CIO strategy guide:

Managing organisational
impacts of generative AI
GenAI presents a wholesale change to how we think about
and carry out our work, making it critical for CIOs to get
ahead of its use in the enterprise.

Introduction
Generative AI (GenAI) has brought us to a technology inflection point, thanks to
its advancement of the human/machine relationship. Its ability to rapidly process
large data sets has delighted users as they prompt these solutions, for example,
to create text, generate images and perform basic computing tasks.

Individuals and businesses alike have demonstrated great enthusiasm for using it,
causing rapid growth and investment.

Still need convincing? Consider that 92% of organisations are exploring, piloting
or implementing GenAI solutions and cite great expectations for the technology1:

• 58% believe that GenAI will play a role in improving employee productivity.
• 55% expect it to create better business outcomes, such as improved
employee experiences and heightened innovation.
• 55% believe that it enables employees to focus on value-adding tasks.

sponsored by
CIO strategy guide: Managing organisational impacts of generative AI 2

The majority (70%) of employees agree, saying they would Yes, GenAI is worthy of the buzz. Which only increases the This eBook is a guide to help IT leaders manage the
delegate as much work as possible to artificial intelligence to urgency for CIOs to get ahead of its rapid implementation curve. implementation of GenAI up, down, within and across the
lighten their workload. Software suppliers are already incorporating GenAI functionality organisation. It identifies the challenges you’ll face and some of
into their products and services. And your employees are likely the guidance you’ll need in order to operationalise GenAI – in
Organisations have generated – and continue to create – a already using the technology to complement their work, which a safe, secure and value-generating way – to enhance the way
wealth of data that is surpassing our ability as humans to means that new types of vulnerabilities and risks are being people work.
process it. Between emails, texts and apps, it’s easy to be introduced into your organisation.
overwhelmed by a constant barrage of red dot notifications.
Managing all these inputs is distracting and detracts from the
truly creative, value-added work we all aspire to (see ‘Obstacles
to innovation’ box).

So how exactly can GenAI make a difference in the way we

work? Although AI-related technologies – including machine
Obstacles to innovation
Most employees (68%) today say they lack focus time in their workday.
learning (ML) and natural-language processing (NLP) – are
not new, the models underlying GenAI solutions have made
Their ability to innovate is limited:
significant leaps and can now process enormous data sets and
respond to an individual’s prompt within seconds.

The capacity and speed of GenAI platforms and tools are

changing how we find and use information. Large language
62% 8.8 hours/week:
models (LLMs) can seamlessly unify enterprise data across
spent too much time searching spent on email by the most
applications, putting contextualised information at people’s for work-related information substantial of email users
fingertips within seconds to help streamline daily tasks such as:

• Summarising meetings
•
•
Creating drafts of proposals or contracts
Creating data visualisations
7.5 hours/week:
spent in meetings by the heaviest meeting users
• Organising your inbox
• Formatting documents
• Automating workflows
Source: Microsoft ‘Work Trend Index Annual Report: Will AI Fix Work?’

1
Foundry, ‘AI Priorities Study 2023’
2
Microsoft, ‘Work Trend Index Annual Report: Will AI Fix Work?’ May 9, 2023
CIO strategy guide: Managing organisational impacts of generative AI 3

Table of contents
4 Chapter 1:
Managing up: Strategy, execution and
business outcomes

5 Chapter 2:
Managing down: GenAI and the
employee experience

7 Chapter 3:
Managing within: GenAI and the IT
experience

9 Chapter 4:
Managing across: Building a foundation
for broad adoption of GenAI

10 Chapter 5:
Next steps for successful GenAI
adoption
CIO strategy guide: Managing organisational impacts of generative AI 4

