60% of companies globally believe they can be much more productive with artificial intelligence, and three out of four are already exploring this technology. This was indicated by Andrés Maldonado, general manager of IBM Ecuador, who comments on the momentum on this issue and predicts that in 2024 it will increase at a super high speed.

What are the companies’ strategies in new technologies for the new year?

Companies ask themselves this question: which way to go in a challenging competitive economic environment. Recommendations and what we see in the market are three big themes: first, artificial intelligence, which is the de rigueur theme that most companies are exploring. Second, hybrid cloud that they are also exploring to understand how to take advantage of their on-premises infrastructure, but also have external flexibilities and capabilities. And thirdly, cyber security that cannot be outside of technology strategy or business strategy.

In Ecuador, there is more and more talk about artificial intelligence. Are companies fully hooked or not?

The topic of artificial intelligence (AI) is on the agenda of most company CEOs; in fact, Gartner research tells us that three out of four companies today are exploring or have already experimented with artificial intelligence. We also have statistics that tell you that 90% of data is invisible to companies and exactly the promise of the value of AI is the exploitation of that information, the potential is huge and we see it in Ecuador, as well as throughout Latin America. More often we see the use of virtual assistants, cognitive assistants, during the pandemic there was a super-accelerated momentum that was sustained over time. Common usage is also process optimization, how to make processes less wasteful in terms of hours using artificial intelligence. Supply chain issues for optimizing routes, flows and cybersecurity.

Of these tools, which one is used the most?

I would say 40% of companies use artificial intelligence in cognitive assistants. There is a statistic that says that 62% of global consumers would leave a brand because of a bad experience, this is a very powerful message that customers are giving. And you connect that with this creation of cognitive assistants and you have matches winner.

Andrés Maldonado, general manager of IBM Ecuador, talks about the progress that technology has in different uses at the business level. Photo: Courtesy

Some example of these assistants to be more didactic.

We have a public reference in Brazil, Bradesco is one of the biggest banks in Brazil and with Bradesco we have developed a cognitive assistant called BIA that you call on the phone and it responds naturally. It answers 283,000 calls per month and solves 95% of them, and only 5% directs them to a human assistant. Calls are, for example, status inquiries, transfers. It’s a conversation: Hello BIA, you identify with all security mechanisms, the level of personalization is like ‘make a transfer to my sister’. Everything is parameterized, it knows contact information, common references. It’s not traditional attention that says call 1 for, call 2 for…

What does a hybrid cloud consist of?

Ten or twelve years ago, public clouds started to gain a lot of importance and there was a migration. You have to find a balance. The correct strategy is not to manage everything in data center traditional, but don’t go for the public cloud either. The correct model adopted by 77% of companies is the hybrid cloud, which combines the two clouds to some extent. For example, a bank that has core banking in data center traditional and has a application In a public cloud, two infrastructures host different, complementary applications that constantly communicate. On average, companies use ten clouds.

And in cyber security?

It’s a super relevant topic at the business level, it should be a priority. There is concern and awareness about the importance of cyber security. When a company becomes aware of an attack, it wasn’t the moment the attacker breached it, it took an average of 8 months from the time you were breached until you realized it, and from then another 50 days to recover. The average cost of a breach in Latin America is $2.5 million and that’s up 76% compared to 2020. Hackers have become an industry of cyberattacks, so companies more than ever need to deploy technology to combat attackers in these industries.

When you see this fact and frame it in the fact that in Latin America there is a lack of 500,000 specialized security professionals and that companies are not investing enough in cyber security, you see the need for the market to do something, hopefully it will improve with time.

So, of these three key points, which has made the most progress?

All three are super relevant, they’re on the executive agenda, but I would say AI, and specifically generative AI, the difference is that generative AI allows you to create, to be more versatile in your responses to clients. Companies realize this potential and are heavily applying and researching this artificial intelligence for their business.