Executives express concern about the regular use of applications such as ChatGPT by their employees
Opportunities but also risks from the systematic use of Generative AI applications are seen by the management executives (C-suite) of large companies in Greece.
The term C-Suite is used to describe the members of a company’s management team, such as CEO, CFO, CIO, COO, etc. According to the conclusions of Kaspersky’s new international research, presented today in Athens, the vast majority (92%) of C-suite executives of large Greek companies admit that their employees regularly use Generative AI applications (such as ChatGPT, Google bard etc.).
In fact, four out of ten (40%) reported that these applications are now an essential tool for supporting a range of tasks. At the same time, the large majority of the sample (72%) expresses concern about the potential security risks arising from the systematic use of Generative AI applications, making possible the leakage of sensitive data and even the complete loss of control of business operations.
“It is a fact that the integration of Generative AI applications has significantly increased employee productivity. However, according to our latest research, although senior executives are aware that these applications are an element of employees’ daily working life, they are unaware of the extent and the way in which they are used. Since the use of Generative AI applications in the workplace is here to stay, the more their use expands, the more difficult it will be to put control and security in place for key business departments such as HR, finance, marketing or even IT”, explains Vassilis Vlahos, Channel Manager of Kaspersky for Greece and Cyprus.
The integration of Generative AI applications has already brought about significant intersections in how businesses operate, and in the future it is expected to fundamentally change the way businesses grow and position themselves in the market. Indicatively, from the survey sample, almost all participants (93%) reported that the use of Generative AI has been raised as a topic of discussion at their company’s Board of Directors meetings during the last 6 months, while more than one in two (54%) believes that Generative AI applications will cause a “revolution” in the field of technology, just as it happened with Google’s search engine.
A key feature of Generative AI applications is continuous learning through the influx of new data. What this means for businesses is that when an employee enters sensitive organizational data into an application, they are essentially inadvertently leaking data. In the survey, a large proportion of senior executives express strong concerns about this fact, with the majority fearing the possibility of employees sharing sensitive company (72%) and customer (71%) data using Generative AI platforms.
At the same time that a large part of the sample expresses concerns, on the other hand half of the participants (50%) plan to integrate Generative AI applications to automate repetitive daily tasks of their employees. At the same time, 41% intend to integrate Generative AI applications into their professional daily life in order to upgrade the production process. Regarding the departments that could be automated, according to the participants, the first place is Marketing (34%), followed by the Finance department (15%) and the Communication department (14%), while in fourth place (11 %) is the Sales department. IT and cybersecurity departments are very low on the list at just 6%.
However, despite the concerns and plans to expand the use of Generative AI, only 20% of the sample reported that the establishment of rules for the use of the specific applications has been discussed at a senior level, while almost no one (1%) proceeded to ban the use Generative AI in the workplace. “One would expect that the possibility of leaking sensitive data and losing control of the operation of critical parts of a business would cause senior business executives to be wary of integrating artificial intelligence. However, according to the survey data, 1 in 4 intends to outsource some of the most important functions of a business to Generative AI applications. In order for businesses to be able to proceed with this step without jeopardizing the operation of the business, the implementation of strict data management and protection policies should have preceded this” adds Vassilis Vlachos.
Kaspersky’s research entitled “Gen AI Business Infiltration: C-Level executives are sitting on an AI timebomb, aware of the risks, but too complacent to act” contains a total of 1,863 interviews with C-level executives in large enterprises from 8 countries of Europe, while a total of 200 executives participated from Greece.
