The AI-empowered CIO
4 technology leaders across a range of industries share what it takes to succeed in the age of AI
Artificial intelligence is the most talked-about enterprise tech. But the real opportunity isn’t just in what AI can do. It’s in how it can help humans to do more, faster, smarter, simpler.
AI offers a path to uncomplicate how people work, how decisions get made, and how great employee and customer experiences are delivered.
This guide from The Works captures insights from four forward-thinking CIOs who are embracing AI as a strategic lever to remove friction—for employees, for customers, and for the business. Their stories reveal a shared truth: the hardest part of AI isn’t the technology—it’s everything around it. Culture, data quality, governance, and organizational alignment all make or break the value businesses realize from AI.
If you’re a CIO—or anyone helping drive digital change—this playbook offers actionable ideas for making AI real, relevant, and refreshingly uncomplicated.
Ashwin Ballal, CIO, Freshworks
In a career that has spanned sales, marketing, and engineering, Ballal has put empathy at the center. By putting himself in users' shoes, he's able to identify and eliminate pain points that technically-minded CIOs might never notice.
Wendy Turner-Williams, Former Chief Data Officer, Tableau
What holds back successful AI projects? Weak or inexistent governance, says Turner-Williams, former chief data officer at Tableau. New risk landscapes—from algorithmic bias to copyright issues—require comprehensive frameworks for usage and oversight
Jess Evans, Vice Chancellor and CIO, Maricopa Community Colleges
Evans urges companies to fully embrace AI with disciplined execution and rigorous verification, enabling AI to amplify human capabilities rather than replace them or create unintended consequences.
Pawan Satyawali, Head of Digital Services, Signify
While many CIOs struggle to secure buy-in for digital initiatives, former Tata Consumer Products CIO Satyawali sees a strategic opening in the current AI revolution to focus on the objectives that matter to the C-suite.