Exclusive: OpenText CDO on why data security is vital to AI strategies

As the move to adopt artificial intelligence accelerates across the enterprise landscape, a new study by OpenText reveals a sobering truth: many organisations are not ready for AI, not because of a lack of tools or talent, but due to the complexity and disorganisation of businesses' own information ecosystems.

A report by OpenText in partnership with Ponemon Institute revealed that almost three-quarters of CIOs, CISOs, and other IT leaders believe reducing information complexity is key to AI success in the modern age.

Shannon Bell, Executive Vice President, Chief Digital Officer, and Chief Information Officer at OpenText, notes that many organisations' data is often stored in different silos, which can hinder AI from achieving its full potential when implemented across the company.

57 per cent of respondents say AI adoption is a top priority - although over half say it is difficult to reduce AI security and legal risks.

The Rise of the Chief AI Officer

"AI solves a business problem, its just not a technology solution," says Bell. "The biggest challenge with AI is data governance and good quality data to make for good AI outcomes. So having a strong governance and security strategy around your data makes it easier to see the benefits of AI."

The survey stated that fewer than 47 per cent say IT and security goals are aligned with those driving AI strategy, even though 50 per cent say their organisations have hired or are considering hiring a Chief AI Officer or a Chief Digital Officer to lead AI strategy.

"Even if you put a solid set of outcome-oriented metrics around your AI strategy, you're not really seeing those KPIs achieved, because your information is not in a good place," says Bell. "If it's not organised, structured and governed well, you are getting some outcomes, but not achieving the promise of the KPIs."

Bell says OpenText is building strategies to drive business outcomes that drive tangible ROI on technology implementation. 

"Having that focused role of a Chief AI Officer or a Chief Digital Officer that's really looking at the business outcomes and how to drive business outcomes, means that you're focusing your technology investments on delivering things that are going to benefit a business."

At OpenText itself, the company has implemented Enterprise Service Management throughout the company, which includes automating internal help desks and chatbots. Bell says this implementation has reduced help desk time by 70 per cent among OpenText employees. "As part of doing that, it opened up opportunities to really drive, cross-train, and upskill our teams to support more advanced use cases and different types of use cases," says Bell.

Securing AI Starts with Knowing Your Data

As AI becomes more pervasive, data security is an increasing concern. Nearly half of the survey's respondents are currently building or revamping their data security programs to support AI initiatives.

Bell believes the first step is understanding your data landscape, knowing who owns and governs the data, as well as understanding its intended use.

This means tighter access controls, better classification frameworks (especially around PII), and clear governance policies. Bell's team treats security, IT, and AI as a unified organisation - an approach she says is vital to success.

Additionally, OpenText now writes "job descriptions" for every AI agent it creates. The goal? Clarity and control.

"One of the dangers in AI deployment is making agents too complex," says Bell. "We very much believe that the agents role needs to be very discrete, and then you can orchestrate the agents accordingly."

The promise of AI is clear, but realising its potential requires more than adopting new tech. It requires a fundamental shift in how enterprises manage their data.