The importance of AI Governance for artificial intelligence

Artificial Intelligence (AI) states organisations competent solve issues that were impossible with older methods. AI analyses and uses data faster, more constant and better than the man. AI helps organisations become agile by itself fast and flexible adapt to the changing environment. With AI, organisations gain more profit by predicting business outcomes and retain customers by personal experiences at create. This pwonderful promises we hear and read every day. We will be nowadays abouthulled by AI-driven systemen and parties, who pretend to have major steps at put in digitisering.

Promise is debt, but it is obviously important not to plunge into the AI adventure without carefully preparing for it. After all, hhe thoughtless deployment of AI and AI-driven systems can cause a lot of damage.

The use of AI requires a new integrated approach to business operations. Essential here is to think carefully beforehand about the organisational objectives to be achieved where AI can add value, e.g. optimisation of operational efficiency or realisation of (strategic) objectives in terms of developing new products, services and business models.

A widely used (forced or not) tool in this regard is the emergence of AI within the ERP systems currently on the market. ERP systems can be used to optimise business processes, with the promise of efficiency gains and faster decision-making. A lot is possible in this regard but implementing such features and systems also brings many challenges around investment, complexity, privacy and security.

Advantages of AI-driven systems:

Automated processes: AI can automate repetitive tasks and processes, improving efficiency and reducing human error.
Predictive analytics: AI can analyse data and make predictions based on historical data, allowing organisations to better plan and anticipate future trends.
Improved decision-making: AI-driven analytics and insights enable organisations to make faster and more informed decisions.
Business process optimisation: AI can help identify inefficiencies and optimise business processes within the ERP system.
Personalised user experience: AI can be used to create personalised user experiences, providing them with specific information and features based on needs.
And AI can also simply take work off your hands or reduce it significantly.

A key requirement for successfully deploying AI is that organisations are already digitally mature to some degree. This maturity includes having a streamlined digital infrastructure, the ability to manage large amounts of data and a culture of technology adoption within the company. Having a well-functioning data management process is essential, with the company being able to collect and maintain reliable, standardised high-quality data. A proactive and open culture towards innovation and new technology also determines adaptability and implementation success. A flexible corporate culture and the ability to respond quickly to change are the key pillars on which AI leans.

Key challenges in deploying AI-driven systems are:

Costs: Implementing AI in ERP systems can involve high initial costs, including investment in technology and staff training.
Complexity: Integrating AI can be complex and may require adjustments to existing infrastructure, which can lead to challenges.
Privacy and security: The use of AI within ERP systems can raise privacy and security concerns, especially when handling sensitive business information.

Dependence on data quality: AI algorithms are highly dependent on the quality of the input data. If the data is of low quality, the results may be biased or unreliable.
Change management: working with AI-driven ERP systems leads to change in employees' work.
Human replacement: Automating processes using AI could lead to concerns about job losses and the need for retraining for workers.

Role of AI Governance

As an organisation, it is essential to carefully weigh these pros and cons and develop an AI Governance strategy that fits the specific needs and objectives of the business and when implementing AI-driven systems.

It is thus advisable to invest strategically in AI, tailored to the specific need to take advantage of this transformative power. At the strategic level, the company should have clear objectives for using AI, integrated into the broader business strategy. It also helps if management understands the added value and sets realistic expectations. Unthinking adoption of AI within a company is never advisable.

In short: the success of AI in business processes and ERP is always a trade-off between AI's benefits, alignment with strategy, investment, user adaptability, risks and timing.

Improve AI - Governance

With our IT Governance proposition, Improven has been helping organisations improve with IT for years, both effectively looking ahead and flexibly executing. Underpinning this are 3 pillars:

Appealing IT strategy
Clear IT policies and
Successful selection of appropriate IT resources.

Depending on the customer, we reinforce these pillars with Integration (interfaces), Security and Automation.

With the emergence of AI, a pillar has been added where we look together with the company at the effective deployment of AI resources and draw up a good AI strategy. This strategy consists of defining clear and specific objectives you want to achieve with AI. Drawing up a data strategy for data quality and accessibility (AI relies heavily on data, so it is essential to ensure that the data is reliable, up-to-date and relevant) and finally, advice around compliance and regulation where we take into account the legal and regulatory aspects related to the use of AI.