Every CIO and tech leader is facing the challenge of integrating AI into their organizations, especially with AI becoming a standard feature in many solutions. The Gartner AI Technology Sandwich offers a new framework to guide decisions on acquiring and deploying AI capabilities. Here are the key questions to consider:
How to Use the AI Technology Sandwich
- As a communication tool: Helps governance teams, IT members, and senior business leaders understand how AI pieces fit together, including technology and governance elements.
- As a planning tool: Serves as a conceptual framework for creating or testing technology stacks, planning AI decentralization, and financial planning for AI execution.
AI Applications
- Embedded AI: Determine if AI will come from vendors (e.g., SAP, ServiceNow, Salesforce) and how the AI platform needs to evolve to support it.
- Built AI: Assess the need for customized AI solutions and decide whether to build them internally or assemble them from purchased components.
- Bring-your-own AI: Evaluate if departments will buy AI independently and whether to develop governance frameworks and procure compliance tools.
Data Management
- Data everywhere: Decide if integrating structured and unstructured data sources is necessary and how to procure data management solutions (build or buy).
- Centralized data: Determine if data accessibility and compliance are required and whether to develop custom solutions or purchase existing tools.
Trust, Risk, and Security Management (TRiSM)
- Additional security measures: Assess the need for security measures to ensure AI trustworthiness and decide whether to build them in-house or buy TRiSM technologies.
- TRiSM oversight: Evaluate if real-time monitoring of AI outputs is critical and whether to develop custom oversight solutions or purchase established technologies.
Budget and Resources
- Financial readiness: Determine if there is sufficient budget and resources to support AI development, implementation, and usage, and whether to use FinOps tools to monitor costs.
Strategic Alignment
- Competitive goals: Assess if the AI buy vs. build strategy meets competitive goals and whether strategic vendor partnerships have all necessary players to support the AI strategy.
The AI Technology Sandwich helps organizations align their AI strategies with broader objectives, ensuring effective integration and governance of AI capabilities.
