HAVI AI Summit 2024: Shaping the Future with Innovation and Responsible AI
Artificial Intelligence has been utilized in engineering and scientific fields for over three decades, though its use was once confined to subject matter experts and specialized applications. With the advent of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), AI has become a common household term, revolutionizing every industry, and driving radical business and technological transformations. It's crucial for all organizations to develop a strategy for adopting and preparing for AI disruption. At HAVI, we are not merely following trends; we are leading with a pioneering spirit! Our goal is to actively participate in AI-driven changes and stay ahead of the curve.
On May 1, we hosted our very first HAVI AI Summit! This full-day event at our Global Headquarters in Chicago showcased our commitment to innovation and advancing our products and capabilities. It also underscored our dedication to the responsible use, security and governance of AI. The Summit, held virtually and in person, brought together HAVI executives, leaders, and innovators from across our HAVI businesses (HAVI Supply Chain, tms, and Stanley 1913) who are deeply passionate about AI.
Imagine a workplace where AI not only enhances business operations but also makes them more enjoyable and collaborative. That is the future HAVI is building! Since launching our cross-organizational AI Working Group in April 2023, we have witnessed phenomenal contributions and collaboration from our global teams across various business functions. These teams are at the forefront of experimenting with and creating new products and capabilities leveraging GenAI.
Our approach is guided by HAVI’s Responsible AI guidelines and practices, which provide guardrails around the development, design, deployment and use of AI. This ensures adherence to HAVI’s values and ethical considerations, including privacy, security, transparency, fairness, and accountability.
Highlights from the Summit
HAVI’s CEO, Frank Ravndal, and Chief Information Officer, Allison Radecki opened the summit with their remarks. They emphasized the importance of dedicating time to learning about AI, highlighting its fundamental impact on our world. The support of our AI working Group and this summit is a testament to our leadership's commitment to innovation and GenAI. The summit served as a platform for employees to collectively explore how AI can enhance our work and benefit our customers.
The summit featured a showcase of business use cases, insightful presentations, interactive product demos, and panel discussions led by our AI Working Group members. These sessions fostered opportunities for attendees to connect, collaborate, and network. Brian Barthelt, Managing Director at tms, delivered a keynote address titled “Navigating the Tide of Tomorrow,” providing valuable insights into the future of AI.
Additionally, the summit hosted an AI Thought Leadership panel, offering HAVI employees the chance to learn from and interact with practitioners in the field. Panelists included Dr. Amit Shah, PhD, CEO of GNS-AI LLC, Balamurugan Balakreshnan, Chief Architect at Microsoft, Rachel Fedewa (Bohler), CIO at USG, and Daniel Kendzior, Data & AI Security Practice Lead at Accenture. The panel, focused on “The AI Imperative,” discussed what organizations should prepare for in the age of GenAI. Panelists shared insights on engaging business leadership, the importance of hands-on experimentation, establishing responsible use guardrails, effective data management, and developing organizational strategy and governance.
Nick Weber Data & AI Practice at EPAM, discussed business outcome-based use cases and embedding GenAI into proprietary business applications. These presentations further highlighted how AI continues to transform industries in dynamic ways.
We also had a special and engaging presentation by Amir Haramaty, CEO at aiOla, who showcased their AI solution that leverages power of speech while combining Natural Language Understanding and Automatic Speech Recognition.
The day concluded with a trade show-style tabling event where HAVI employees showcased the business use cases and products on which they have been working.
As GenAI proliferates through industries and organizations, we can expect profound impacts across functions - from customer engagement to product development to supply chain management and even business model innovation. The integration of AI into everyday devices will make AI pervasive, personal, and responsive. We are on the brink of a cognitive AI revolution and our journey is just beginning. With our AI Working Group and initiatives like the AI Summit, we’re not just contemplating on the hype vs. reality of GenAI; we're embracing and building the foundations to support the new dawn of AI.
Join us at HAVI as we explore this exciting new frontier with curiosity, enthusiasm, and a steadfast commitment to responsible use.
Want to learn more about us and our journey? Connect with HAVI, HAVI Supply Chain, tms and Stanley 1913 on LinkedIn. Here’s to AI and championing innovation in all we do!
By Savitha Sathyan, Vice President - Global Enterprise Architecture