Jess Evans: How to move beyond AI-washing to responsible innovation
Start with clear rules, verification processes, and train teams on ‘knowledge complexity’
In a market flooded with “AI-powered” everything, the real challenge isn’t finding AI tools, it’s separating genuine innovation from marketing hype and putting it into practice responsibly.
Jess Evans, vice chancellor and CIO of Maricopa Community Colleges, warns that without careful evaluation, organizations risk falling into “AI-washing, where AI is more of a marketing tool than a practical asset.”
It falls to the CIO to guide their organizations through what she calls “responsible innovation”—establishing clear rules and verification processes before AI becomes embedded in operations. And making sure teams are prepared to adopt AI by training them on “knowledge complexity”—understanding how AI implementations affect interconnected systems across the organization.
This approach allows organizations to harness AI’s potential while maintaining control, moving thoughtfully toward solutions that amplify human capabilities rather than creating unintended operational consequences.
Evans and other CIOs share their insights in our four-part guide, “The AI-empowered CIO: What it takes to succeed in the age of AI.”
For the full report, download it here. For a quick sense of Evans’s unique perspective, here are a few key insights:
On building organizations around business problems, not technology
“CIOs who build organizations based on legacy thinking or by service are often shortsighted. They should be designing their organization with the intention of understanding what their larger company does and what it needs. Sit down with your procurement team, your finance team, your manufacturing team and ask: What problems can you not solve today that you wish you could solve tomorrow?”
On the need for great PR
“Most other departments in their organization don’t understand that a CIO needs a great PR team. If they do not have advocates, they will not be successful, because everything a CIO does is to empower the business, whatever business that may be.”
On the pace of technology change
“We are in an exponential curve that is not sustainable. And if CIOs do not get their arms around it, head around it, team around it, company around it, they won’t be able to survive their jobs. ‘Resistance is futile,’ for all of my nerds out there. You may not be assimilated, but you really have to have a strategy.”
Download “The AI-empowered CIO” guide, and watch Evans’ video below for more insight:
