AI will soon fix its long list of issues—you must be ready

Enterprises must trust in AI or get left behind by those who do, warns Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar S.

At Cognizant’s London analyst and advisor day, Ravi told HFS Research that enterprise leaders must look beyond the current inhibitors presented by AI, especially generative AI (GenAI). You must instead trust that AI will overcome all those inhibitors—and faster than you may fear.

For all the inspiring calls to action, there remains a long list of issues to overcome: hallucinations, biases, copyright and privacy concerns, the ability of business models to adapt, the capabilities of current technology infrastructures, the maturity of services, and fears over consumer perception to name a few.

Don’t get disillusioned—business impact is coming fast

“Don’t get disillusioned—adopt, believing this will all improve,” said Ravi. He argued that rapid improvement in the technology means the reality of business impact is coming faster than many may think. To take advantage of that, you must join the journey now. Those that do will be ahead of the curve. Our data supports the need for enterprises to act now or get left behind in ‘The two-year GenAI countdown.’

However, in his keynote at HFS’ AI Symposium in Cambridge the same week, futurist Gerd Leonhard called out such faith in technology to solve its own problems as ‘a new religion.’ It’s going to take more than conviction and assertion to convince some.

Current concerns hold back innovation

Cognizant, as well as others, are proving they can deliver real impact with GenAI; however, current concerns about GenAI sometimes constrain such impact. One example shared at the London event was an avatar trained on medical data to make diagnoses to triage medical issues, much like the UK’s NHS 111 service. The avatar directs patients to pharmacists, general practitioners, accident and emergency (A&E), or other relevant medical (and human) experts.

The service has potential to deliver a diagnosis for a fraction of the cost, with greater accuracy, than current processes. Yet, adoption is slow due to governance concerns around the use of GenAI in this and similar scenarios. Cognizant is working with the UK and other governments to open this door to innovation. Ravi is referencing this kind of self-imposed restraint when he calls on enterprise leaders to look beyond the inhibitors. Such inhibitors are holding back GenAI’s impact and value —and they reach far beyond healthcare.

Enterprises need more than just a new box of tricks

Cognizant’s response emphasizes its capabilities in what it calls ‘rewiring’—the last mile of GenAI adoption. This focuses on implementing and integrating GenAI into business processes and workflows for real-world applications—acknowledging the kind of regulatory and compliance issues the medical avatar example illustrates.

Enterprises often have the technology in place, frequently as part of deals with the likes of Microsoft, Google, Salesforce, and ServiceNow. The challenge is to bridge the gap between technical implementation and meaningful business outcomes—the last mile.

To deliver enterprise AI, firms need the technology, of course, but they won’t get far without expertise in implementation and integration and a healthy dose of evidence-based belief in the future.

The Bottom Line: Enterprise AI demands technology plus belief and outcomes-focused implementation and integration.

GenAI POCs and pilots build confidence and muscle, but they don’t build enterprise-grade solutions. For that, you need partners with expertise in implementation and integration with a focus on business outcomes—and a vision of how AI can impact your organization that looks beyond the inhibitors we face today. Combining that vision and capabilities will help you leap ahead as naysayers flounder.