KPMG and HITEC Survey: Majority of Hispanic Leaders Believe GenAI Will Have Positive Impact, but Concerns Remain

NEW YORK, February 29, 2024— While Hispanic technology leaders believe generative AI (GenAI) will have an overwhelmingly positive impact on their organization, a large majority say they are concerned about managing the associated risks and mitigating the potentially negative impacts.

According to the survey of members of the Hispanic Technology Executive Council (HITEC), nearly 70% of executives are concerned there is an overarching potential for AI to increase bias and negatively impact their organization. 

“For technology leaders and organizations to successfully develop and adopt AI solutions, while maintaining the trust of their employees, customers and other stakeholders, they must have robust governance and controls to manage associated risks and mitigate negative impacts," said KPMG Advisory Chief Data Officer, Bob Parr. “While we believe GenAI will have an overwhelmingly positive impact on business performance, the workforce and society as a whole, trust in an organization’s ethical and responsible use of the technology is paramount.”

The report had a number of other key findings, including:

• 82% of respondents are actively using or experimenting with GenAI at some level in daily work— however, concerns exist with potential for privacy violations, undetected bias, and reliability.
• 50% of executives are personally engaged in learning about, messaging, dedicating resources, and setting clear standards around the ethical use of data and AI.
• Adopting a Trusted AI framework helps boost activation of ethical principles by three to four times.

HITEC Chair Rosa Ramos-Kwok said, “HITEC recognizes the importance of innovation and technology to the global economy. Given the importance of AI and data ethics, we partnered with KPMG to provide insights into approaches organizations are using to govern and enable responsible AI use and innovation.”

While traditional focus areas, such as privacy and integrity remain priorities, according to the survey, executives are expanding their programs, with attention turning to bias and explainability. Accountability stood out as key cultural lever not yet emphasized in respondent’s organizations.

HITEC Board Member and Vice President of Global ISV – Commercial Solutions at Microsoft, Alvaro Celis, reflected on his organization’s commitment to responsible AI in the report: “We have implemented a robust governance process that guides the design, development, and deployment of AI in safe, secure, and transparent ways. Microsoft is setting an industry example through trainings, tools, programs, and a strong governance structure that extends its reach to our customers and partners to help ensure that the AI applications that are deployed on our platforms meet the legal and regulatory requirements for responsible AI and support the implementation of their own AI systems responsibly.”

Four considerations for leadership emerged from the report: leaders need to ensure that their guiding principles and practices are well understood by their workforce through both formal and informal learning and development; they need to operationalize human accountabilities and oversight of the technology and its output; they should design their capabilities and programs in a manner that allows them to be agile and responsive to emerging regulation; and they should extend or update their current technology governance practices and tools to Gen AI solutions.

“By establishing Trusted AI principles that embed ethical considerations at every phase of the GenAI lifecycle, organizations will be well equipped to navigate the challenges and opportunities presented by this rapidly evolving field,” said Gwyn Russell, Executive Director, Advisory Data Handling and Governance at KPMG.

About KPMG LLP

KPMG LLP is the U.S. firm of the KPMG global organization of independent professional services firms providing audit, tax and advisory services. The KPMG global organization operates in 143 countries and territories and has more than 265,000 people working in member firms around the world. Each KPMG firm is a legally distinct and separate entity and describes itself as such. KPMG International Limited is a private English company limited by guarantee. KPMG International Limited and its related entities do not provide services to clients.

KPMG is widely recognized for being a great place to work and build a career. Our people share a sense of purpose in the work we do, and a strong commitment to community service, inclusion and diversity and eradicating childhood illiteracy. Learn more at www.kpmg.com/us.

About Hispanic Technology Executive Council

Our mission is to empower Hispanic technology professionals to accelerate leadership capacity through access to a network of business leaders and decision-makers at the highest levels of the global economy. We provide culturally relevant leadership development, educational programming, and mentoring. We inspire Hispanic students and professionals to develop confidence and a path to their ambitions while positively impacting lasting equity for our shared community.

Learn more about HITEC, upcoming events, and the HITEC Foundation.