Chapter 1:
Managing up: Strategy, execution
and business outcomes
GenAI will massively change how work gets done, which
presents CIOs with an opportunity to enhance their influence
data management strategy, revisiting access policies, data
governance structures, privacy controls and the general
Business value
as change-makers. Because GenAI is not just another
technology rollout. Yes, it does involve the usual planning,
data life cycle from generation to destruction.
opportunities
testing, integration and deployment, but IT leaders will need to • Metrics that provide a holistic view of value creation and
emphasise extra layers of strategic tasks such as collaboration, return on investment. This will consist of both hard and A recent study among 18,100 workers around
communication and change management. Successful adoption soft metrics. For example, do you want to measure how the world asked where GenAI could have a
will rely on an organisation-wide understanding of how GenAI GenAI affects work quality and quantity as well as its speed positive impact on their job performance:
reshapes tasks and processes, as well as the cognitive skills of delivery? How will it affect employee morale, recruitment
people will require to create successful outcomes. and retention? Also factor in the cost of doing nothing
– whether that might affect, for example, competitive • 75% Salespeople cited the
To define and refine a GenAI strategy, CIOs need to closely advantage or the ability to deliver consistent customer ability to identify sales opportunities.
partner with senior leaders across business functions – service.
collaborating on the goals of GenAI – as well as recognise its
potential pain points. Key strategic considerations include: • Cultural and operational hurdles to GenAI • 70% Customer service
implementation. Which groups might be most resistant to cited the ability to intelligently route issues.
• The achievable business outcomes from GenAI. the technology’s deployment? Will certain individuals and/
Productivity will improve, enabling employees to work or business units need new data resources, training, skills or
more strategically. Where are the opportunities for greater infrastructure? Think about which teams can accelerate their • 73% Finance said that it simplifies
business value? Understand where you can make the most innovation efforts with GenAI use as well as areas where you financial reporting.
impact, such as cost efficiencies in reduced IT or licensing might encounter pushback.
costs, risk mitigation or faster decision-making (see the
‘Business value opportunities’ box). With alignment across senior leadership, you can then build
a business case that demonstrates a clear path to business
• Security and data privacy. Which individuals, groups or objectives and improvements while always connecting back to
teams have access to mission-critical and sensitive data, the user experience.
and where is that data stored? You’ll need to refine your
CIO strategy guide: Managing organisational impacts of generative AI 5

Chapter 2:
Managing down: GenAI and the
employee experience
Given the attention to and excitement about artificial
intelligence, CIOs need to manage employee expectations
savings. In addition, GenAI ideally will open their eyes to new
career paths and job functions as well as strategic innovation
Proof points
and experiences while addressing a mixed bag of uncertainty, opportunities for the business.
Early users of Microsoft Copilot, which integrates
cultural fears and anticipation.
LLM capabilities within Microsoft 3654, are already
Collaborate with organisational peers to create capturing benefits:
GenAI tools such as Microsoft Copilot are not just another value messaging
software roll-out. Work patterns will significantly change. Job
functions and roles will be affected as people elevate their CIOs can help with these mindset shifts by cascading

70%
say Copilot has made them more
capabilities and streamline their workload. IT and business messaging through functional leaders and business unit
productive.
leaders will need to be intentional about how these tools are managers about the benefits of GenAI. Counter fears with
deployed to make the most of their capabilities to increase specific examples of how GenAI can lessen people’s workload

75%
say that it saves them time finding
productivity and creativity and transform business processes. and deliver positive impact to their job.
information.
Help employees think like managers CIOs should also collaborate with their C-suite peers to prioritise

85%
say Copilot has helped them create a
‘quick wins’ or ways that employees can rapidly understand
good first draft of a document faster.
Leaders will need to nurture and emphasise skills such as the value of GenAI for their work life. For example, encourage
intellectual curiosity and analytical judgement (see the ‘New individuals to experiment with prompts that can ease their work
skills for a new way of working’ illustration). Individuals will need burdens or demonstrate lightheartedness such as: 68% cite its help in improving the quality of
their work.
training to create effective GenAI prompts. At a higher and more
critical level, they will also need to be coached to think like > Summarise the transcript of a virtual meeting
say now that they’re using Copilot,
managers – because they will be delegating tasks to their GenAI
‘direct reports’.
> Write an acceptance speech suitable for an employee-of-
the-year award
77% they don’t want to give it up.

Training programs will need to nurture a growth mindset.

