Building a company that truly thrives on AI is not just about adopting the latest algorithms, alternatives like LLMs or tools. It is about creating a solid foundation that can support AI’s transformative power.
In this article, Devoteam’s CTO, Gert Jan Van Halem, highlights the crucial role of foundational elements in building an AI-driven company. Including elements such as cloud infrastructure, data management, and robust cybersecurity measures.
Meet Gert Jan van Halem
Gert Jan is a computer science enthusiast. From the ZX Spectrum, he had as a child to the complex IT landscapes he helped develop, he is always looking for a way to use IT to add value. Sometimes, that means simply automating boring stuff; sometimes, it creates clear architectures in complex landscapes. But whatever is needed, his goal is to help organisations add value to their customers.
As Devoteam’s CTO, he investigates what drives Devoteam’s customers, and IT trends to provide technical direction. Adding value to the customers is the primary driver.
Using AI to be much more adaptative helps you optimise your cloud infrastructure and architecture. It could also help you ensure the costs are as low as possible because you can dynamically scale down what you don’t need.
Gert Jan van Halem
Chief Technology Officer at Devoteam
Key takeaways
- Alignment with organisational goals is key to AI strategy success.
- AI enhances security by predicting threats and automating responses for proactive protection.
- Data quality is critical for accurate, fair, and reliable AI model performance.
- AI optimises cloud infrastructure by making it more adaptive, improving resource allocation, and lowering costs.
- Ethical challenges in AI include ensuring fairness, transparency, and accountability.
Aligning AI Strategy for Business
What is the most important thing for a successful AI strategy?
Gert Jan van Halem: It’s super important to ensure your AI strategy matches your business goals. This means your AI plans should align with your company’s goals, beliefs, and ethical business practices. This way, your AI projects will help your company reach its goals.
Using AI for cybersecurity: Predicting & Preventing Cyberthreats
How is AI changing how businesses stay safe, and what can they do about it?
Gert Jan van Halem: AI is changing things a lot when it comes to security. It’s like a two-sided coin. On one side, new threats use AI to attack systems. But on the other side, AI also helps us defend against these attacks. It can even predict and stop attacks before they happen, which is a significant change from how we used to just react to attacks after they had already caused damage.
Can you give us an example of how AI can be used to deal with security threats?
Gert Jan van Halem: Imagine a company that’s worried about hackers getting into its systems. AI can help by looking at network traffic in real-time. If it sees something unusual, like a weird login attempt or a lot of data sent somewhere it shouldn’t, the AI can flag it as a possible threat. It can then automatically take steps to stop the threat, like blocking suspicious activity or shutting down affected systems. This helps the company protect itself from attacks that could steal data or disrupt its business.
Good data quality = Good AI models
Why is it so important to have good data when using AI?
Gert Jan van Halem: You can think of data as the foundation of any AI system. If you have good-quality data, your AI will be accurate and fair, and you can rely on it. But if your data isn’t good, then your AI might make wrong predictions and have biases, and your AI projects might not work out.
AI to reduce Cloud cost & improve efficiency
How can AI improve cloud infrastructure, and how does this help businesses?
Gert Jan van Halem: AI can improve cloud infrastructure by making it more adaptable and less expensive. It can adjust size in real time, predict what’s needed, and use resources in the best way possible. This helps businesses get the most out of their cloud systems.
Ethical AI Considerations: Transparency & Fairness
When developing and using AI, what ethical aspects should businesses consider?
Gert Jan van Halem: Ethics are a big deal when it comes to AI. Businesses must ensure that their AI systems are fair, transparent, and accountable. They should avoid bias, use AI responsibly, protect data, and follow the rules.
Preventing AI bias: Diverse data & testing
How can businesses make sure their AI systems aren’t biased?
Gert Jan van Halem: That’s a really important question. Bias in AI can be a big problem. Businesses must use diverse and balanced data to train their AI to avoid it. They also need to test their AI systems thoroughly to make sure they’re not making unfair decisions. It’s also important for businesses to be aware of potential biases in their processes and work to eliminate them.
AI Essentials for new businesses
What advice would you give to a company that’s just starting with AI?
Gert Jan van Halem: If a company is new to AI, the first thing I’d say is to start with a clear plan. Figure out what you want to achieve with AI and how it fits into your overall business strategy. Then, focus on getting your data in good shape. Clean, accurate data is essential for AI success. And don’t forget about the ethical side of things. Make sure you’re using AI responsibly and ethically.
AI is changing the way businesses use and manage their data. Businesses can use the full potential of AI by focusing on making sure their AI plans match their business goals, using good data, having the right infrastructure, and keeping ethical considerations in mind. As Gert Jan van Halem said, AI is more than just a new technology; it’s a force for positive change that’s ready to change the future of enterprise data.
What if you only had ONE word to talk about AI? Learn about Gert Jan van Halem’s perspective on Devoteam’s new AI strategy in our one-word challenge!
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