How Leaders Can Be Stewards of “Good Tech"

Originally published on HBR.org / November 29, 2023 / Reprint H07XAL 
By Ginni Rometty 

What/focus 

This article argues for the importance of good stewardship of tech, not just for tech companies but for any organisation that uses or applies AI in particular. Three general principles of good tech stewardship are discussed: building trust in the company and the tech, championing diversity and inclusion, and relatedly, helping prepare society for a digital economy.

How (details/method)

Building trust, and in turn acceptance of tech means first developing software and systems that augment our lives. Next, data and insights belong to their creator, which means protecting the clients who are using tech systems. Furthermore, and specifically in relation to AI, companies must be transparent about the purpose of systems, how and when AI is being applied, and how it is trained, as well as the risks involved. The CEOs of big companies should use their platform to educate governments about the tech industry, especially the need to regulate for accountability. Finally, companies should develop clear principles on tech use, and publicise them.

The second area of stewardship is championing inclusion and diversity of ideas – because it’s the right thing to do but also because it’s good for business. Diversity of thought and experiences creates better products and makes companies more competitive. In particular, companies should recruit more widely, as limiting tech designers to a particular type or demographic can affect AI predictions for example, producing massive negative effects.

Hiring people from untraditional backgrounds leads into the third way to steward good tech – preparing people to participate in a digital economy by creating more well-paying jobs and giving more people access to those jobs, and thus a stake in the digital era. Skills can be acquired other than through four-year college degrees. For example IBM co-founded a unique high school in Brooklyn called P-TECH (Pathways in Technology Early College High School), which producesgraduates with tech skills via a six-year programme combining high school with degrees from community colleges. There are now many such colleges around the world. Other big companies are also looking to P-TECH, bootcamps, and
certification programmes. This skills-over-degrees approach to hiring ensures our future belongs to the many, not just the few.

So what

Good digital stewardship is in the long-terms interests of the company through building trust and acceptance of tech and a more diverse, invested and innovative workforce. More broadly, stewarding good tech means embracing the greater good over short-term personal gain or corporate profits because in the end, everyone suffers the consequences of bad tech. Good tech is a core principle of what the
author calls “good power”: leaders’ and businesses driving positive, meaningful change for themselves, their organisations, and our world.