Speaker Series: Ray Eitel-Porter, Accenture

Accenture’s Ray Eitel-Porter speaks to us about how he’s helping Investors and CEOs to understand the threats and opportunities of Ethical AI

Mike Drew, Partner and Global Head of Odgers Berndtson Executive Search’s Global Technology Practice is joined by Daniel Glyn-Jones, Data & Cyber UK Lead for the latest global tech leader interview.

During the interview, Ray Eitel-Porter discussed the use of Ethical AI and it's importance on CEO's radars in recent years, saying:

“I would say that the importance of using AI wisely and safely, and for the general benefit of people and society has really gone up to the top of senior executives' agenda. It's something that now is very much a CEO-level imperative”

“So often people look at this as just risk avoidance and I do think that's a big mistake. Actually, the companies that are leading in this space are very much the ones that see this as an opportunity as well as a risk mitigation exercise because if you get ahead of the game here, then that goes a long way towards building trust, and that's trust with customers, it's trust with employees, and it’s trust with investors, and with society at large. To me, trust is one of the most fundamental business objectives. If you want your product or service or whatever to be adopted, people need to trust you”

"Showing that you're doing what is necessary to ensure that AI is safe and ethical, builds trust with those who are likely to be impacted by it and that in turn allows you as an organisation to scale your use of AI and get the benefits from it."

"Then, if we turn to the risk mitigation side, which is obviously there as well. I think it has to begin with a set of principles, you have to know what your core ethical principles are as an organisation when applied to AI. Those must align with the general core values of an organisation”

“It's interesting that investors at the moment are starting to ask more and more questions about this as well. You're starting to see organisations in their ESG statements, including responsible AI. I think there's a heightened awareness and a heightened demand, as you say, from stakeholders across the board, that this is something that organisations take seriously”

View the full interview below: