Strategies for Managing Tech Innovation Risks

𝐃𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲’𝐬 𝐀𝐈 𝐑𝐢𝐬𝐤 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐞 In this AI age, defining your risk appetite isn’t just about setting boundaries. It’s about discovering parts of your business you may not have thought of, or really had access to before. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐬, “𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞”. You might be addressing access controls, yet you uncover vulnerabilities in how teams share data. You could be vetting vendors, yet realize your licensing agreements may not protect your IP as well as you thought. By looking at risks from new angles, you not only create better governance but also build a more adaptive enterprise. Here are key areas to examine as you balance innovation with protection: ———————————————————————— 𝟏. 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐬 You may think your systems are secure, yet overly broad admin access often allows unnecessary exposure. Are you auditing permissions regularly? 𝟐. 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥 𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 Testing AI models seems straightforward, yet unvetted solutions in production environments introduce hidden vulnerabilities. Are you using sandboxes to isolate risks? 𝟑. 𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐫 𝐀𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 Vendor selection might feel routine, yet overlooking licensing or patent risks can lead to costly disputes. Are you aligning contracts with your risk appetite? 𝟒. 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰 𝐈𝐓 You may think innovation thrives on flexibility, yet teams working independently often create redundancies and silos. Are you centralizing oversight to align efforts? 𝟓. 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐆𝐚𝐩𝐬 Compliance might seem manageable, yet weak documentation or monitoring leaves you exposed to regulatory and security failures. Are you tracking and securing everything properly? 𝐀 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞, 𝐀 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞 Risk appetite isn’t just about limits; it’s about understanding. By asking the right questions and looking at your business from different perspectives, you build more than governance you build resilience. The more you explore, the better equipped you are to lead your enterprise confidently into the future. “𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑠, 𝑖𝑡’𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑖𝑡’𝑠 𝑎 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟. 𝐺𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑠𝑛’𝑡 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑙; 𝑖𝑡’𝑠 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑒𝑛𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑦.” #humanfirst #mindsetchange #ai 𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲: The views within any of my posts, or newsletters are not those of my employer or the employers of any contributing experts. 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲 👍 this? Feel free to reshare, repost, and join the conversation. Gartner Peer Experiences Theia Institute™ VOCAL Council Forbes Technology Council InsightJam.com PEX Network IgniteGTM

Balancing innovation and responsibility under recent AI-related executive order changes requires a deliberate strategy, and #ISO56001 and #ISO42001 provide a structured path to achieve ethical innovation. 1️⃣Align Leadership on Strategy 🧱Why It’s a Challenge: Competing priorities across leadership creates silos, making it difficult to align innovation goals with compliance and ethical considerations. 🪜Solution: Develop a unified strategy that integrates innovation and governance. ISO56001 embeds innovation as a strategic priority, while ISO42001 ensures accountability and ethical AI practices are foundational. ⚙️Action: Form a governance team to align innovation with responsible AI principles and regulatory requirements. 2️⃣Build AI Governance Framework 🧱Why It’s a Challenge: Without governance, innovation will lead to unintended outcomes like bias, regulatory violations, or reputational damage. 🪜Solution: Implement ISO42001 policies to manage AI risks, covering the AI lifecycle from design to deployment. Align governance with your business strategy, and address transparency, bias, and privacy concerns. ⚙️Action: Integrate ISO42001 governance processes into existing ISO56001 innovation frameworks. 3️⃣ Foster a Culture of Responsible Innovation 🧱Why It’s a Challenge: Innovation-focused teams often prioritize speed and creativity over compliance, leading to risks being overlooked. It’s human nature. 🪜Solution: Use ISO56001 to foster innovation capacity while embedding ethical principles from ISO42001. Incentivize responsible AI practices through training and recognition programs. ⚙️Action: Build awareness across teams about the fundamental importance of responsible AI development. 4️⃣Operationalize Risk Management 🧱Why It’s a Challenge: Rapid AI experimentation can outpace the development of controls, exposing your organization to unmitigated risks. 🪜Solution: ISO56001 prioritizes innovation portfolios, while ISO42001 asks for structured risk assessments. Together, they ensure experimentation aligns with governance. ⚙️Action: Establish sandbox environments where AI projects can be tested safely with predefined checks. 5️⃣Establish Continuous Improvement 🧱Why It’s a Challenge: Regulatory environments and AI risks evolve, requiring organizations to adapt their strategies continuously. 🪜Solution: ISO42001 emphasizes monitoring and compliance, while ISO56001 provides tools to evaluate the impact of innovation efforts. ⚙️Action: Create feedback loops to refine innovation and governance, ensuring alignment with strategic and regulatory changes. 6️⃣Communicate Transparency 🧱Why It’s a Challenge: Stakeholders demand evidence of ethical practices, but organizations often lack clarity in communicating AI risks and governance measures. 🪜Solution: Use ISO42001 to define clear reporting mechanisms and ISO56001 to engage stakeholders in the innovation process. ⚙️Action: Publish annual reports showcasing AI governance and innovation efforts.

Your company's growth is a tightrope walk between innovation and complacency. Take too few risks? You'll be forgotten. Take the wrong risks? You'll compromise your brand. Plenty of the world’s most innovative companies we work with at Motto have figured it out, and we’ve seen some patterns. They expand boldly *without* compromising who they are. How’s this possible? By aligning innovation with their core values at the foundational level. Here's what that looks like in practice ↓ ⦿ Value-driven decision making Every new initiative should be measured against your company's fundamental beliefs. If it doesn't align, it's not worth pursuing. ⦿ Create a "failure budget." Allocate resources specifically for experimental projects Reward people for trying, not just succeeding. This tells your team it's okay — wonderful, even — to take calculated risks. ⦿ Implement an innovation framework. Set clear guidelines for new ideas. Leaders should ask themselves… → What will keep our company in the leader position? → What is the impact if we play it safe? → How will this innovation align (or not align) with our values? Make sure innovations contribute positively, inside and out. ⦿ Foster cross-pollination Form diverse "skunk works" teams. Give them a specific goal and deadline. Then, watch as fresh perspectives lead to groundbreaking ideas. ⦿ Embed values through education. Your team should breathe your company's values—When they do, even their boldest ideas will align with your core identity. Innovation isn’t about recklessness— It’s about daring to fly while staying true to your roots. When you master this balance true growth happens. Motto® helps tech companies align vision with bold growth. Let's talk about your next big move. → wearemotto.com