What role can effective governance play in using AI sustainably?
CHRISTINA SHIM: I will use the word sustainability in this space, not just from an environmental perspective, but more broadly from an ethical and business perspective. There’ s a lot of grey in this space and not a lot of black and white.
Ethics is something IBM takes very seriously and I am on the Ethics Board. It was created around five years ago, before the hype of AI, because there was a recognition that the governance of AI and technology more broadly is critical.
There are some really robust discussions that happen on the board to make sure that we are able to feel good about the recommendations that we put forward. Is this something that IBM wants to stand behind? Is it transparent? Is there bias in the way that we’ re doing this? Is there good data ownership on this? At the end of the day, technology is moving so quickly that we need to make sure that we are putting some guardrails on how we think about this.
This ties into how we’ re building platforms as well. With our Watson X platform for Gen AI, we work closely with the AI Ethics Board and the Office of Responsible Technology to make sure it is embedded in how we build it. I think governance cannot just be a‘ nice to have’, it’ s got to be embedded as part of the process.
SUBHAGATA MUKHERJEE: Effective governance is crucial in ensuring the sustainable use of AI. It provides a framework for accountability, standardisation and continuous improvement.
It can support accountability by clearly defining roles and responsibilities, and ensures that stakeholders are answerable for the environmental and ethical impacts of AI systems.
Standardisation can be supported by developing and adhering to standards for assessing and reporting the sustainability impacts of AI promotes transparency and comparability.
Governance structures facilitate ongoing monitoring and evaluation of AI systems, enabling iterative improvements in sustainability performance.
AI governance done right can provide great impetus for innovation in AI within a company’ s value chain.
At Nokia, we are committed to integrating robust governance practices to ensure that our use of AI aligns with our sustainability objectives and ethical standards.
GUNTHER ROTHERMEL: Effective governance is critical to ensuring that AI is used sustainably and ethically. SAP is committed to the ethical development, deployment, use and sale of AI systems. Our ethics guiding principles were established in 2018 and our ethics policy was established in 2022. It clarifies
176 April 2025