Managing GenAI risks: CIO roundtable insights

Beltug’s CIO Cabinet offers a platform for CIOs to exchange experiences and best practices. An online roundtable was organised around a question brought by a member of the CIO Cabinet about protecting intellectual property in the face of organisations’ increasing use of GenAI.

These organisations now have access to a large ecosystem of tools such as integrated workplace AI applications and enterprise chat solutions that may have access to potentially sensitive data. The session brought CIOs together to discuss current use cases, internal policies and concerns related to data and IP exposure, which is an ongoing and complex topic.

According to the CIOs, GenAI decisions are often guided by the existing technology stack, vendor trust and perceived control over data. Usage is then driven by roles, use cases and demand.

Balancing innovation, risk and exposure

In the discussion, the CIOs highlighted:

• The ongoing uncertainty around how data and intellectual property are handled. Questions remain about what happens to input data, how outputs can be used, and the risk of unintentionally sharing sensitive information. Even within controlled environments, trust is not absolute.
• The balance between experimentation and control, particularly enabling innovation versus managing risks and uncertainties. Overall, participants were quite aware that completely blocking tools can limit innovation. Therefore, few of the organisations represented in the group fully ban alternative tools, instead providing warnings and guidance, including promoting ‘official’ tools.
• The importance of governance and awareness. Governance frameworks are still evolving, and there is a need for clearer internal guidelines. Many organisations are implementing AI policies and acceptable use guidelines, training or onboarding staff before granting access, and monitoring usage such as number of active users, licensing, etc. But governance is still a work in progress that is being continuously adapted based on experience.

Beltug’s strength lies in the sharing of knowledge between peers who are going through the same journeys. We will continue facilitating exchanges like this roundtable on the topics that are affecting our members.

Interested in the CIO Cabinet or participating in another Beltug task force? Take a look here.