A self-contained strategy for AI
So there’s a dualling scenario with the recognition of AI’s importance and subsequent buying in, but also a misunderstanding of how to apply it to harness maximum business value. The response by some organizations, therefore, is to focus efforts across all other departments through a central organization, an AI center of excellence.
Energy company Iberdrola’s AI Centre of Excellence, for instance, was established in 2022 within the framework of its Artificial Intelligence for the Sustainable Energy Transition project. But the company’s work with AI dates long before that. “We’ve been applying AI throughout our value chain for more than a decade, with more than 150 use cases ranging from electricity demand forecasting, to fraud detection and route optimization,” says global CIO Sergio Merchán. “The emergence of generative AI marked a turning point. Its ability to accelerate the development of solutions and transform processes led us to go a step further, to create an AI competence center that concentrates talent, agile methodologies, and data governance in a single ecosystem.”
This center has been designed following a centralized model, a single hub with common standards, but deeply connected to the business, adds Merchán. “Each initiative starts with hybrid teams made up of experts from the center, like data scientists, AI engineers, cloud architects, and profiles from the business area,” he says. “This collaboration guarantees both technical excellence and strategic relevance.” It also acts as a cross-functional technology partner, offering governance services, standards, and support in responsible AI.