From pioneering milestones like Deep Blue’s victory over chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov to IBM Watson’s triumph in the Jeopardy challenge! IBM has been at the forefront of pushing the boundaries of AI innovation since the 1950s. Now, as AI emerges as one of the most transformative technologies of our era, projected to contribute $15.7 trillion to global GDP by 2030, IBM’s role in shaping this landscape becomes even more significant.
As interest in AI surges in South Africa, IBM’s insights into overcoming barriers to AI adoption, addressing ethics and governance concerns as well as bridging the AI skills gap are invaluable. A global study by IBM’s Institute for Business Value found that 54% of African CEOs surveyed identified customer experience as their highest business priority. With 46% recognizing productivity or profitability as key to achieving their business goals. Further, 75% of CEOs globally believe their organization’s competitive advantage will depend on who has the most advanced generative AI. However, while the enthusiasm for AI and generative AI is evident, local organizations still face numerous barriers in their race to modernize and adopt the technology.
In a recent discussion, we had the privilege of exploring IBM’s viewpoint on artificial intelligence (AI) and its significant impact across different sectors worldwide. Specifically, we took the opportunity to delve into the convergence of AI and cybersecurity, investigating how organizations are utilizing AI within this crucial domain.
Ria Pinto, General Manager and Technology Leader at IBM South Africa shared her expertise and insights during IBM’s AI for Business session.
Q: How can Artificial Intelligence (AI) combat cybersecurity?
A: Today’s security teams face many challenges, from sophisticated cyberattacks to an expanding attack surface, an explosion of data, and growing infrastructure complexity. These factors hinder their ability to safeguard data, manage user access, and quickly detect and respond to security threats.
By using AI-powered solutions, organizations can accelerate their security defenses and improve the speed, accuracy, and productivity of security teams. One such offering is IBM Security, which provides transformative AI-powered solutions that optimize analysts’ time – by accelerating threat detection, expediting responses, and protecting user identity and datasets – while keeping cybersecurity teams in the loop and charge.
Q: What are some of the benefits of using AI to fight cyberattacks?
A: The Benefits of using AI to fight cyberattacks include:
Protecting data across hybrid cloud environments: AI solutions can identify shadow data, monitor for abnormalities in data access, and alert cybersecurity professionals about potential threats by anyone accessing the data or sensitive information—saving valuable time in detecting and remediating issues in real-time.
Generating more accurate and prioritized threats: AI-powered risk analysis can produce incident summaries for high-fidelity alerts and automate incident responses, accelerating alert investigations and triage by an average of 55%.1 The AI technology also helps identify vulnerabilities and defend against cybercriminals and cyber-crime.
Balancing user access needs and security: AI models can help balance security with user experience by analyzing the risk of each login attempt and verifying users through behavioral data. This can simplify access for verified users and reduce the cost of fraud by up to 90%. AI systems also help prevent phishing, malware, and other malicious activities, ensuring a high-security posture.
Q: Your study highlighted some challenges that African businesses face in their adoption of AI. In your opinion how can businesses overcome these barriers to successfully adopt AI?
A: Businesses aiming to fully harness the benefits of AI must transition from an “AI plus” to an “AI first” approach. This shift requires CEOs on the continent to establish clear and consistent standards for AI utilization across strategic focus areas, guiding investment and ensuring success in the rapidly advancing digital economy.
Understanding business goals and developing a robust strategy are essential to unlocking AI’s full potential. It is also important for CEOs to reassess and understand the potential impact of generative AI on their employees. This is because implementing digital-first solutions such as AI can help increase efficiency, engage talented employees, and develop new skills within the business. Organizations should also identify AI use cases that align with their organization’s principles broader technical guidelines and architecture.
This is critical as it helps to accelerate the transition to zero-trust security across the enterprise and partner network. Lastly, collaborative partnerships with technology vendors and consultants are crucial in filling skill gaps and guiding organizational change, particularly for SMEs.
Organizations should select AI partners, align business targets, and digitize their processes to build a thriving and resilient enterprise in a digital-first economy.
Q: What are some of the trends that we can expect to see in 2024 and beyond?
A: The initial cultural fascination with early generative AI is expected to yield tangible business results in 2024. Technology is currently revolutionizing how companies enhance productivity, foster innovation and stimulate creativity.
As businesses embrace tailored generative AI and nations start to have regulatory guidance on how to use AI responsibly, some of the trends we expect to see this year include the rise of enterprise AI customization, the increased use of open-source AI models, the proliferation of application programming interfaces (APIs); nation-states prioritizing the development of AI, the rise of multimodal generative AI and lastly, the increased focus on AI safety and ethics.
This is not an exhaustive list, and new trends may appear during the year, but these trends offer direction on what we can expect for the rest of the year.
In conclusion, as organizations continue to navigate the complexities of the digital landscape, leveraging AI-driven solutions will be essential to stay ahead of evolving threats and safeguard critical assets effectively.