The acceleration of the integration of AI into companies redefines roles – and the IT function as a whole is of renewed importance in the face of the challenges it involves.
Intelligent IT systems are increasingly central to business business strategies, and IT managers are now found in the fire. What was once perceived as a rather administrative function is today a strategic engine, which guides critical decisions taken at the highest level. IT managers are no longer content to maintain systems and react to breakdowns. Their role in the conduct of innovation and the development of strategies make it recognized key votes within the boards of directors.
According to McKinsey, 92 % of executives plan to increase their expenses related to AI over the next three years. The AI will not only change what companies can do – it will also change that decides how they do. The AI helps to develop the importance of the IT function: so that it has a real impact, it is necessary to have confidence in its decisions, fully understand its functioning, and have the infrastructure necessary to support it. Technology alone is not enough.
As companies reorganize around AI, leadership must therefore also evolve.
AI, an engine of the “platform effect” for IT decision -makers
With the acceleration of the adoption of AI, corporate networks undergo an increasing pressure to which they are not always prepared. The result? Tuesdays that limit performance and visibility, poor user experience, and a strategic lag.
This pressure leads to a transition to platformation, which combines network, AI and security on a single platform. According to a recent study, 89 % of managers, including 93 % of DSIs and RSSIs, said they wanted to evolve towards this type of unified approach offering native AI capacities without compromising security or user experience. Managers are ready to support this approach by concrete actions: 54 % of them now classify the deployment of AI among their three main commercial priorities for 2025.
AI mastery, new competence of managers
This evolution leads to a silent revolution in the skills of senior managers. Today’s leaders must deepen their AI understanding, not by becoming technical experts, but by entering its strategic value, its place in the computer battery, and the way of assessing its risks and advantages.
AI is not a simple additional tool. It modifies the way in which decisions are made, which takes them, and on what information they rely.
Strengthen confidence in AI through training
To adapt to these changes, it is essential to invest massively in the improvement of skills. 93 % of senior executives are now training their IT staff for more efficient use of AI, emphasizing both skills and confidence in this technology. As AI systems make increasingly complex decisions, confidence will be established thanks to knowledge, transparency, reliability, and significant human involvement.
For AI to be adopted in areas such as Netops, Secops and commercial operations in the broad sense, it must demonstrate precision, transparency and security. It must also empower users (not replace them) by improving their expertise and helping them make decisions.
A conversational interface is a good starting point, because it helps users to recover information, automate simple tasks and gradually strengthen their confidence in AI capabilities. As this confidence settles down, users can associate with AI to obtain more in -depth information and, in the long term, entrust it with more advanced tasks. This development must be guided by the principle of “human in the loop”, which guarantees that users keep control by approving, rejecting or refining the recommendations of the AI, while retaining supervision and responsibility.
By interacting with AI, by questioning its answers and understanding the reasoning underlying its decisions, users strengthen their own understanding. AI then becomes more than a simple tool: it becomes a collaborator.
Assistance to autonomy
What about IT managers? They are in charge.
As companies go from basic automation to agentic AI (systems that act independently and make complex decisions in real time), the strategic role of IT is even more important.
Who says new “power”, however, says new complexity. Managers must manage everything, the governance of AI and data confidentiality to ethical deployment and regulatory compliance. Concretely, this means that systems must not be put in place that are not only powerful, but also explainable, verifiable and secure.
IT at the Table of decision -makers
AI offers IT a rare opportunity to redefine its value as a strategic partner.
The companies that will prosper will be those that will judiciously integrate AI by putting it into the hands of the best equipped people to direct this integration. With this new dynamic, IT finally takes its place at the decision -makers’ table, and must be recognized as an essential strategic function in mastering AI.
