Strong IT Foundation Key to Optimising AI Investment Returns, Says Expert
The adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in Indonesia continues to increase, but investment in the technology does not automatically yield profit or cost efficiency. Data indicates that only around 10% of CEOs in Indonesia have successfully leveraged AI to both increase revenue and reduce costs simultaneously, while the majority of companies only achieve one of these benefits.
Hanief Bastian, Technical Manager at ManageEngine Indonesia, stated that the success of AI investment is heavily dependent on the readiness of the information technology (IT) foundation, data quality, governance, and the company’s ability to integrate AI into its business processes. “AI does not automatically make a company profitable. The issue is how companies transform AI investment into measurable business outcomes, not just additional operational costs,” he said.
According to Hanief, successful AI metrics include increased productivity, which can be translated into financial value, and improved customer satisfaction through technologies like AI chatbots. He noted that the group of CEOs who successfully optimise AI do so not because of more advanced models, but due to a strong IT foundation and good data governance. A robust IT foundation, featuring end-to-end visibility and security, allows the return on investment (ROI) from AI to be measured and optimised.
Hanief highlighted a common mistake where companies adopt AI without a thorough assessment of their technological, process, and human resource readiness. “Not every use case requires AI. Organisations must ensure the use case is suitable and provides added value,” he said. When selecting an AI use case, companies must weigh the business impact against the significant investment in infrastructure and high-capacity computing resources required.
He suggested simple metrics to measure AI ROI, such as time-to-value, cost savings, productivity increases, and potential losses prevented, particularly in cybersecurity. Addressing concerns that AI merely adds costs and hinders innovation, Hanief argued that when applied correctly, AI can expand imagination and accelerate innovation. He stressed that as business expansion increases operational complexity and cyber risks, a strong IT foundation with cross-system visibility is essential to mitigate risks and speed up integration.