Maybe Only the Occasional, Exceptional AI Project Needs to Work Out: Evolved AI’s Dr Michael Kollo

Evolved AI’s CEO, Dr Michael Kollo, has a message for Australian organisations struggling to generate value from their AI initiatives: the average project doesn’t need to work out; maybe the occasional, exceptional one does.

It’s probably a position that many Australian CFOs would find it hard to agree with. ADAPT surveyed 91 finance chiefs last November with 80% saying they do not believe their organisations are generating value from AI.

Kollo says corporates often apply “very linear” thinking to technology investments. He says organisations want an incremental ROI on these projects – whether in cyber enhancements, infrastructure or data initiatives – that collectively yield economic value. Many don’t understand the “nature of risk taking” when it comes to deploying AI systems.

“People are used to saying, ‘Well, every single project has to have a return and when you add up those returns in aggregate, you get something good,’” he says.