How businesses can start to close the AI readiness gap

At Kyndryl, we experienced this firsthand as we worked to build a lean, modern and harmonized IT estate. Upon becoming an independent company, we inherited dozens of siloed data solutions and over a thousand applications — an environment in which it would have been overwhelmingly difficult to deploy AI at scale and see business-wide benefits. To build a solid foundation for the future, we radically simplified our data and systems, creating a streamlined, fit-for-purpose IT estate in record time. 

We succeeded because of our people, and the lessons we learned in driving change — with a top-down approach to leadership, an organization-wide focus on transforming not just our technology but our business and a culture that embraced transformation — extend to AI readiness. CEOs can play a vital role in aligning AI strategy across an organization as technology leaders keep energy directed toward business outcomes. An enterprise-wide perspective that brings leaders together can help companies overcome silos as they stitch AI capabilities across functions. And creating a culture that empowers people to adapt to new ways of working can enable companies to unleash real value from their investments.

For now, this value may be most apparent in the everyday changes witnessed in the workplace. By helping us generate, understand and act on valuable information — and do so faster than ever before — AI makes us better versions of ourselves. At its best, AI can be a force multiplier, providing powerful insights that change how we work, translating to improved business outcomes beyond cost savings. 

At Kyndryl, we’re committed to helping customers tap into these possibilities. We recognize that AI readiness involves constructing strong data foundations, modernizing legacy environments, bolstering operational security, establishing trust in AI systems, implementing technology with the end-user in mind and more. One of the best parts of my job is seeing how our trusted relationships with a broad ecosystem of partners enables us to deliver unique and customized AI solutions that help businesses solve these challenges every day. 

In the coming years, in line with Moore’s Law and perhaps even outpacing it, AI will only become more powerful and efficient, shaping our world in ways we haven’t yet imagined. With these dramatic improvements on the horizon, leaders have no time to waste in testing use cases, scaling efforts and seizing opportunities to drive the change that will prepare their enterprises for whatever the future brings.