CIO Dive: What the SEC’s ESG rules mean for CIOs

Eversheds Sutherland Partners Charlotte Walker-Osborn and Bill Dudzinsky are quoted in this CIO Dive article discussing the firm’s recent report on corporate digital responsibility and the changing roles of chief information officers (CIOs) as the US government moves to standardize climate risk disclosure amid growing interest in environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategy.

“CIOs can ensure digital systems – such as artificial intelligence and machine learning – are not rooted in racist or gender-biased assumptions, said Charlotte. She cites the growing use of AI in talent recruitment as a prime example.

“In the past, if you put the data in and ask what is the shape of a good leader it was coming out as a white middle-class man. That’s all the data there was,” she said. “That is now becoming the CIO’s problem. In a way, the CIO is in charge of data. You now must make sure the model of AI works and not skew the data.”

The recently published report is predicting a surge in corporate digital responsibility initiatives amid increased regulation as well as the projected $10 trillion that businesses are forecast to spend over a five-year period on digital transformation.

“We’re seeing a real change. People aren’t talking about it as much as they should be. I think a lot of people aren’t ready,” said Bill. “Everything is on the CIO’s plate – including the cyber challenge.”