Optimizing Innovation at the Speed of AI in a Risk-Adjusted Manner

A Conversation with Dan Priest, US Chief AI Officer, PwC

Enterprises are under mounting pressure to innovate at the speed of artificial intelligence, but CIOs must do so in a risk-adjusted manner that keeps governance, compliance, and strategic alignment intact. The challenge is no longer just about deploying technology efficiently — it is about enabling rapid experimentation while ensuring that new digital assets integrate securely into the enterprise.

That tension between speed and control is reshaping the CIO’s role. Business units are no longer just consumers of technology; with generative AI tools, they can generate code and solutions themselves. CIOs must now balance empowerment with oversight, ensuring that innovation scales without exposing the organization to unnecessary risk.

During a BizTechReports executive vidcast and in discussions at the recent CIO 100 conference, Dan Priest, US Chief AI Officer at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), outlined how governance models, resource strategies, and IT-business relationships must evolve to capture value at AI speed.

NOTE: This feature has been edited for readability and organized into sections that explore the strategic, operational, financial and technological issues raised throughout the conversation.

STRATEGIC ASSESSMENTS

BTR: Dan, let’s start at the top. What does the tension between speed and control mean for CIOs?

Priest: Business stakeholders depend on technology, data, and AI to be competitive, and naturally they want more control. Generative AI accelerates that because teams can now show up with requirements and working code. That’s powerful, but it has implications. The CIO’s role is evolving. It’s less about controlling everything and more about orchestrating innovation responsibly.

BTR: How is this shaping enterprise strategy?

Priest: Scale matters less, speed matters more, and innovation matters most of all. Smaller players are using AI to create synthetic scale and disrupt markets. Larger enterprises need to move faster without losing control. That means CIOs have to help the business innovate while ensuring governance keeps the organization safe.

BTR: That sounds like a profound strategic shift. How does it change the CIO’s voice in the C-suite?

Priest: CIOs have always been asked to enable efficiency. Now they’re also being asked to enable reinvention. That requires different conversations with CEOs, CFOs, and P&L owners. It’s about deciding where to take risks, where to double down, and where to slow down. Governance is part of that, but so is strategic prioritization. CIOs are no longer just delivering projects — they’re helping shape the future of the business model.

OPERATIONAL IMPERATIVES

BTR: Governance has traditionally been viewed as a bottleneck. How must it change in this environment?

Priest: Governance can’t be a funnel anymore — it has to be a pipeline. You don’t want uncontrolled code in production, but you also can’t slow the business down. CIOs need frameworks that allow safe, fast deployment. Every function has the potential to disrupt itself with AI, so governance has to happen at the speed of business.

BTR: What does that mean for how IT teams are structured?

Priest: Senior developers are some of the best at reviewing AI-generated code, but they don’t want to spend their careers doing code reviews. They want to build. So roles need to evolve to keep talent fulfilled while ensuring quality. That means creating “review and integration” functions that sit alongside development. It also means training business teams to use AI responsibly.

BTR: So the culture inside IT needs to evolve too?

Priest: Absolutely. For decades, we’ve built cultures around standardization and efficiency. Now the culture has to reward experimentation and iteration. CIOs need to say: we can tolerate more cycles because the cost of each cycle is lower with AI. That’s a big mindset change, but it’s necessary if we want to keep up with the market.

BTR: And what about collaboration with the business?

Priest: It has to become more peer-to-peer. IT can’t be seen as a gatekeeper. It has to be seen as a partner that brings the expertise needed to scale innovation safely. That means sitting side by side with business teams, not behind a ticketing system.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

BTR: How does this shift affect costs and value realization?

Priest: Ultimately, it’s about dollars and cents. CIOs and their partners need to ask: Are we saving money or making money? The cost of code should be coming down as AI tools accelerate development. Adoption of these tools should be going up. That’s the baseline.

BTR: What metrics matter most in this context?

Priest: Some old metrics still apply — defect rates, speed to production — but new ones are emerging. For example, AI agents can sometimes claim to complete tasks they haven’t. CIOs need to monitor and reduce those “deceptions.” Instrumentation is critical. It gives IT and business leaders a common language for evaluating progress. Governance itself must also be measured. It can’t just be about control — it has to demonstrate value realization.

BTR: Are you seeing enterprises struggle with the economics of AI adoption?

Priest: Yes, because AI isn’t free. The infrastructure costs are real, and so are the energy costs. Organizations need to understand where AI creates value and where it simply adds expense. That’s why alignment with business strategy is so important. You don’t just spin up AI for the sake of it. You target it where it can make or save money in measurable ways.

BTR: How does this impact conversations with CFOs?

Priest: CIOs need to speak the language of return on investment more clearly than ever. CFOs want to know how AI will pay off — not just in efficiency, but in revenue growth, market entry, and competitive differentiation. That means CIOs need strong cases for both cost savings and new opportunities.

TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT

BTR: What role does technology advancement play in balancing speed and control?

Priest: The proliferation of digital assets created by AI reinforces the value of IT, not the opposite. IT teams are essential for integrating new assets into enterprise architecture, ensuring data quality, and safeguarding security. At the same time, the business can now innovate closer to the customer. CIOs need to refactor relationships with profit-and-loss owners. IT is no longer just a service provider — it’s a partner that makes innovation safe and scalable.

BTR: Where do you see the technology landscape heading?

Priest: I’m optimistic. The world will be powered by digital, and much of that digital will be created with AI. Humans will lead, but AI will enable. CIOs should be excited because they’re at the center of this transformation. The challenge is to build governance structures and resource models that allow the enterprise to innovate at AI speed in a risk-adjusted way.

BTR: What about the long-term role of CIOs?

Priest: I think CIOs will become even more central. They’ll be the stewards of how AI interacts with data, infrastructure, and security. They’ll also be translators between business ambition and technological reality. That’s a critical role in ensuring enterprises move fast — but don’t break themselves in the process

BizTechReports Conclusion

CIOs are entering a new era where speed and control must coexist. Generative AI has given business units unprecedented power to innovate, but without effective governance, the risks are high. The CIO’s mission is to turn governance from a bottleneck into a pipeline, evolve team roles to support value creation, and build new metrics that align with business outcomes.

The opportunity is immense. Done right, this balance allows enterprises to innovate at AI speed while maintaining the discipline needed to safeguard their future. CIOs are no longer just technology leaders — they are stewards of value realization in an era defined by both rapid change and heightened accountability.