Prepare to transform IT services with Generative AI

AI, and specifically Generative AI, is going to transform IT delivery as well as a whole host of other corporate functions. Via secure company-wide intranets that draw on open, cloud-based AI platforms, to intelligent bot-enabled business functions and regulatory processes, ChatGPT and tools like it are going to transform the way entire organisations access, collate and distribute knowledge, and create new assets – as well as what they do with all of it.

Very soon (if they aren’t already piloting projects) companies will first scrutinise and clean up, then migrate content to a secure, cloud-based intranet harnessing the likes of Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI, making valuable knowledge and content assets securely searchable and collatable.

This will have a bearing on the way that new employees find answers to almost any query, as part of everyday business workflow.

If teams need a summary of all the latest regulations with a bearing on a given task, or need to pull together the latest findings on a particular topic, they can simply ask the question and let the technology do the legwork – presenting the information back to them in a meaningful, context-appropriate way.

Quickly, over time, the returned answers will improve too – because users will have the facility to rate them with a quick thumbs up, or thumbs down. As this happens, processes will become ever more efficient, transforming outcomes for teams and the internal and external stakeholders they serve.

Challenges for the C-suite

This is a glimpse into next-generation content and data management, and it really isn’t all that far away. But it comes with challenges for the C-suite, as the surrounding organisational transformation could take many years to see through fully.

Beyond information and content management and analytics, the next level of Generative AI application will be in transforming core processes - from HR, sales, creative marketing, and finance management, to IT development, and web site creation.

As the technology matures, more controlled areas such as regulatory information management (in affected industries) can and will become a focus.

Of course, this won’t happen overnight. But it does require senior business leaders to take the long-term view - today. For now, the immediate preoccupations for companies – particularly regulated organisations including Life Sciences companies, industrial manufacturers, and finance institutions (which often face severe challenges in their digital transformation of content and content access) might have more to do with reducing dependency on legacy systems; consolidating content following a merger; or becoming more responsive to regulatory changes.

Whatever their ostensible and immediate focus, ultimately such initiatives are about being better at information, content, and knowledge management. And in the not-too-distant future, transformed data, content, and knowledge management will involve Generative AI as both the enabler and the intuitive user interface.

Vision for Generative AI’s potential

Even a year ago, no one could have predicted how rapidly Generative AI would take hold and grow in its application. Accepting and fully embracing the implications is going to require significant culture change for companies, an organisational transformation that can take a good many years to see through – not to mention a considerable amount of blood, sweat and tears. Given that the typical tenure of a CEO is 4-5 years, organisations must now infuse the entire Board with a vision and appetite for Generative AI’s potential across their operations.

Beyond information and content management and analytics, the next level of Generative AI application is likely to be in transforming core processes - from HR, sales, creative marketing, and finance management, to IT development, and web site creation (think: “Please generate a web site that does X”). Then, as the technology matures, and trust builds, companies in affected markets can more boldly branch out into similar treatment of regulated areas and workflows.

The important point is that AI – and Generative AI specifically – is not going anywhere. In fact, it will change the world. Its presence is already prominent, and its potential reach is all-pervasive.

Anticipating impact

As to the impact of Generative AI on the role of humans, undoubtedly this will be significant. While human expertise will remain vital in checking, feeding back, refining and improving/embellishing AI’s findings, in time the size of IT/Web development teams, HR functions, finance teams, and so on will inevitably reduce. That’s as more of the groundwork is covered by intelligent technology.

It isn’t just the search and filter intelligence that’s transformative in all of this. It’s the user experience. The way that individuals engage and interact with an application or tool is at least as importance as the clever things it can do, after all. And this has a bearing on everything from middleware or IT admin tools, to a more advanced stack of content enrichment and workflow management capabilities.

The priority must be to anticipate what will be possible within 3-5 years, and to track development and innovation, all underpinned by an optimised core business strategy. The focus shouldn’t be about developing a separate AI strategy. It should be about weaving Generative AI, and indeed any other aspect of digital transformation, into an organisation’s core business strategy – and establishing where the technology could and should be harnessed to help deliver this.