'AI is no longer just supporting the business — it has become the business model': IBM VP tells us how your business can balance AI excitement with realism as governance becomes more important than ever

The excitement around AI continues to grow among businesses of all sizes, but IBM warns that scaling too quickly could lead to problems. At IBM's recent Think EMEA event in London, Ana Paula Assis, IBM's Senior Vice President and Chair for IBM EMEA and APAC, shared insights on how companies can balance the hype around AI with the need for responsible and thorough governance.

According to Assis, AI is transforming from a supportive tool to a core business model. She emphasized that if companies do not address security, accountability, and responsibility, it will be challenging to scale AI, particularly in highly regulated industries. "The question here is really, how do you balance the speed of innovation with the implementation of governance?" she asked.

IBM conducted research revealing that 80% of surveyed companies experienced an AI incident escalated to the board level, but only 40% were able to turn those incidents into new investment in governance or policy development. Assis explained that the difficulty lies in balancing innovation with implementing tools, processes, and methodologies to ensure safe AI deployment at scale.

IBM has reportedly saved around $5.5 billion in productivity and efficiency gains through AI-enhanced core processes, which have been redirected towards R&D and innovation. Assis highlighted that AI is not merely supporting businesses but has become the business model itself. Organizations leading in this space are not just incorporating AI but are rethinking how systems, decisions, and processes operate in tandem with AI.