suite roles, such as the entity information officer and – starting with a new set of roles launched this week – the chief AI officer.

ON THE RECORD
“Despite the evolution and emergence of technology roles within enterprises, ‘technology’ has not always played a role in companies’ strategic decision-making,” IBM researchers said in the report.

“The absence or ineffective participation of tech leaders has created blind spots in the organization, making it difficult for organizations to seize today’s opportunities in artificial intelligence in all its forms: traditional AI, generational AI, machine learning and automation.”

“Tech CxOs must boldly expose the six blind spots that are holding their organizations back from achieving AI advantage,” they added. “To overcome the barriers, tech leaders must lead the honest, vital conversations about their organization’s readiness to deliver breakthrough innovation and business outcomes.”

Mike Miliard is Editor-in-Chief of Healthcare IT News
Email the author: mike.miliard@himssmedia.com
Healthcare IT News is a publication of HIMSS.

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