The tech industry has a reputation for innovation. In the early 2000s, many tech entrepreneurs believed that to be successful, they had to move quickly without regard for the consequences. Thus, the phrase “move fast and break things” was born.
This culture fostered a mistrust in tech companies. Executives rightly felt that the consequences of broken technology were too risky for most industries. They developed a suspicion of new technology, and it was highly vetted before being introduced to sensitive environments.
The history of “move fast and break things”
Although many tech companies of the late ’90s and early 2000s embodied this mantra, none so much as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. “Move fast and break things” was his personal motto. The idea was to get your product into the hands of your customers, and then see what happened, for better or worse. This attitude meant many tech companies moved as fast as possible without stopping to ask whether it was right or good.
One of the most infamous cases of “moving too fast” involved the music-sharing platform Napster. Napster allowed millions of users to share music digitally, without regard for copyright or ownership. They failed to anticipate and solve the problem of ownership rights and paid the price. Napster was sued by RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), for the unauthorized distribution of copyrighted material, and was forced to shut down its network of illegal music sharing in 2001.
The aftermath of this culture
Understandably, executives are reluctant to invest in new technology after seeing the fallout from the “move fast and break things” era. In industries that work with highly sensitive data or processes, it’s not worth taking a risk on untested technology solutions.
AI solutions are seen as especially risky and volatile in these situations. A similar skepticism surrounded cloud storage a decade ago, when enterprises were reluctant to move away from on-prem data storage. Today, almost every enterprise uses the cloud, and it’s viewed as the safest way to store data. At Terzo, we believe AI technology will follow a similar trajectory. Once it’s vetted by and adopted by the majority, it will be seen as the best, safest way to do business.
The future of AI is governance and responsibility
Until we get to the point of majority adoption, the tech industry must shift away from “move fast and break things.” AI governance is more important than ever as enterprises start embracing AI more and more. Even popular Gen AI solutions like ChatGPT and Midjourney should be analyzed for risk and reward before they are used within the organization.
AI is also more essential than ever before. As teams are challenged to do more with less resources, bandwidth, and headcount, AI solutions will fill the gap and enable teams to increase productivity. AI governance will allow enterprises to confidently embrace these solutions that will make a significant difference to the bottom line.
How to start using AI responsibly
Without a roadmap to responsible AI use, it can feel overwhelming. Especially for large and established enterprises, it can seem like you need to change your entire operations to integrate AI into your processes.
At Terzo, we are dedicated to educating enterprises on responsible AI use, governance, and policy. Responsible AI use starts with creating an AI Governance Committee to assess new solutions internally. Once you’ve created an internal committee, they can develop an AI policy to set guidelines for adopting new solutions. The committee should also ensure AI is used with the principles of fairness, transparency, and trust in mind.
We are proud to offer resources to help enterprises start their AI governance and policy journey. It’s essential to evaluate the known risks, while also embracing the value AI solutions like Terzo deliver.
The tech industry is no longer moving fast and breaking things. AI is incredibly powerful and deserves the respect and responsibility of governance, policy, and controls. Once these frameworks are established, they serve as the foundation for building trust, minimizing risk, and maximizing the impact of AI technology.
Terzo is here to help organizations unlock the transformative potential of AI responsibly and effectively. Contact the team at Terzo for a free consultation today.
