Artificial Intelligence is speeding up the pace of change in business like nothing before it.   And IT is at the forefront of that change.  As AI possibilities move from speculation to core business strategy, IT leaders will play an ever more important role.

Going forward, IT leaders will be expected to not only know the latest technical initiatives, but they will also have to be able to explain their work to non-technical colleagues more so than ever before.  For instance:

• The C-Suite. Can the power of AI deliver the business results we need to be successful and grow.  How? Why?  What level of confidence. What are the specific risks?
• Human Resources. What’s the impact on the current team? Do we have the right team to plan and execute? What roles are eliminated or reduced? What roles need to be created. Including on the IT team.
• What is the company doing and why? Is it smart? Ethical? Right? Legal? Moral?  Does it align with the company’s stated values.
• What is changing, why and when? How does it affect what they do and how they rely on the company? Are prices changing? How? Why? 
• What changes are being made? How does this impact shareholder values? What are the risks? Does it change the risk profile of the company?
• Governments and regulators. In some cases, IT leaders will need to speak to outside bodies who may not be as technically expert as necessary.

These are some examples of where IT will be required to assert themselves where in the recent past this weas not the case.   Your company and role may have a different experience.  In any case, IT leaders and their teams, will be closer to the center of business operations and communications that ever before. 

Ready?  You’d better be.