Business Value – Governance is the key to Agent AI

One factor rises beyond hype as businesses explore how agent platforms can translate operations. Provide business value with speed and clarity.

Photo by Tim Crawford, AVOA's Chief Information Officer Strategic Advisor, says technology can evolve rapidly, but adoption relies on embedding governance and security at every step.

Tim Crawford (right) from Avoa talks with TheCube about the context and governance of shaping the adoption of agent AI.

“I think we're talking about a much deeper conversation about opportunities from agents and how it will affect the business,” he said. “We've also had a very serious conversation about governance and security not just in the US, but worldwide. These two are trying to change the way we think about the intersection of technology, business and technology. Many people don't even think about it.

Crawford spoke with Savannah Peterson and Rob Strechay of TheCube during an exclusive broadcast on Silicon Angle Media live streaming studio, TheCube, at the Wow: World of Workato event. The discussion focused on context and governance. Crawford emphasized that it is important to shape how companies approach the agent platform. (*Disclosure below.)

The context is the king of agent artificial intelligence

According to Crawford, the definition of how companies can help agent platforms is context. Data integration alone is not enough. Platforms need to interpret workflows in a way that aligns directly with business values and priorities.

“Workato is another opportunity for businesses to look and say, 'OK, who has the right tools? To ensure that anyone is really moving forward and that I can achieve the business goals I want to achieve,” Crawford said. “One of the things I find really interesting about Workato is how you connect to the last miles we're talking about, not just for data integration but for context, as well as for context. This is where is the context for all of these data?”

The complexity extends to governance. Workato Inc. has deployed its platform as a way to accelerate and expand existing tools, rather than replacing them with the aim of promoting measurable business value. This is a message that resonated with Crawford.

“I think it's a really strong statement, especially when you start thinking about it. [Workato has] I've come close to the workflow's Njin,” he said. Everyone is trying to understand [the] Governance… as you start moving beyond users to the agent to knowledge, it becomes very quickly and complicated. ”

From business value to important results

Companies do not employ technology for their own reasons. They prioritize what Crawford calls the “Big 3”: customer experience, employee experience, and business operations. The problem is how to automate part of that journey quickly enough to provide measurable business value.

“One of the things we need to focus on is important to our business?” Crawford said. “What's important to the company? It's… CX, EX, and BUSINESS OPS. CXGENIE is really important in this conversation. [Configure, price, quote is] Obviously it's just one part. But “How can you automate part of that journey and do it very quickly? That's really important. That means when you're making these investments, you're seeing returns or relatively short orders right away.”

Companies need to reduce the time it takes to reach results, avoid vulnerable architectures that create new technology debt, and build flexible frameworks that can pivot as customers shift. For Crawford, the real question is how quickly the outcome arrives and the investment needed to get there.

“AI is a means of end, but the end is the end that we are all focused on, and the end is its business value,” he said. “So if you can start to shorten the time you reach that value, it puts you in pole position against your competition.”

This is a complete video interview that is part of Siliconangle and part of coverage of The Cube's WoW: World of Workato event.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jewcjoiaims

(*Disclosure: TheCube is a paid media partner for WOW: World of Workato Events. WorkatoInc., sponsors of TheCube's event coverage, or other sponsors, will not edit the content of TheCube or Siliconangle.)

Photo: Silicon Angle