CIO OPINION
You don ’ t want to be the business that implements a great idea spectacularly wrong by misjudging its social impact .
Dr . Andrea C Johnson , CIO , Pipedrive
Navigating AI ’ s impact on the SaaS sector
Dr . Andrea C Johnson , CIO , Pipedrive , says when engineering new AI into solutions , bear in mind the second-order impact on users .
Marc Andreessen ’ s wildly popular article and origin of the famous phrase “ software is eating the world ”, shared the view that software would grow to engulf all sectors , shake up every industry and change the world . It was a prescient view in 2011 and it has come true in spades .
SaaS firms have won the battle for hearts and minds . Where legacy businesses did not catch up in time , whole sectors – from banking to taxis – were disrupted by nimble SaaS start-ups offering greater convenience and speed .
At the same time , every paradigm shift creates something of a bubble , with winners and losers , before the technologies and business models all shake out and a new balance is achieved . It can be challenging to understand the right strategy at first .
One path through these shifts , such as with AI , particularly GenAI , is to ensure the digital transformation journey is firmly oriented to solving user challenges within the organisation ’ s unique business and social environment . With customer focus top of mind , remain open to all possible paths to the destination . So , the goal should not be ‘ win with AI ’, but to build a business that will thrive over the next decade .
Don ’ t wait – iterate
Technology is transformational , and those that act first have longer to make their journey a success . Yet with
44 INTELLIGENTCIO NORTH AMERICA www . intelligentcio . com