Over time employees will gain the capacity to rethink their job
routines, which will reduce their work stress and boost time

3
Microsoft, ‘Work Trend Index Special Report: What Can Copilot’s Earliest Users Teach Us About Generative AI at Work?’ November 15, 2023
CIO strategy guide: Managing organisational impacts of generative AI 6

New skills for a new

way of working
Maintain ongoing and easily accessible training

Be prepared for ongoing, yet snackable, training. Many

employees already have skill sets that are useful for GenAI –
29% 27%
such as the ability to prioritise tasks. Others will need to learn
Flexibility
Emotional
how to securely share documents in these new environments.
intelligence
Provide a variety of resources, such as fact sheets, videos,
infographics and trivia quizzes, in order to encourage retention
and engagement.

Manage change by communicating the need for ongoing

feedback. Stay connected to the end user experience by
30% Analytical
judgement
24% Creative
evaluation
regularly gathering feedback and data on what’s working and
what’s not.

23% Intellectual
curiosity 22% Bias detection
and handling

21% A delegation
(Prompts)
Source: Microsoft

4
Microsoft, ‘Work Trend Index Special Report: What Can Copilot’s Earliest Users Teach Us About Generative AI at Work?’ November 15, 2023
CIO strategy guide: Managing organisational impacts of generative AI 7

Chapter 3:
Managing within: GenAI and
the IT experience
GenAI will have a significant impact on the IT organisation itself. survey found a variety of in-demand IT skills related to GenAI,5
Prepare IT support
CIOs may find that IT teams have their own fears or resistance to
the ways the technology will change their roles.
including:
teams for change
• NLP experience, including text classification, language
Successful GenAI deployments will rely on many of the modelling, key extraction and more: Specific roles
traditional skill sets found in IT organisations, such as include data scientists, machine learning engineers and • Give early access to IT admins so they can
integration, security, support and devops. Existing personnel, software engineers and developers. familiarise themselves with the solution’s
with some additional training, may be able to quickly get up to interface, features and capabilities.
speed with GenAI. • Machine learning/deep learning model tuning skills: This
involves creating parameters for the learning models • Pinpoint areas where users may need extra
Also, keep in mind that IT support teams will likely find for performance and efficiency. Engineers with machine training in the organisational roll-out.
themselves fielding new employee queries that are specific to learning and data expertise, AI scientists and data
GenAI tool use. analysts are relevant roles. • Strategise where new support tickets may
arise, such as requests for more training or
As with the broader workforce, it’s important to emphasise • Chatbot expertise, including individuals who can test, privacy questions.
that transforming IT processes will open up new growth integrate and analyse chatbot services: As GenAI
opportunities for IT teams. Work with your staff members use grows across the enterprise, these professionals • Prepare to regularly revisit and audit
to assess how they can use GenAI capabilities to augment can better customise chatbots to meet the needs of access rights and permissions to ensure
IT processes, such as assistance with code writing, rapidly employees as well as regularly manage and maintain that security remains a priority.
finding technical documentation or summarising data about these services.
infrastructure or application health.

Prepare for this change with an assessment of existing IT

skill sets, and then match them with potential new roles as
well as opportunities for education and training. One recent

5
CIO.com, ‘10 most in-demand generative AI skills,’ September 29, 2023
CIO strategy guide: Managing organisational impacts of generative AI 8

It’s important to look at the entire data management life cycle. Key steps include:

• Review user settings and permissions for file sharing. GenAI tools
will typically inherit established user policies and leverage existing data
sensitivity labels, making this the ideal time to coach employees through
the right sharing settings.

• Review data access permissions. The IT organisation should apply the

principles of ‘just enough’ and least-privilege access across your digital
estate. Collaborate with line-of-business leaders to ensure that the right
files are restricted and the correct data loss prevention policies are in
place, based on specific employee, team and endpoint needs.

• Revisit data storage practices. Your data strategy requires visibility

across your entire data ecosystem. GenAI will enable employees to share
organisational data, so review how cloud providers store your data and
ensure alignment with regional regulations. Be sure that your data policies
are consistent between GenAI solutions and the locations where your data
is stored and processed.

• Examine data retention and e-discovery policies. GenAI activity is

potentially discoverable, so also ensure that the right compliance controls
for data sharing are in place.

• Review software licensing and the need for application updates. Are
your CRM, productivity solutions and other systems up to date? For
example, your third-party travel system may provide a great use case for
GenAI, helping users better coordinate expense reports or business travel
scheduling. However, if it hasn’t been updated, it may not easily integrate
with your GenAI tool.

