Why “each co -pilot driver is stuck in the pilot”: AI adoption stalls on data security fears

“It is very difficult to innovate unless the underlying data you innovate is properly protected,” said VECCI. “We are trying to make people more productive, we try to use AI and other new technologies, but to achieve these advantages, it must be done safely.”

Scott Holcomb, leader of the US Enterprise Trust AI at Deloitte, agreed that both internally and for its customers, “we absolutely had to set up railings” in terms of what people can and cannot do when using AI tools. For example, the amount of data that Microsoft Copilot has on individuals and organizations is “immense”, he explained. “We were not comfortable with this, so we had to make our way with Microsoft, but we absolutely had to do a lot of training for our staff in terms of what you can and cannot do with customer data too.”

However, leaders like Keith Na, please of technology and data at Cargill, warned that swinging too far in the other way – completely reducing experimentation – can be just as dangerous. What organizations need, he said, is a culture of curiosity: a desire to let the engineers break, test and learn in safe spaces.

“I think many technologists go in our profession to solve Badass together,” he said. “And I think that over time, we areolated our (teams).”

In the past 18 months, he explained that the company has worked to break these obstacles and have engineers integrate into product teams. “Not only does it solve the difficult problems in a simpler way, but it has in fact created a culture and an environment where people have fun coming to work, but they solve problems that we have not been able to solve and morale has just shown up,” he said. Over time, “this creates a proactive innovation environment while setting up railings”.