CEO Insights

The spotlight on generative AI remains bright. The benefits and risks continue to be ever-present in the minds of business and political leaders. No matter the timing or the setting, the creation of transparency, accountability, and collaboration among stakeholders is key to successful industry self-regulation as is the importance of setting standards and best practices.

When customers trust you, they are more likely to do business with you. It is well past time for business leaders to “galvanize around trust and transparency.” When it comes to enhancing consumer trust, responsible business and nonprofit organizations can – and must – lead the way.

Trust cannot be imposed by the government, nor can it be proclaimed by a single company operating in a vast marketplace, and that has been true for decades. The building blocks of trust must come not just from businesses themselves but ideally from the industries of which they are a part.

Now is not the time for businesses and nonprofits to go to extremes either. A middle way – a pathway that is built on a strong corporate governance foundation with a keen cognizance of the law – is the optimal path forward for continued innovation.

Business and nonprofit leaders in the U.S. may not feel so weighty a responsibility in assessing the global impact of AI, but we must realize AI’s power to impact our organizations, our local economies, our sectors, and our nation.

Industry self-regulation can be a key differentiator for businesses and nonprofits to perform at their most effective level, especially when it comes to engaging with emerging technologies such as AI. But the question is, as a private sector leader, what does the road map look like?

As a new frontier, the metaverse is full of opportunities for brands and also creates a lot of nuanced challenges for companies engaging with or marketing to children and teens. Responsible brands - large and small - should take proactive steps to better understand the advertising and privacy challenges in the metaverse.

Employing AI in the recruiting and hiring process voluntarily, under the auspices of independent industry self-regulation, is often far preferable to being forced to do so under a regime of top-down government regulation.

An appropriate federal privacy law would level the playing field for all companies and create much-needed uniformity in the digital marketplace to enable enhanced trust in the marketplace for businesses and consumers.

It can be challenging for us nonprofit leaders to delve into new areas of organizational growth and opportunity, such as determining what government actions are important to our organizations. The key question is: When and how should you engage with the government as a nonprofit leader?