AI key for biz transformation, no longer an option: Publicis Sapient CEO

Artificial intelligence is no longer an option but a necessity that will transform every aspect of every business in the world, digital consultancy firm Publicis Sapient CEO Nigel Vaz has said.

Speaking with PTI during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting that ended on Friday, Vaz also said he doesn't see much progress happening on any global regulation for AI and what was most likely that some standards will come from some countries and those would be adopted by others in some form or the other.

Publicis Sapient, established in 1990 as Sapient in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is now part of Publicis Groupe of France.

"I think this year's Davos is very prescient because almost every organisation and every country is looking to find out how they can harness data to enable this intelligent world to empower their citizens and empower their businesses.

Almost every CEO here has a focus area on how we can advance their products in their target markets using AI, give the right message to the right person, on how to advance things like retail, personalised offers etc, he said.

Asked about the need for regulating AI, he said, "I don't see much progress happening on any global regulation for AI, I think what we will start to see soon is standards emerging in some countries which will get adopted by other countries,  "For example, European Union created GDPR standards on data perspective and we saw that being adopted informally by companies in many other geographies because they felt these were sensible regulations and they were fine with it, I think the challenge what we may have is that certain regulations in some countries will be more restrictive and that may stifle innovation, he said.

Asked about the risks posed by AI, he said, "I don't think AI is an option anymore and it is going to pervasively transform every aspect of every business.

It will be interesting to see how government regulations start to impact the environment. I believe that particularly regarding AI, concerns like governance, ethics, privacy, and personal data protection are essential. Establishing rules and frameworks is vital for businesses, especially multinationals, to thrive, he said.

He added, "Almost every area of every organization can be reimagined in the context of the new age, so I think this is indeed very prescient, he said.