There’s a lot to tackle, especially if your staff is stretched thin. So identify partners,
suppliers, software suppliers and system integrators that can support the IT
organisation and provide best-practice recommendations.
CIO strategy guide: Managing organisational impacts of generative AI 9

Chapter 4:
Managing across: Building a foundation
for broad adoption of GenAI
A successful GenAI roll-out requires a more deliberate approach than traditional software
deployments. Microsoft Copilot, for example, will have a profound impact on people, data and
processes. Consider these four factors to create a flywheel effect that powers adoption:

1 Be programmatic about the roll-out. 3 Prioritise the skills needed to help

Identify at least one use case where Copilot will quickly individuals build new work habits.
deliver a tangible benefit, and be specific about Yes, they will need product training, but consider
objectives. For example, if customer service is your how employees’ processes and tasks will change due
starting point, flesh out the tasks where Copilot can to GenAI. Work with team leaders and champions to
make a difference, and then set intentions such as understand pain points that can be eased and the need
reducing incident resolution time. for individuals to work like managers, delegating tasks
to their Copilot assistant.
2 Identify champions who can lead roll-out
and adoption. 4 Revisit your data management processes
Work with line-of-business leaders – such as in and ensure that data is in order.
Sales, Finance and Human Resources – to determine Copilot inherits existing Microsoft 365 access and
where Copilot can make the most impact in terms of security permissions, so prioritise a data governance
optimising workflows, processes, roles and functions. review and conduct a thorough data audit.
Ask them to use Copilot for a week to understand its
benefits and where it will make the most difference for In addition, think broadly about GenAI’s impact across
their teams. Then suggest that these individuals lead the organisation and the tool sets in use. Copilot can
training sessions to encourage adoption. make a difference for every employee in every role.
Ideate with peers to reimagine and innovate workflows,
app development, communications and much more.
CIO strategy guide: Managing organisational impacts of generative AI 10

Chapter 5: Next steps for

successful GenAI adoption

As your GenAI journey progresses, keep these three key elements in mind:

1 1. Build a foundation for success.

Get your platforms AI-ready. For example, make sure your cloud
security settings are up to date and that you’re using the latest version
of devices, operating systems and third-party apps. Seek to integrate
productivity, security, collaboration and management solutions to
enable the best-possible employee experiences with GenAI.

2 2. Augment people skills with intelligence and automation.

Beyond the basics of using GenAI tools such as Copilot to recap
meetings and draft documents, strategise how the technology can be
used to transform entire work processes. GenAI is shifting the traditional
view of human/machine interactions, yet humans must be the focal
point. AI and automation ease mundane or repetitive tasks, freeing up
individuals to use their cognitive skills for innovation. Incorporate and
personalise GenAI tools to nurture these skills.

3 3. Improve as you go.

How will you know if your GenAI deployment is successful? Build in
capabilities to monitor and measure each use case. Seek a platform
that collates these metrics and delivers actionable insights that foster
continuous improvement.
CIO strategy guide: Managing organisational impacts of generative AI 11

More than anything else, be inspired by the possibilities of Copilot and other GenAI solutions. Encourage people across your organisation to do the same
by taking GenAI for a test spin to see its possibilities. Here are some prompt ideas, both whimsical and practical:

For fun: For real-world practice:

Explain generative AI in the Create a music playlist for my Explain generative AI in Prepare a business case
style of a jazz composition. antivirus training session. simple terms. presentation for enterprise
adoption of GenAI.

Develop a data governance Provide cost-effective

Write a supplier negotiation Give me a list of tasty snacks framework to secure data strategies to optimise my IT
email in Jedi code. for my next IT staff meeting. assets. budget.
CIO strategy guide: Managing organisational impacts of generative AI 12

Final words
Microsoft Copilot is accelerating the enterprise into the world of modern work. But it is not your typical
IT roll-out. To increase its chances for success in your organisation, take the time to understand the
differences; manage all the key stakeholders; and create a thorough and thoughtful development,
deployment and management strategy.

Learn more about capturing Copilot’s potential by visiting Copilot for Work | Microsoft 365.