When it comes to your cloud strategy, do you take an AI-first approach when starting new partnerships or renegotiating contracts with current vendors? How are you navigating those discussions, especially around data security and how vendors manage your information?

I often ask vendors if their use of AI to improve their products results in cost savings for customers, but I rarely see those savings passed on. The cost of AI-enabled services often increases, without clear additional value. AI is not just about IT; it affects every part of the business, and there’s a lack of clarity about roles and responsibilities. Security and governance are critical, especially to protect company data and trade secrets. Collaborative efforts between IT and business operations are needed to manage AI effectively.

We always ask vendors about their AI strategy and technology innovations when evaluating platforms. Governance and program management are key, and there are many similarities to how we approached cloud strategy in the past. AI literacy is a much bigger challenge compared to cloud literacy, which was mostly an IT concern. Change management, strategy, and governance are all important, and we see parallels with previous technology shifts.