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GenAI has been in the spotlight for over a year, making transformative waves across industries. The survival of many organizations will depend on how well they adapt to these technological innovations. So how do companies handle the decision-making process around technological advances like AI?
Some organizations enthusiastically adopt new technologies and follow new IT trends, boldly moving forward, sometimes making mistakes; sometimes achieving advances that promise to change the business landscape. Others proceed more cautiously, observing and learning from their peers before making decisions.
A look at the waves of innovation over the past few decades illustrates the nature of the IT decision-making process. For example, not long ago, many organizations had to decide whether to adopt a SaaS strategy with migrating workloads to the cloud, move from hub-and-spoke connectivity models to SD-WAN, or adopt a new security paradigm with Zero Trust before. These trends became widespread. They needed to understand not only how to leverage new technologies to generate profits, but also their own limitations to avoid potential risks or financial losses.
The economic factor is the clearest incentive to seek innovations. However, when investing in new technologies to improve agility, flexibility, user experience and cost savings, expectations rise. Another force for change is often business growth, with mergers and acquisitions designed to accelerate an organization's natural growth. However, combining the IT infrastructure of two organizations can be a long and difficult process.
How the first users are formed
CIOs, CTOs or CISOs are responsible for making product decisions that can shape the business for decades to come. So how should they evaluate their decision-making process and what factors should they prioritize over others when making a top management decision?
My personal decision to adopt the emerging technology of a Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) was made with the needs of my organization in mind. mergers and acquisitions (M&A) aspirations. Integrating networks of two different companies is extremely challenging as their infrastructures differ, creating friction and complexity. This not only consumes time and effort but can lead to financial losses until the integration is complete. Additionally, security issues must be taken into account, as you do not want to allow a breach.
We investigated what a solution to this challenge would look like in 2017, but it was hard work, involving trial and error. We tested many technologies that were available and proven at the time, such as VDI from 2017 to 2018, application streaming, and even edge computing, and ultimately found that none of them would solve the initial M&A challenge of eliminating friction. At some point I realized that it was the network topology that was preventing us from moving forward quickly.
Once I had that lightbulb moment, I was willing to invest the time to understand the benefits of a new buzzword called Zero Trust. There wasn't much information available because it was an emerging trend at the time – the term itself hadn't been coined yet, so I had to learn the hard way that connectivity had to be turned on its head to achieve the architecture that would solve my IT challenges. connectivity, and points of view had to prove the concept.
What followed was a lot of time and effort on my own exploration. To be an early adopter of a new technology, I had to give myself two things: permission to think differently and time to gain confidence in a completely new approach that could potentially end or accelerate my career.
Building tribes on the path to innovation
On this path to trust, it can be helpful to reach out to other early adopters or the people who created the new products. I learned this when I was an early adopter of public cloud services in 2006. Until I tried that path, it wasn't tangible to me and it took time to build some momentum. But sometimes it's hard to find early adopters when you're creating a trend yourself.
Still, it's helpful to access a community of like-minded technologists to get off your own hamster wheel of endless iterations. Think back to the early days of Amazon Web Services (AWS), when only a few hundred people attended events to learn the benefits. Today, tens of thousands of people gather at summits around the world to learn from each other by sharing best practices.
We can see the same journey unfolding with Zero Trust. The new trend began with a handful of early adopters who recognized the benefits of turning the world of IT connectivity on its head, and they convinced a few that they were quick learners from each other. After my initial success in resolving M&A complexity and connectivity issues with a Zero Trust-based approach and cloud security platformI was invited to speak at Zscaler's Zenith Live cloud conference five years ago.
It was an incredible experience to go on stage to demonstrate to the audience the benefits of implementing a Zero Trust architecture. At one point, I showed a slide on how to create micro-segmentation, and suddenly people started using their phones to take photos of architecture. That's when I realized the power and impact these conferences can have on the community and that I could help other organizations on their connectivity and security journey.
I also had the opportunity to meet other early adopters of Zero Trust architecture at the event. Hearing these different stories reassured me that I was not alone on the path of early adoption and gave me renewed confidence. Some of these colleagues had taken a different path to ZTA and it made me wonder if I had fully understood the new concept. But although our approaches were different, they had the same potential outcome. One-on-one conversations with my peers helped and inspired me as I adapted to new technology and showed the potential that two-way learning can have in an IT adoption cycle.
Shape organizational culture
My early experiences in an M&A setting helped inspire other organizations to think about the safe, cafeteria-style work experience anywhere as a way to retain employees. These new technologies can do more than simply solve business challenges; They have the power to drive cultural change. The reality of disruptive technological changes like Zero Trust is that they are changing the way people have worked for decades.
You can't drive cultural change alone; You have to get the rest of the company on board. What I have advocated in my own organizations is the idea of forming tribes and squads on the path to change. The goal is to first create a council of different stakeholders across the organization and agree on common procedures and standards for transformation, then effectively go out and champion education across the company.
First-mover advantage
To become an early adopter, you need to be a keen observer of the industry and aware of the next big steps in innovation. Take the time to attend conferences where you can network with your peers and understand which technologies are the next safe bets. As history repeats itself, organizations have set out to harness the power of AI with confidence.
That's why the theme of this year's Zenith Live, which will take place in The Hague from June 17 to 20, 2024, will be zero trust and AI. Take a look at the agenda and Register today to connect with your peers.
For more information visit zscaler.com.
