The Heller Report: A CIO’s Checklist for Bringing Shadow AI into the Light

IT leaders have two choices when it comes to Shadow AI: try to stop the train or get on board, veteran technology leader and executive IT consultant Christoph Hesterbrink writes in this piece offering a 10-point checklist for CIOs to manage shadow AI without slowing progress. Among his recommended moves: publishing a “dos-and-don’ts” list, setting up an enterprise AI sandbox, and creating a safe disclosure channel for AI use.

To stay on schedule for a critical ERP makeover, Angela Maragkopoulou, the chief information and digital officer for Sunlight Group Energy Storage Systems, pursued a pragmatic strategy that emphasized clear goals and a recognition that the way people work must be part of executives’ calculus. Among her takeaways: building migration strategies that can recover quickly when things go wrong can prevent major project disruptions.

Facing growing concerns about new AI data centers’ power consumption, Microsoft announced on Jan. 13 it would foot the higher electricity bills. Brad Smith, vice chair and president, also said Microsoft would: “replenish more of your water than we use,” create jobs for local residents, pay local taxes and invest in local AI training and nonprofits. “We believe that tech companies like Microsoft have both a unique opportunity to help contribute to these advances and a heightened responsibility to address these challenges head-on.”

Heller was recently retained by Black & Veatch to recruit a Vice President of Digital Products. Black & Veatch is a 100-percent employee-owned global engineering, procurement, consulting, and construction company with a more than 100-year track record of innovation in sustainable infrastructure. For this role, we identified Vineet Sinha, who most recently served as Vice President of Product Management, Delivery and Customer Success for Johnson Controls. Sinha holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the University of Mumbai. Congratulations, Vineet!