“Technical depth is still essential, but the real differentiator today is the ability to think systematically about human and agent workflows and take the lead at the intersection of strategy, technology, and risk,” Gilbert adds.
Merim Vesilovic, CIO, managing director, and partner at Boston Consulting Group, has a similar view on process optimization efforts led by CIOs and their teams.
Like others, Besilovic says that in the past, CIOs focused on optimizing processes within silos. “But what we’re doing now isn’t about sending people into different systems. It’s about changing the journey and the experience within that journey. It’s about connecting the dots and connecting those experiences with the systems that create that journey,” he says.
This requires CIOs to focus on how processes and workflows connect to drive results.
“This is a natural evolution for me as a CIO,” he added. “Technology gives them a lens into that work and gives them access to products that allow them to break down silos.”
Becirovic cites the IT department’s implementation of Deckster, an in-house AI tool for creating slide decks, as an example of successful process optimization and transformation.
BCG staff creates more than 30 million slides a year, and this process is time-consuming. Rather than focusing on incremental benefits using generative AI for specific tasks, such as creating language on individual slides, the BCG team rethought the entire slide creation lifecycle. Using OpenAI’s API in conjunction with a library of carefully selected BCG templates, Deckster creates fully formatted, client-ready slides in just 3 seconds instead of 15 minutes.
BCG is now bringing agent AI capabilities to Deckster to further optimize and transform processes.
“These are opportunities for the CIO to step in and say, ‘Is there a better way to work?'” Becirovic says. “I strongly believe that CIOs of today and tomorrow need to be more proactive in seeking and driving change. CIOs need to be instigators, influencers, enablers, collaborators, and innovators to make it happen.”
