Artificial intelligence is quickly becoming part of everyday business.
Employees are using AI to draft emails, analyze information, summarize documents, automate processes, and work more efficiently. Businesses are also beginning to connect AI with the systems and data they rely on every day.
But as AI adoption accelerates, there's an important question every organization needs to answer:
Who is responsible for managing the risk?
A recent CRN article featuring Accenture cyber intelligence leader Ryan Whelan argues that organizations need someone specifically accountable for AI risk. The idea isn't that every business necessarily needs another executive title. It's that AI adoption and AI security need to be discussed at the same time.
For many small and mid-sized businesses, that's an important distinction.
You probably don't need to hire a dedicated "AI Risk Officer."
But you absolutely need someone responsible for AI risk.
If Everyone Is Responsible, Is Anyone Responsible?
We've seen this problem before with cybersecurity.
For years, businesses treated security as everyone's responsibility. That's true to an extent. Employees need to recognize phishing emails, use strong authentication, protect company information, and follow security policies.
But organizations eventually realized that someone still needs to own the strategy.
That's one of the reasons roles like the Chief Information Security Officer, or CISO, became so important.
AI may be entering a similar stage.
Employees across an organization can be responsible for using AI appropriately, but someone needs to establish what "appropriately" actually means.
Who decides which AI tools employees can use?
Who determines what company or customer information can be entered into those tools?
Who evaluates the security and privacy implications of connecting AI to your CRM, ERP, Microsoft 365 environment, or other business systems?
Who keeps track of new AI capabilities being introduced into software you already use?
Who steps in when convenience and security are pulling the organization in different directions?
If the answer is simply "everyone," there's a good chance nobody truly owns it.
The Next Evolution of Security Leadership
AI risk management can be thought of as a natural extension of the security leadership businesses already need.
CRN reports that the person accountable for AI risk could be a CISO, although the right owner will vary depending on the organization. What's most important is that responsibility is clearly assigned and supported by company leadership.
For a large enterprise, that might eventually mean creating a dedicated AI risk position.
For a small or mid-sized organization, it will probably look different.
The responsibility might sit with an owner, executive, IT leader, security leader, or a combination of internal leadership and an experienced technology partner.
The title matters far less than the accountability.
Someone needs the authority and knowledge to ask questions before a new AI tool becomes embedded in the business.
AI Risk Isn't Just a Cybersecurity Problem
Cybersecurity is a major piece of AI risk, but it's not the only consideration.
Think about an employee who discovers a public AI tool that saves them several hours every week. That's great for productivity.
But what information are they giving the tool?
Could customer data be involved? Financial information? Intellectual property? Internal communications? Proprietary processes?
Then there are questions about the output itself.
Can employees trust the information AI produces? Does a person need to review it? Could an automated AI process make decisions or take actions without sufficient oversight?
As businesses move from simply asking ChatGPT a question to integrating AI into actual workflows, these questions become much more important.
Don't Let Security Trail AI Adoption
One of the most important observations from the CRN article is that the security conversation is often happening after the business conversation around AI. Organizations get excited about what AI can accomplish, start implementing it, and address the risks afterward.
That's backward.
Security shouldn't prevent your business from taking advantage of AI. It should help you use AI confidently.
Before adopting or integrating an AI solution, businesses should be considering questions like:
- What information will this AI system have access to?
- Where does that information go?
- How is it stored and protected?
- Who is allowed to use the tool?
- What actions can the AI take?
- What requires human approval?
- How will we monitor its use?
- What happens if the tool makes a mistake?
- Does its use create compliance, privacy, or contractual concerns?
These aren't questions designed to stop innovation.
They're what allow you to innovate without introducing unnecessary risk.
You Don't Need an AI Risk Officer. You Need AI Governance.
For most small and mid-sized businesses, hiring another C-suite executive isn't realistic or necessary.
Creating an AI governance strategy is.
That means establishing clear ownership, approved tools, acceptable-use policies, data protections, security requirements, employee education, and a process for evaluating new AI opportunities.
It also means revisiting those decisions regularly.
AI technology is changing far too quickly for a policy created today to sit untouched for the next five years.
CKT Can Be Your Technology Coach for AI
You don't have to figure all of this out on your own.
At Common Knowledge Technology (CKT), our role as your Technology Coach is to help you understand where technology can move your business forward while making sure the right foundation is underneath it.
That increasingly includes AI.
We can help you evaluate the technology you're considering, understand how AI interacts with your existing environment, identify potential security and data risks, establish appropriate guardrails, and create a practical approach to AI governance.
The goal isn't to make AI harder to use.
It's to make sure your business can take advantage of AI without creating risks you didn't know you were taking.
Because when it comes to AI, everyone in your organization may have a role to play.
But someone still needs to own the risk.
Not sure who owns AI risk in your organization? Talk to CKT about building a practical AI strategy that balances innovation, security, and accountability.
