Generative AI in Action: Learnings from Experts at TATE Modern

Jul 10, 2024 | min read

CI&T

Our EVP and partner, Solange Sobral, recently moderated a thought-provoking discussion titled “Gen AI in Action: Challenges, Learnings & the Road Ahead” during CI&T’s "Not Another AI Event" at London's TATE Modern. It featured industry experts Sarb Sembhi (Virtually Informed, Mental Health in Cyber Security Foundation), Fortune Barnard (formerly at VM02), Mel Schemith (Microsoft), and Simon Clarke (Clarks). Additionally, the event gathered executives from leading global brands, including Microsoft, Clarks, Royal London Asset Management, Virgin and O2, Kaizen Gaming, Vodafone, palquee, The Future Laboratory, Hyperoptic and more.

The conversation focused on Generative AI's potential and challenges, with panellists discussing how their companies leverage and monitor the technology across their organisations.

AI in Cybersecurity: Necessity and Implementation

The panellists, particularly Sarb Sembhi, emphasised the urgent need for AI in cybersecurity to combat AI-powered threats. This isn't just theoretical; it's a practical necessity as AI evolves on both sides of the cyber fence. As Solange Sobral explored in a recent article, AI will be used for protection and attack.

They also shed light on a critical internal challenge: the "AI shadow", the unauthorised AI use within various departments, which many C-suite executives are unaware of. This highlights the importance of a top-down AI strategy for successful implementation.

The core pillars to define a successful AI roll-out

They also discussed how leaders must collaborate with technical partners across three business domains - finance, technology, and trustworthiness – before deploying any AI system. Those include:

Financial Justification (ROI): C-level teams need a clear financial case for AI investment. Quantify the expected return on investment and demonstrate the cost savings or revenue generation potential.

Technical Expertise and Data Quality: The quality of your training data and the expertise of your technical team are paramount. Partner with specialists to ensure your AI is built on a strong foundation. The good news is, that new tools and frameworks are emerging constantly to guide you in the right direction.

Trustworthiness and Ethical Considerations: Achieving long-term ROI becomes difficult without robust safeguards for ethical and trustworthy AI behaviour. Embedding these safeguards from the outset is crucial.

AI Usage Survey: Insights from Tech Leaders

We also surveyed attendees—comprising tech leaders from various UK organisations—about their AI usage. The responses revealed interesting trends:

AI Implementation Spectrum

An equal percentage (28%) of respondents reported being at the beginning of their AI journey as those who are well-advanced, indicating a broad range of AI maturity levels even within our small sample. Solange Sobral's recent deep dive into scaling Gen AI at the corporate level echoes these findings, offering strategic insights for companies at different stages of AI adoption.

Efficiency Improvements

Encouragingly, the majority of attendees reported seeing concrete efficiency improvements after implementing Generative AI. At CI&T, we've witnessed impressive results with clients using our enterprise-ready platform, CI&T/FLOW, with select clients boasting impressive efficiency gains.

Since incorporating CI&T/FLOW in less than a year, select clients have already experienced efficiency gains of two to four times faster in the individual development phases and around 30 to 40% in the entire software development process, and they expect to see even more. For example, since leveraging CI&T/FLOW, fintech company Bulla has doubled its code generation speed and testing time.

Addressing Roadblocks

Finally, the survey also identified data readiness and governance (19%) and company mindset (38%) as the primary roadblocks for Gen AI implementation. To help you navigate this, we recommend our DATA/AI report: "In the Uncanny Valley: Replace Fear in AI with Trust," which explores strategies to accelerate your data journey and unlock the full potential of Generative AI within your organisation. Additionally, our SVP, Fernando Henrique Silva, recently offered valuable insights in this article, highlighting potential pitfalls to avoid when implementing Generative AI.

The future of Generative AI is brimming with possibilities, yet challenges remain. By fostering open discussions like this exploring successful case studies, and addressing potential roadblocks, we can collectively navigate this exciting new landscape. CI&T remains committed to being your partner in unlocking the transformative power of Generative AI.

Let's chart a course for innovation together.