4 ways Swedish CIOs strengthen defenses against bombarding AI sales

Just
like
Svensson,
he’s
bombarded
with
emails
and
calls
and
questions.

“They
want
to
get
me
interested
so
I’ll
then
lobby
for
it,”
he
says. “But
I
usually
say
it’s
better
to
get
those
who
know
something
in
a
field
to
become
interested. If
in
turn
that
team
tells
me
they
think
a
product
could
be
a
good
fit,
then
it’s
difficult
to
say
no.”

Of
course,
he
says,
it’s
interesting
to
try
something
experimental,
but
investing
requires
greater
commitment
to
the
business
case.

“Then
you
have
to
be
able
to
demonstrate
real,
quantitative
value
that
creates
cash
flow
and
direct
savings,”
says
Dahlin.

Lacks
framework

Marcus
Matteby,
CIO
of
Sundsvall
municipality
on
Sweden’s
east
coast,
also
feels
the
pressure
from
suppliers,
although
it’s
a
little
different
in
the
public
sector
where
products
are
not
only
bought
in
but
procured.

He
also
points
out
that
today
there’s
a
multitude
of
standards
when
it
comes
to
AI,
and
that
it’s
something
to
keep
an
eye
on
before
buying
pre-packaged
products
that
are
offered.

“This
also
creates
the
risk
of
building
a
digital
legacy
with
solutions
that
work
on
their
own,
but
can’t
be
connected
well
together,”
he
says.

Listen
to
the
words

Sundsvall
recently
procured
development
of
AI
models
from
a
small
company
run
by
newly
graduated
KTH
Royal
Institute
of
Technology
students,
and
their
way
of
talking
about
AI
shows
they
fundamentally
understand
it,
says
Matteby.

“That’s
how
you
can
tell
the
difference
between
those
who
learned
buzzwords
and
those
who
really
know
something,”
he
says. “So
a
follow-up
question
if
a
salesperson
gets
in
touch
might
be
to
ask
them
to
elaborate
on
what
they
mean
by
AI.”

One
way
to
distinguish
the
more
serious
players,
he
adds,
could
be
that
instead
of
speaking
broadly
about
AI,
to
be
more
specific
and
talk
about
image
analysis,
natural
language,
or
deep
learning.

“It’s
the
simplest
trick,”
he
says. “But
maybe
the
next
step
for
salespeople
will
be
to
learn
it
too.”

About Author

AndyC

Andy Curtis is an award-winning security consultant, researcher and public speaker. He has been working in the computer security industry since the early 1990s, having been employed by state and federal government, leading healthcare and banking providers across three continents. He has given talks about computer security for some of the world’s largest companies, worked with law enforcement agencies on investigations into hacking groups, and is a regular voice on TV and radio explaining IT security threats.

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