IT Leaders Tackle New Priorities: Security, AI, and CX

In response to years of economic volatility and rapid advancements in technology, the priorities of IT leaders are shifting. No longer just responsible for keeping systems up to date and managing security issues, many are being asked to do more with fewer resources. While digital transformation and systems integration remain a constant, customer and employee experience, AI and data security must now also be top of mind. 

We recently surveyed 1,200 global IT leaders and found that high competition, mounting customer expectations, and new AI tools are all contributing to this evolution in IT roles and responsibilities. To stay ahead of these changes and respond to new challenges, here are our top three recommendations for IT leaders:

IT leaders have long noted the correlation between customer and employee experience. High employee satisfaction and retention results in more positive, consistent experiences for customers—and vice versa. Our research shows that the vast majority of IT leaders think that both CX and EX are a high priority, with 70 percent reporting a high level of pressure across the organization to make IT decisions that enhance the customer experience.

To foster a better customer experience, businesses need to invest in tools that are secure, up-to-date, and allow for personalization, while ensuring cohesion across their organization. We found that many IT leaders believe that their current CX vendors could be doing more to address concerns like data security and privacy, so investing in tools that work to achieve compliance across different privacy frameworks is crucial.

Data privacy and security are top of mind for IT leaders, with 87% of those we surveyed saying these have become a high priority over the last three years. There are several reasons why businesses are reevaluating their data privacy and security strategies, including increased risks of cybersecurity attacks, rising consumer expectations, and increasing data privacy rules and regulation. 

Businesses should increase their investment in data privacy and security over the long term to build trust between their employees, customers, and tools. Updating data privacy and security measures gives businesses a strategic edge by enabling them to earn the highest level of trust from customers.

AI may now be an industry mainstay, but many IT leaders report feeling overwhelmed and are finding it difficult to prioritize where and how to integrate AI into their workflows. Despite pressure from investors and customers to leverage AI for cost savings, 57% of IT leaders report skill gaps in their organization around emerging IT technologies.

Despite uncertainty, AI cannot be ignored. Businesses should seek out expert opinions from their partners and vendors to fill out skill gaps. With many third party AI tools available, it’s critical that IT leaders take a discerning approach to AI investments. AI built for customer service should leverage customer data in a secure, compliant way in order to help your customers achieve resolution while increasing efficiency for agents.

Stay ahead of change

The importance of CX, EX, data security, and AI to IT leaders must not be overlooked. To remain competitive amid economic uncertainty and a rapidly changing digital landscape, businesses are being forced to reassess their tech stack and priorities. Ensuring compliance, filling out knowledge gaps with AI, and working to provide both a better customer and employee experience are a tall order, but all extremely important to achieving better business outcomes.

It pays to be strategic—good CX and EX can improve bottom lines, protecting sensitive data with advanced privacy and security builds trust, and padding out skill gaps around new AI technologies can help businesses save money and increase efficiency in the long run.

For a more comprehensive understanding of how IT leaders are navigating these new challenges with security, AI, CX and EX, click here for our full report.