THE AI INTERVIEW
Managing expectations is also a constant battle. The hype surrounding AI is far louder than it was for ERPs or CRMs in previous decades.
Philippe tells a story of a tool that reduced a five-day process to one day, only for some users to complain it wasn’ t fully automatic:“ You need to manage that; you need to make people understand; you need to make them realise what is good and what is less good.”
Sometimes, the value of an AI pilot is what it reveals about the business. Philippe shares an example of a bid-prediction tool that appeared 100 % accurate because the company that did it only recorded won bids:“ When you deploy AI, sometimes you discover some flaws in your processes.” As AI becomes a standard feature, the role of the CAIO is subject to change – and Philippe is conscious of the danger for his position.
“ Personally, I’ m very scared of becoming the bottleneck,” he admits.“ AI is everywhere. If everything relating to AI comes through me, there’ s a risk that I become one.”
In the medium term, Philippe sees the CAIO’ s role shifting towards defining technical policy and supporting the company on large, bespoke use cases.
He concludes:“ My big message is we should not forget everything we have learned in the last 2,000 years, just because there’ s a new technique.”
In the world of industrial giants, AI is not a replacement for human engineering, but its most powerful tool. Mastering it lies not in the code, but in the critical mind of the person using it. se. com 17