The arrival of genAI could cover critical skills gaps, reshape IT job market

Generative artificial intelligence (genAI) is likely to play a critical role in addressing skills shortages in today’s marketplace, according to a new study by London-based Kaspersky Research. It showed that 40% of 2,000 C-level executives surveyed plan to use genAI tools such as ChatGPT to cover critical skills shortages through the automation of tasks.

The European-based study found genAI to be firmly on the business agenda, with 95% of respondents regularly discussing ways to maximize value from the technology at the most senior level, even as 91% admitted they don’t really know how it works.

To read this article in full, please click here

Read more

EEOC Commissioner: AI system audits might not comply with federal anti-bias laws

Keith Sonderling, commissioner of the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), has for years been sounding the alarm about the potential for artificial intelligence (AI) to run afoul of federal anti-discrimination laws such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

It was not until the advent of ChatGPT, Bard, and other popular generative AI tools, however, that local, state and national lawmakers began taking notice — and companies became aware of the pitfalls posed by a technology that can automate efficiencies in the business process.

Instead of speeches he’d typically make to groups of chief human resource officers or labor employment lawyers, Sonderling has found himself in recent months talking more and more about AI. His focus has been on how companies can stay compliant as they hand over more of the responsibility for hiring and other aspects of corporate HR to algorithms that are vastly faster and capable of parsing thousands of resumes in seconds.

To read this article in full, please click here

Read more

EEOC chief: AI system audits might comply with local anti-bias laws, but not federal ones

Keith Sonderling, commissioner of the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), has for years been sounding the alarm about the potential for artificial intelligence (AI) to run afoul of federal anti-discrimination laws such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

It was not until the advent of ChatGPT, Bard, and other popular generative AI tools, however, that local, state and national lawmakers began taking notice — and companies became aware of the pitfalls posed by a technology that can automate efficiencies in the business process.

Instead of speeches he’d typically make to groups of chief human resource officers or labor employment lawyers, Sonderling has found himself in recent months talking more and more about AI. His focus has been on how companies can stay compliant as they hand over more of the responsibility for hiring and other aspects of corporate HR to algorithms that are vastly faster and capable of parsing thousands of resumes in seconds.

To read this article in full, please click here

Read more

Lawyers and Incident Response can be a dangerous combo

Credit to Author: eschuman@thecontentfirm.com| Date: Fri, 07 Jul 2023 03:30:00 -0700

Lawyers and C-suite leaders have the same basic mission: protect the enterprise from bad actors who want to do harm. But they often often approach the job in such polar opposite ways that they wind up fighting each other instead of working together. 

A new academic report on the topic from researchers at the University of Edinburgh, the University of Innsbruck, Tufts University and the University of Minnesota tried to document how stark those differences have become.

“Cyber insurance sends work to a small number of [incident response] firms, drives down the fees paid and appoints lawyers to direct technical investigators,” the report noted. “Lawyers, when directing incident response often introduce legalistic contractual and communication steps that slow down incident response, advise IR practitioners not to write down remediation steps or to produce formal reports and restrict access to any documents produced.”

To read this article in full, please click here

Read more

Q&A: Cisco CIO Fletcher Previn on the challenges of a hybrid workplace

In April, 2021, Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins announced he would let all 75,000 employees work remotely indefinitely, even after the COVID-19 pandemic ended. The company had seen no drop in productivity by allowing employees to work from home and expected to save money by not fully staffing offices. When and how often employees should come into the office would be up to their managers, who abide by a flexible hybrid policy.

But that shift brought technology challenges most companies are by now familiar with: how do you secure networks when the employee’s home is essentially a branch office? How do you create company culture from afar? And, how do you retain employees at a time when IT talent is in historically high demand.

To read this article in full, please click here

Read more

IT salaries aren't keeping up with inflation — but that may soon change

Credit to Author: Lucas Mearian| Date: Thu, 26 May 2022 03:00:00 -0700

Pay for some IT professionals is failing to keep up with inflation, according to a salary survey by IT employment consultancy Janco Associates for calendar year 2021. But preliminary data indicates pay for tech workers could soon change drastically with job market in IT tight, and many companies eyeing major tech projects in the year ahead.

With inflation in the US running at about 8% over the past year, salary increases — even for IT execs — have failed to keep pace.

The mean compensation for all IT pros last year rose only 2.05%, with the median salary at $100,022 for those at large enterprises and at $95,681 for IT workers at mid-sized firms, according to Janco.

To read this article in full, please click here

Read more

Why the Fed is considering a cash-backed cryptocurrency

Credit to Author: Lucas Mearian| Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2020 03:00:00 -0800

The Federal Reserve is investigating the potential of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) as the backbone for a new, secure real-time payments and settlements system.

The move toward a form of government-backed digital currency is being driven by Fintech firms and a banking industry already piloting or planning to pilot cash-backed digital tokens, according to Lael Brainard, a member of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors.

“Today, it can take a few days to get access to your funds. A real-time retail payments infrastructure would ensure the funds are available immediately – to pay utility bills or split the rent with roommates, or for small business owners to pay their suppliers,” said Brainard, who serves as chair of the committees overseeing Financial Stability and Payments, Clearing and Settlements.

To read this article in full, please click here

Read more