Boldo | AI & Executive Committee: A New Role for the IS

How Artificial Intelligence is Driving Executives to Reconsider the Strategic Role of the Information System

A traditionally limited view of the IS

For years, the Information System (IS) has often been seen by executive committees as a tactical asset rather than a strategic one.

The "Cost Center" Role

Major IS initiatives—ERP modernization, cloud migration, cybersecurity upgrades—have typically been viewed as:

• Reactive projects triggered by urgency (obsolescence, M&A, security breaches)
• Investments difficult to link to clear business value
• Primarily technical matters, led by IT and far from the executive agenda

This perception has kept the IS in the background: a critical component, but rarely seen as a direct lever for competitiveness.

Big Data and SaaS: missed opportunities?

Two major technology trends appeared poised to shift this perception:

Big Data: Data lake initiatives created massive volumes of data but with little business value, due to lack of governance and integration.

SaaS: These tools gave business teams more agility and enabled faster deployment. They facilitated digitalization without always involving IT. But they also fragmented the IS and fostered a hard-to-control shadow IT.

In short, despite the real impact of these emerging technologies, the IS remained marginal in the eyes of the COMEX. Its adoption as a driver for strategic decision-making remained limited.

AI: a shift in perspective

With generative AI, the situation is changing. This shift is part of a broader trend of AI adoption across all industry sectors.

The "Wow Effect" and New Urgency

Whether it’s ChatGPT or more complex automations, AI impresses. It’s accessible, fast, and full of promise.
Executives no longer see it as a passing trend, but as a foundational shift, akin to electricity or the internet in their time.

This creates a sense of urgency: delaying AI exploration could mean falling behind.

The need for a solid foundation

Very quickly, executive teams realize that AI is not just impressive technology, it needs solid foundations to deliver value.
What was once seen as purely technical now becomes obviously strategic:

• Data governance and quality
• Security and access control
• Documented APIs and interoperability
• Integrated and readable architectures
• A shared semantic layer between business and IT

In short, the long-time priorities of CIOs :urbanization, API management, governance; are gaining strategic legitimacy.

Avoiding the pitfalls of enthusiasm

With growing enthusiasm, the temptation is to launch multiple POCs or flashy demos. But without infrastructure, governance, and a clear vision, these initiatives often go nowhere.

Building a "conversational" IS

Implementing an AI-powered conversational IS is not just a technical rollout. For AI to be truly useful, it needs secure access to the right data flows.
This raises AI-related risk management challenges: security, data quality, governance, and impact on business processes.
To address these, organizations must build strong foundations:

• Widespread API integration
• Controlled experimentation environments
• Rigorous oversight of models and their biases
• Cybersecurity adapted to new uses
• Semantic contextualization of business reality, essential to solve problems effectively

Strengthening governance

AI acts as an accelerator, it reveals the strength or weakness of the existing system.
Clear governance : human (roles, supervision), technical (data quality and traceability), and semantic (shared language between IT and business), becomes essential.

Thinking sovereignty and ethics

Dependence on global models raises issues of cost, resilience, and control. Developing sovereign AI models is increasingly considered.

In addition, ethical, transparent, and trustworthy AI is critical to its acceptance by employees, customers, and regulators. These dimensions must be taken into account from the design stage.

Implications for the CIO role

This dynamic puts CIOs in a unique position: shifting from infrastructure guardian to strategic catalyst.

An expanded responsibility

CIOs must not only understand use cases, they must also lead their implementation and execution. This includes orchestrating a conversational IS, integrating sovereign AI models, and steering impactful AI projects.

They must anticipate future regulations, such as the AI Act, and help shape the organization’s AI strategies. In some cases, this means appointing a dedicated AI lead to ensure consistency and ethics.

Back to business value

AI reminds us of a simple truth: without a coherent IS and governed data, no innovation is sustainable long term.
The CIO becomes a central actor to:

• Ensure data integrity and consistency
• Lead cross-functional collaboration
• Connect business objectives (ROI, competitiveness, time-to-market) with technical execution

A New Strategic Stance

CIOs now have the opportunity to be seen as:

• Strategists, bridging technology vision and business goals
• Educators, helping COMEX and teams build shared understanding
• Balancers, driving innovation while ensuring security and durability

This position comes with tensions: high expectations, complex trade-offs, time pressure.
But it also represents a historic opportunity: to bring the CIO and the IS back to the core of business strategy.