Responsible AI, data and innovation key to digital transformation in 2022 Posted on : Dec 15 - 2021

Responsible AI, data and innovation will be some of the leading trends in digital transformation in 2022, according to Genpact.

Sanjay Srivastava, chief digital officer for Genpact, has predicted hot industry trends for the coming year.

As the role and skills of CIO evolve, it requires a balance of being an outsider and an insider.

"As digital becomes the driving force behind business transformation, CIOs are increasingly co-creating new business models and future-ready companies," Srivastava says.

"This shift requires innovating at the intersection of the people, process, data, and technology spectrum."

Srivastava says as the CIO role evolves, it requires an outside-in and inside-out mindset.

"As an outsider, CIOs must discover, embrace, and curate technology, ideate what needs to change, and objectively think through new approaches to problems.

"As an insider, CIOs need to establish credibility to lead large-scale change management from the ground up," he says.

"Balancing this outside and inside approach to transformation is fundamentally complex. CIOs will be challenged to drive productivity, increase efficiency, and spur innovation without this combination of skills."

Technology for business becomes mainstream

Srivastava says technology is no longer the long pole in the tent.

"Whether its AI, analytics, automation, cloud, or ML, technology is now a means to an end. CIOs must focus on business transformation enabled by digital technology," he says.

"As CIOs increasingly integrate advanced technologies into more aspects of the business, they face several challenges, including maintaining comprehensive business controls and a lack of collaboration between IT and business functions."

Srivastava says for CIOs to overcome these challenges, it is not enough simply to have access to the CEO, but rather to have a seat at the table in influencing the CEO agenda.

"The most successful CIOs require regular CEO meetings, not just reporting lines," he says.

 Frequent access to the CEO makes all the difference in CIOs ability to leverage combined business and technology expertise to influence the company's strategic business agenda.

Not surprisingly, AI is on CIOs' agendas. In fact, Genpact recently conducted a global study with MIT Sloan CIO Symposiumin which nearly half (48%) of the 500 CIOs surveyed said AI is their No. 1 investment priority. View more