Gaining valuable insights from artificial intelligence depends on having a basis of trustworthy data. No matter how cutting edge the technology, feed it data that has been haphazardly collected or poorly organized and the analysis results will be tainted.

“To be able to have good AI you need a good foundation information architecture,” said Ritika Gunnar (pictured), vice president of data and artificial intelligence expert services and learning at IBM Corp. “Once you have that, it becomes easier to start applying AI and then to scale AI across the business.”

Gunnar spoke with Dave Vellante, host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during the IBM Think Digital Event Experience. They discussed effective use of artificial intelligence and how real-time analysis and insights into the COVID-19 pandemic are helping make efficient decisions for both business operations and personal life. (* Disclosure below.)

Data comes first

Although jumping onboard the AI train may be enticing, IBM works with clients to make sure they have the basic data foundations in place before moving onto implementing AI and automating operations throughout a company. One important thing to understand is that “AI is not a thing; it’s an ingredient that makes everything else better,” according to Gunnar.

Data collection, organization, analysis and integration with applications are the four steps of the AI ladder, Gunnar added. Another basic requirement is making sure that the workforce is ready for the cultural shift.

“Do you have the right hunger and curiosity across your organization, from top to bottom, to really embark on a lot of these AI projects?” Gunnar asked.

This doesn’t mean just the data scientists and engineers that are directly involved with automation, but “having every person, who’s going to be able to touch these new applications and to use these new applications, understand how AI is going to impact them,” she added.

IBM brings its decades of research and customer use-case experience to help businesses leverage AI. “It’s part of our mission, part of our duty to make sure that it isn’t just a discussion on the technology,” Gunnar stated. “It is about helping our clients and the community get to the outcomes that they need to using AI.”

So, how important are AI-driven insights in making decisions during the current COVID-19 pandemic? Helping disseminate accurate information is the job of cloud, according to Gunnar. “Cloud is the thing that facilitates that, and it facilitates it in a way where it is secure, it is trusted, and it has the AI capabilities that augment it,” she concluded.

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the IBM Think Digital Event Experience. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the IBM Think Digital Event Experience. Neither IBM, the sponsor for theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE