We want to use artificial intelligence to optimize our customer service response times, but we are unsure who on the Accountability Chart should own the AI tools. How do we structure this accountability without creating a new tech silo?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When you integrate AI-powered operations into your business, you must avoid the trap of creating an artificial technology silo. Do not create an AI department or assign the ownership of AI tools solely to your IT seat. If you do, your operational departments will treat AI as an external IT project rather than a core capability.

Instead, ownership of the AI tools must live in the seat that is directly responsible for the operational output. If you are using AI to optimize customer service response times, the head of your Customer Service seat must own that tool.

Their roles on the Accountability Chart should include managing the AI software performance, monitoring the quality of the automated responses, and ensuring the system meets your service standards. The IT seat is simply there to support the technical integration and infrastructure.

By keeping the accountability within the functional seat, you ensure that the technology is directly tied to business results. The head of Customer Service is still responsible for their weekly Scorecard metrics, such as customer satisfaction and response time. Whether they achieve those numbers through human staff or AI-driven automation, the accountability remains clear, simple, and unified.