Jeremy Rafuse, Vice President, Head of IT and Digital Workplace, GoToDecember 31, 20245 Min Readchombosan via Alamy StockIT infrastructure is the building block of any thriving company. Whether implementing process improvements, setting up new revenue streams, or adopting advanced technologies, long-term business success depends on the work accomplished with the tools and teams operating on the base floor.In recent years, adopting artificial intelligence has become a top priority for companies seeking a competitive advantage and looking to propel digital transformation efforts further. The benefits of AI are becoming increasingly well-known and touted, but IT teams know that AI is not a magic bullet; in fact, there are several crucial factors and steps required for successful implementation. Moreover, deploying new tools and technologies is a massive undertaking and can present a host of logistical issues related to the larger systems powering these capabilities. For companies looking to get started with AI, this is where many will thrive or fail: establishing an IT ecosystem that is robust enough to facilitate current progress and support future innovation.Assessing Operational MaturityIn years past, many companies built their IT infrastructures as a composite of different tools and environments. Some solutions were adopted to enable better development, while others were chosen to facilitate collaboration and data security. These systems were hosted on-premises, in-the-cloud, or hybrid environments. In many cases, they barely talked to one another or were given different permissions to continue working as the company grew and evolved.Related:This fragmented and piecemeal approach may have worked for getting a new IT system off the ground, but it cannot effectively support the intertwined and complex AI systems of the future. Instead, companies must focus on achieving operational maturity, or the ability to seamlessly leverage different technologies to achieve overall business objectives. To gain operational maturity, IT leaders and teams need to foster unified IT environments, eliminate redundancies, and integrate centralized management of key support functions such as device management, remote access capabilities, integration among IT support tools, and endpoint management, among others.If one (or several) of these areas is outdated, your ability to manage your IT network effectively will be limited -- and it will be nearly impossible to implement more advanced systems that use AI.Improve Data Quality and ManagementFor many companies, a major problem in leveraging AI has been a lack of efficiency in data quality and management. Ultimately, AI is only as smart as the data it receives and is trained on. Some businesses dont know what data they have on hand, while others cannot access the full scope of information needed due to various factors like segmented or siloed data. To remedy this, its imperative that IT teams look at the systems currently handling data storage and utilization and improve or sunset legacy systems wherever possible.Related:A major part of this process is evaluating which vendors provide your critical data services. This includes assessing the following: How is your data being stored and operationalized? Do you have access to data analytics services? If you were to set up an AI assistant or training system, would you have immediate access to your data, or would there be a bottleneck? Finally, can your vendor even support (or secure) your move to an IT system that incorporates advanced artificial intelligence?If the answer is no to any of the above questions, then you might consider reevaluating your vendor choices. Some companies are looking to consolidate IT vendors, while others are exploring migration to the cloud to improve flexibility while offloading maintenance and updates. And, since so many of todays vendors realize the need for systems that integrate these capabilities, there is a high chance you can find one that offers a comprehensive suite of solutions attuned to your business needs.Related:New Tools for AI Learning andSecuritySo far, our main concern has been successfully hosting and utilizing AI systems at an infrastructure level. However, giving your IT teams the necessary tools and skills to support and secure these new models is just as important. After all, IT workers are learning alongside the rest of the world how to deploy and troubleshoot AI, and they need the proper means to do so.The good news is that the available options have greatly improved in recent years. AI webinars and conferences are now widespread, as well as employee training programs that allow workers to gain hands-on experience with this technology before implementation. By investing in opportunities for continuing education, companies are giving IT leaders and agents the means to understand AI first-hand and assess where and how it can make a difference in the organization.On a day-to-day level, IT workers must have the means to quickly and effectively manage AI-powered systems. Crucially, this includes understanding who has access to AI tools, how theyre using them, and what data is available for these purposes. It is good practice for IT teams to implement encryption, multifactor authentication (MFA), and access controls to safeguard proprietary information and customer data from bad actors. Remote support and management tools can also help ensure that the proper applications, patches, and security software protect employees without the need for them to take action. While you want AI to learn (and grow) using company data, it is pivotal that this is accomplished in a way that respects the integrity and security of your organization -- and IT workers play an integral role in ensuring the safeguards are in place to allow this to happen.As AI continues to permeate various business functions -- and transforms the workplace as we know it -- ensuring a dynamic and robust IT ecosystem will be key for sustainable and competitive growth.About the AuthorJeremy RafuseVice President, Head of IT and Digital Workplace, GoToJeremy Rafuse has been with GoTo since 2010 in various IT leadership roles. Since 2021, Jeremy has served as the companys head of IT and the Digital Workplace Team. In this role, Jeremy leads GoTos remote-centric IT operations for its over 3,000 global employees. Prior to his time at GoTo, Jeremy worked in system engineer and system administrator roles for companies such as Phase Forward and Avid Technology. Jeremy is based in the Boston area.See more from Jeremy RafuseNever Miss a Beat: Get a snapshot of the issues affecting the IT industry straight to your inbox.SIGN-UPYou May Also LikeWebinarsMore WebinarsReportsMore Reports