Customer-centricity is at the heart of everything we do as a Technology division. Our AI systems are designed to enhance our customers’ experience, provide valuable insights on their customers, and drive business growth. To achieve this, we need a deep understanding of our customers’ needs and preferences, as well as the ability to deliver personalised and relevant solutions. However, customer-centricity must be balanced with ethical and regulatory considerations.
Consider regulation: a multitude of rules govern the development of AI, and compliance is non-negotiable! However, the challenge for me, as a CTO, lies in interpreting and implementing these regulations without stifling innovation. Regulations often lag behind technological advancements, leaving gaps and ambiguities that need to be navigated carefully.
Our clients are eager to leverage the power of AI for customer insights, yet understandably, need reassurance of the data’s destination, usage (e.g. will it be used for training external models?), and are wary of legal or regulatory repercussions – the current climate is one of cautious curiosity.
1. A collaborative approach.
We work closely with Legal, Infosec, Innovation and Client Servicing teams to ensure that our AI systems meet regulatory requirements, adhere to our AI principles, and deliver value to our customers.
2. Continuous monitoring.
We have robust monitoring and auditing mechanisms to track the performance of our AI systems and ensure compliance with regulations and internal guidelines.
3. Transparency and communication.
We strive to keep our customers informed about how data is being used and the benefits they can expect from our AI systems. Transparency builds trust and ensures that our customers are comfortable with our AI initiatives.
4. Innovation with responsibility.
Fostering innovation while ensuring that ethical considerations are not compromised. This involves developing a culture of responsibility and accountability within our technology teams.
5. Ethical AI framework.
Developing and maintaining an ethical AI framework that incorporates regulatory requirements, internal principles, and customer-centric practices, and guides our development and deployment.
These principles now serve as an internal compass and a set of simple principles that we can use to talk to clients about how we do – and don’t do – AI development.
My parting words of advice to fellow tech leaders on staying atop the tightrope? Foster a collaborative, transparent, and ethical approach to AI development with a diverse set of subject matter specialists. Talk to your clients about what you’re doing. Get them involved in conversations and testing solutions early, and frequently. Greater transparency, collaboration with clients and a principled approach will be the foundations for future-focused ethical AI development.
As CTO of STRAT7, Andrew channels his passion for technology into transformative initiatives that leverage AI and machine learning to unlock the full potential of data. He oversees the strategic direction of Researchbods’ proprietary community platform, ex-plor.
As AI systems get more complex, the challenge of balancing customers, ethics and regulations will only intensify. Technology and insight leaders play a key role in navigating uncharted waters. How will you ensure your AI initiatives respect human values as much as the bottom line?
If you want to chat to our team about this topic or learn more about different initiatives at STRAT7 Researchbods, please get in touch.
Andrew Dare, Chief Technology Officer, STRAT7
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