Leadership in artificial intelligence is crucial for business success and will require more than outstanding technology skills
Every company is wrestling with big questions around artificial intelligence – the potential for transformation and perils of getting it wrong.
One major decision is who takes responsibility and is accountable for AI? Just as the technology is revolutionising work, it’s also transforming org charts, creating new responsibilities and in some cases a new position - chief artificial intelligence officer.
According to recent research from UK executive search firm pltform, 48% of the FTSE 100 companies have a designated CAIO or equivalent.
Two thirds of these have been appointed in the past two years and 42% hired in the past 12 months, the report AI: All In found.
HRD spoke to recruiters and a leading academic about why this critical role needs more than technology expertise.
Nicole Gorton, director at recruitment firm Robert Half, said interest was increasing for AI leadership roles in Australia.
“We will move towards a chief AI role as an independent vertical but for a lot of organisations they are putting it two-fold, they are putting it as the responsibility of one individual or layering it across department heads,” she said.
“The appetite is there, it's more a case of timing and investment.
“This role will be critical to organisations moving forward and those that adopt it and adopt it well - you will see them progress.”
Adam Shapley, managing director of technology at Hays recruitment, said while some global organisations were appointing chief AI officers, in Australia demand remained limited with AI leadership instead integrated within existing executive functions.
“That said, AI expertise is becoming increasingly valuable at the leadership level. While we may not yet see widespread hiring of chief AI officers, the demand for AI-skilled leaders across various functions is certainly growing,” he said.
Gorton says AI leaders will need technical skills and capabilities but also bring strategic and business acumen, innovative thinking and the ability to manage issues around governance, ethics, risk and privacy.
“There is AI technical and then there is AI adoption,” she said.
Associate professor Lynn Gribble, from the School of Management and Governance at the University of NSW, agrees chief AI officers will need to be more than technology experts.
“They need to be able to look at ethics and guard rails and moral implications and the ‘just because we can doesn’t mean we should’,” she said.
“At the moment we need chief artificial intelligence officers because it’s about more than IT, it’s about bringing together all the other things that come with AI.”
Gribble, who brings a unique perspective on the issue as a leader in AI teaching and learning and a former HR professional, cautioned HR leaders involved in recruiting AI leadership roles to be get bamboozled by the technology.
“Make sure that your interview panel has understanding of what the people problems are, what the business problems and strategy is. Have an IT person there so that they can make sure that they're telling you some truths but don’t get snookered into being bamboozled by the tech behind it,” she said.
“Really think about, we want someone who can get cellularly into our business and reimagine our business for the next 10 to 15 years that is augmented by these amazing things.
“I’m not just talking compliance. I’m really talking about what it means to us as humans.
“It's really critical that we have somebody who can work with the CIOs because CIO's are often risk averse and very worried about the technical things, rightly so but a chief AI officer can look at those broader things about what will this mean for the business if we insert this. So, it's a partnership between what the business needs, what it means for the business and then all the IT.”
