Navigating The Emerging Role of Generative AI

Generative AI is no longer just a buzzword—it’s a transformative force that’s reshaping industries and redefining the future of business. Industries around the world have had to understand and integrate generative AI into their business processes with urgency. As this new technology evolves and becomes more readily available, companies have begun to recognize the significant impact that AI can have on their business and industry. Companies are exploring how this new technology can enhance productivity while improving product quality and amplifying performance. The benefits of AI are clear, but the journey to successful implementation brings its challenges.  

I asked some of my talented CIO friends to provide their thoughts on AI. In the highly competitive manufacturing industry, where efficiency and quality are paramount, Dan Stuart, SVP & CIO at Southwire, recognizes the competitive edge that generative AI could offer.  

“In our business,” explains Dan, “we recognize the transformative potential of generative AI and have proactively committed to integrating AI and machine learning (ML) into our organization. As a manufacturing company, we see significant opportunities to enhance productivity, performance, and quality through these technologies.” 

Building a Future-Ready AI Team

Finding the right talent to implement AI is a critical challenge, especially in a market where data scientists, AI engineers, and machine learning specialists are in high demand. IT leaders must not only compete for these skills but also create environments where top talent can thrive and drive innovation.  

As AI continues to revolutionize industries, there is a need for skilled professionals who can seamlessly integrate AI technologies into existing frameworks. This task goes beyond just hiring individuals with technical expertise; it requires identifying talent with a deep understanding of the business, the ability to navigate ethical considerations, and the foresight to anticipate future developments. Securing top-tier AI talent is not just about filling roles but about building a foundation for sustainable growth and long-term success. For Dan, finding the right talent was the first step towards realizing his organization’s goals with AI. 

“Our first challenge was identifying a qualified AI leader to spearhead our AI initiatives, which we successfully addressed by recruiting an experienced AI leader who brings both strategic vision and technical expertise,” explains Dan. “The next challenge is assembling a skilled team around this leader to drive our AI projects, and we are focusing on hiring top talent in AI and ML to ensure we have the right mix of skills to address our manufacturing needs.” 

Unlocking the Potential of AI in Industry

Despite its rapid evolvement and integration into many businesses, most employees do not know much about generative AI and AI in general. To fully leverage generative AI, organizations must go beyond surface-level familiarity. This involves implementing targeted training programs, such as interactive workshops, AI-driven project initiatives, and real-time support systems, ensuring employees are not only aware of AI’s capabilities but are also empowered to integrate these tools into their daily workflows. The more your employees understand how the organization is using AI and what its capabilities are, the more able they will be to make the connection and use AI to increase efficiency and even solve business problems. For this (anonymous) CIO & SVP, helping her organization to better understand the technology is a main priority.  

“One of our biggest challenges has been getting the organization familiar with the capabilities of the AI. While most employees have played around with Chat GPT and like tools, it is sometimes difficult to find the connection to how these tools can be leveraged to solve business problems or drive efficiency.  Some products, like Microsoft Copilot, have really good office-type efficiencies, but it changes how people work. For copilot, we have a weekly sharing session for our pilot users. This is a popular session and without this session, adoption would be much lower.”  

Through programs like co-pilot, organizations are equipping employees at all levels with AI capabilities to improve workflows and overall performance. However, to address more complex uses, companies can still work to help employees understand how AI is changing how their organization conducts business.  

“For other, more complex business use cases, we showcase these on town halls and senior staff meetings to try to get more use cases coming in.  Typically, these more complex cases use several AI tools together – RPA, ML, analytics, etc.”  

At Southwire, Dan and his team are taking steps to offer training to educate employees on these emerging technologies. 

“We are investing in comprehensive training programs to educate our employees on generative AI and AI, empowering them to make informed decisions and effectively collaborate with our AI team,” said Dan. “By taking these steps, we are positioning ourselves to leverage AI for significant improvements in our manufacturing processes, ultimately enhancing our organizational performance and product quality.” 

Preparing for a Future Driven by AI Innovation

As generative AI reshapes industries, the journey of integrating this powerful technology into business processes is both exciting and challenging. The potential benefits are vast—ranging from enhanced productivity to superior product quality—but realizing these gains requires a strategic approach that includes securing the right talent, fostering AI familiarity across the organization, and investing in ongoing education and training. By addressing these key areas, companies like Southwire are not just adopting AI—they are positioning themselves to lead in a future where AI-driven innovation will be a defining factor of success. The path forward may be complex with even greater challenges ahead, but with the right leadership, talent, and commitment to learning, your organization can fully harness the transformative power of generative AI and gain a competitive edge.  

Finding the leadership talent you need to take your organization into the future of generative AI and machine learning is no easy task. It’s not enough to find a technology leader with the right technical skills, you need a leader who also brings a strategic vision that aligns with your culture and business objectives.  

In a complex market where companies are heavily competing for this sort of talent, having a trusted executive search partner who specializes in the field, like Retained, can help you cut through the clutter and find the perfect match fast. If that’s you, give us a call at 678.984.8528 or submit a contact form to get started.  

Tino Mantella