Flanders Make Symposium 2022

After a long career with top companies, including seven years as CTO at technology giant IBM, Wouter Denayer now helps companies with their digital transformation with his own consultancy firm Briteflo. Artificial intelligence (AI) is obviously crucial in that digital transition, but unfortunately there are still many misunderstandings about it, which hinders effective implementation.

The AI Monitor 2022 study conducted by Denayer in collaboration with CIONET, a networking organisation for digital leaders, showed this. To do so, Denayer interviewed 23 digital leaders in Belgium to gain insight into the critical success factors that enable them to achieve concrete results for their organisation with AI.

“The first question concerned their strategy around AI,” Denayer told us. The conclusion of that round-up proved sobering. “You can sum that one up as: ‘nobody cares about AI’.” There was a lack of interest because of two reasons. “Some didn’t see the added value of it, for their sector. They are clearly wrong, AI will have an impact everywhere.” For others, it was more nuanced. “They were not interested in the technology itself, the practical finer points, but rather in what the innovative technology could concretely mean for their business.”