60 Michael Gould says businesses are repeating the mistakes made with complex spreadsheets on a far bigger and more dangerous scale. The rush to adopt artificial intelligence will lead to major corporate failures as business leaders increasingly make decisions based on forecasts, analysis and recommendations they do not understand, according to Anaplan cofounder Michael Gould. The warning follows concerns raised by the Bank of England about growing risks surrounding the AI investment boom and whether the huge sums being invested in the technology will ultimately deliver the returns businesses and investors expect. Gould, who has spent more than 40 years building financial planning and modelling systems and is now the founder of financial modelling software company Kaleidoscope.com, believes the greatest danger facing businesses is not that AI will produce obviously incorrect answers, but that executives will become increasingly confident in sophisticated outputs they are unable to question or explain. Michael Gould said: “I think we will see major businesses fail because senior executives trusted answers produced by systems they did not properly understand. AI can produce an incredibly convincing forecast, report or recommendation in seconds. The danger comes when the person making the decision cannot explain the assumptions behind it, where the data came from or what happens when those assumptions turn out to be wrong. “We are creating the conditions for businesses to make bad decisions faster, at greater scale and with more confidence than ever before.” Ignoring technology not a realistic option Gould is keen to stress that this is not an argument for standing still on AI. He believes ignoring the technology is not a realistic option for any business, and that those who adopt it well stand to gain a real and lasting competitive advantage, while those who fail to adopt it risk being left behind. Gould said: “This is not a case for standing still. Businesses that adopt AI well will gain a genuine competitive advantage, and those that ignore it altogether risk being left behind. The potential benefits are real and substantial, but only for organisations that pair the technology with proper understanding and judgement. Used carelessly, the same technology becomes a serious liability rather than an asset.” Gould believes companies are rushing to invest in artificial intelligence while ignoring longstanding weaknesses in the way they plan, forecast and make decisions. Businesses now have access to more financial information, customer data, operational dashboards and analysis than at any point in history, yet many still rely on fragmented systems, conflicting forecasts and financial models understood by only a handful of employees. Gould said: “Most businesses do not AI boom could lead to major corporate failures as bosses trust answers they don’t understand, warns Anaplan co-founder Growing risks
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