Abhijit Dubey, CEO of Japanese IT company NTT Data, which has a strong presence in South Africa, has emphasized the need for global standards in regulating artificial intelligence (AI) to address the risks associated with the rapidly advancing technology.
Speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Dubey stressed that the focus should not be on overregulation or underregulation but on creating a unified regulatory framework.
“The issue, especially as it relates to AI, is not overregulation or underregulation, but more standard regulation globally,” Dubey said. “That’s what we really need, because otherwise, we create a lot of risks.”
Dubey identified intellectual property protection, energy efficiency, and measures to combat piracy and deepfakes as critical areas where a global regulatory approach could benefit significantly.
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He further highlighted the importance of aligning business and AI strategies to harness the full productivity potential of emerging technologies. “The biggest issue with AI in terms of getting value is not the technology—the technology is there. It will only get better, and it will get better faster,” he noted.
However, Dubey pointed out that a company’s ability to derive value from AI depends on two key factors: workforce readiness to embrace the technology and robust data architecture to implement it effectively.
NTT Data’s stance aligns with growing calls from industry leaders for a coordinated global effort to ensure AI is developed and deployed responsibly while maximizing its benefits for businesses and society.
