CIOs beginning to deliver real value from machine learning

 A survey of 500 chief information officers (CIOs) from around the world by ServiceNow has found that machine learning has arrived in the enterprise, and is making material contributions to everyday work.
To realise its full value, technology leaders must find skilled talent to work side-by-side with machines, in addition to redesigning their organisations and processes.

CIOs were interviewed in 11 countries across 25 industries, including 46 CIOs in the UK, to uncover the competitive benefits of adopting machine learning and hear how those leaders are driving results.
IDC estimates that investment in machine learning will nearly double by 2020 , and recent analysis shows that machine learning specialists are among the fast-growing roles in IT.

Side-by-side
Humans are working side-by-side with smart machines for better accuracy, speed and growth of business.
The survey found a growing sense of confidence among senior executives in the UK that machine learning will lead to faster and more accurate decisions. Machine learning software possesses the ability to analyse and improve upon its own performance without direct human intervention, allowing them to make increasingly complex decisions over time:
• More than half (52%) of UK respondents say they are advancing beyond the automation of routine tasks, such as security alerts, toward the automation of complex decisions, such as how to respond to security alerts.
• 89% of UK CIOs said that they would get substantial value or transformative value to the accuracy of decisions. In fact, 69% of UK respondents said decisions made by machine learning will be more accurate than those made by humans.
• 57% of UK CIOs said that routine decision making takes up a meaningful amount of employee and executive time, so the potential value of automation is high.

CIOs in the UK expect this decision automation to contribute to their organisation’s top-line growth (72%).
“We see three kinds of decisions as targets for automation—anything requiring rating, ranking or forecasting,” said Paul Hardy of the chief strategy office, ServiceNow . “Everyday work such as the assignment of IT tickets and prioritising sales leads are already delivering results. Machine learning has moved from hype to reality .”

Digital transformation
Machine learning specialists alone won’t help CIOs succeed in digital transformation.
Around three-quarters (74%) of UK CIOs said they’re leading their company’s digitalisation efforts, and 57% agree that machine learning plays a critical role. Over half (54%) of the UK CIOs surveyed say their companies are using machine learning and 33% are planning to adopt the technology.

But there are key talent, organisation and process areas that must be addressed in order for companies to take full advantage of machine learning technology:
• Only 35% of UK CIOs have hired employees with new skill sets to work with intelligent machines.
• Fewer than half (39%) of UK CIOs have redefined job descriptions to focus on work with intelligent machines, 41% cite a lack of skills to manage smart machines and less than half (35%) say they lack budget for new skills development.
• UK CIOs cite data quality (54%) and outdated processes (46%) as substantial barriers to adoption
• Less than half (43%) have developed methods for monitoring mistakes made by machines.
“Machine learning allows enterprises to digitise in ways that were not possible before,” said Hardy.