OpenText™ has officially published the results from a new global report named “The Challenges to Ensuring Information Is Secure, Compliant and Ready for AI.”
Going by available details, this particular report effectively reveals that while enterprise IT leaders recognize the transformative potential of AI, a gap in information readiness is causing their organizations to struggle when it comes to securing, governing, and aligning AI initiatives across business.
More on the same would reveal how, developed in partnership with the Ponemon Institute, the stated lowdown informs readers on how almost three-quarters of CIOs, CISOs, and other IT leaders believe reducing information complexity is fundamental to AI readiness.
Talk about the whole study on a slightly deeper level, we begin from a contingent of 73% respondents who said reducing complexity is essential (23%), very important (23%) and important (27%) for a strong security posture, with unstructured data (44%) among the top contributors to complexity.
Next up, OpenText’s report found data governance to be the first line of defense. As a result, nearly half (46%) of respondents say they are developing a data security program and practice.
An estimated 43% also were also deemed very or highly confident in their ability to measure ROI on securing and managing information assets.
Another detail worth a mention is rooted in 57% of respondents rating AI adoption as a top priority, whereas on the other hand, 54% are confident they can demonstrate ROI from AI initiatives. Having said so, 53% say it is “very difficult” or “extremely difficult” to reduce AI security and legal risks.
The report in question also talks to how fewer than half (47%) say IT and security goals are aligned with those driving AI strategy, despite 50% of respondents stating that their organizations have hired or are considering hiring a chief AI officer or a chief digital officer to lead AI strategy.
Hold on, we still have a couple of bits left to unpack, considering we haven’t touched upon an uptick in genAI option. This part showcased that 32% respondents have already adopted the technology, while a separate 26% are planning to do so in the next six months.
As for the top GenAI use cases, they include security operations (39%), employee productivity (36%), and software development (34%).
As for agentic AI, only 19% of organizations have adopted the technology and 16% will adopt it in the next six months. In fact, no more than 31% of those rate agentic AI as highly important to their business strategy.
Turning our attention towards some of the recommendations published by OpenText for achieving AI readiness based on responses from the organizations that have invested in AI, they include protecting sensitive data exposure. This translates to how organizations must know where sensitive data resides, who can access it, and how it is used.
Strong access controls, clear data classification policies, and anomaly detection tools are some of the alternatives to fulfill that purpose.
Next up, companies are advised to implement responsible AI practices at every touchpoint, practices that can come together to make up a comprehensive approach spanning data cleansing and governance, validating AI inputs and outputs, employee training, and regular model bias checks to ensure AI is used safely and ethically.
Rounding up the list would a prospect of stronger encryption. You see, encryption should be applied to data in storage, transit, and during AI processing. Such a mechanism, like you can guess, may really go the distance to ensure that sensitive information remains protected throughout the AI lifecycle.
Among other things, it ought to be acknowledged how The Ponemon Institute independently surveyed 1,896 senior IT and security leaders across North America, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia, and India. The study captured input from organizations of varying sizes and industries, including financial services, healthcare, technology, and manufacturing.
“This research confirms what we’re hearing from CIOs every day. AI is mission-critical, but most organizations aren’t ready to support it,” said Shannon Bell, Chief Digital Officer at OpenText. “At OpenText, we’re helping IT and security leaders close that gap by simplifying information complexity, strengthening governance, and ensuring the right information is secure and actionable across the enterprise.”
