Artificial intelligence (AI) is the hot topic on everyone’s mind. Technology providers are researching and developing how they can exploit AI, companies in a wide range of industries are seeking to understand how AI will impact their businesses and organizations, and consumers are wondering how AI will affect their privacy and possibly their jobs. The Harvard Business Review recently called AI the “most important general-purpose technology of our era” that is “poised to have a transformational impact” on business.
Although interest is high, that transformational impact has not yet arrived, partly because AI deployment and use has not hit the business mainstream. Experts in the field expect AI to be widespread within the next decade, but there is currently a “bottleneck” caused by organizations trying to figure out how to deploy AI and for what purpose.
One possible reason for the bottleneck may be the ability of AI vendors to meet the expectations of enterprise IT managers. According to research and advisory company Gartner, the expectations of IT departments play a key role in determining when an enterprise deploys AI. In a recent post on the Gartner Blog Network, Werner Goertz described 10 things that enterprise IT managers expect when considering the deployment of AI technology. Highlights include the following:
- Data Security. Although consumers express concern over their data security, they are still willing to purchase the latest technology, such as virtual personal assistant (VPA) speakers. IT managers are much more sophisticated and expect to know what measures are used to safeguard data.
- System Integration. The ability of AI technology to integrate with enterprise authorization and asset management systems is necessary for IT managers. For example, a VPA speaker should be able to link with a user’s access rights.
- ID Recognition. While biometric authentication is already implemented in consumer devices, the infrastructure necessary for implementing biometric authentication for a business can be significant. Enterprise IT departments will require systems to control large sets of IDs and real-time speaker recognition for voice technology.
- Device Management Consoles/Dashboards. IT managers expect administrative capabilities that are not built into consumer devices, including centralized dashboards to manage and monitor devices.
- Privacy. In addition to data security, IT managers are accountable for the use of the data and meeting privacy expectations that are not present in consumer devices. Gartner suggests that AI vendors issue “stronger and more detailed privacy statements” to address this concern for business use.
- Conservative Thinking. AI technology is disruptive and requires an open mind. Gartner notes that AI adoption usually stems from the customer-facing units of a business that want to improve customer experience and keep up with the competition. AI vendors should work to assist IT managers in understanding AI’s advantages for customer experience and provide references for installation successes.
The Gartner post contains additional expectations and examples that help illustrate the current thinking of IT departments with respect to AI deployment.