The temptation of “faster”
Across industries, CIOs and technology leaders face constant pressure to “move faster.” Artificial intelligence (AI) promises instant productivity, smarter automation, and rapid decision-making. Teams are told to increase velocity, shorten cycle times, and modernize delivery processes.
But speed alone is not a strategy for digital transformation.
When teams in enterprises focus only on acceleration, they confuse activity with impact. They measure throughput instead of outcomes. The result is predictable: fragmented priorities, duplicated investments, declining quality, and a widening gap between strategy and execution.
The biggest risk of AI is going really fast—in the wrong direction.
When AI accelerates without purpose
AI can increase velocity across software development, portfolio planning, and IT operations. Yet acceleration without direction magnifies inefficiency. Moving faster in the wrong direction consumes budget, wastes computing resources, and erodes trust in leadership.
Common warning signs include:
- Teams deploying AI to improve speed without verifying business value.
- Automation projects built on poor or incomplete data foundations.
- Leadership celebrating delivery speed while customer outcomes remain stagnant.
- Assuming sound business decisions can be made based on AI-generated insights from untrustworthy source data like Jira exports.
This is not digital transformation. It is unmanaged acceleration that multiplies risk.
Building the real competitive advantage: Value velocity
Leading enterprises are redefining what “fast” really means. They focus on value velocity—how quickly strategic intent becomes measurable business results.
Achieving this requires three connected capabilities:
- Strategic alignment: Every AI initiative must map to a clear business objective. Strategic Portfolio Management (SPM) provides traceability from funding to outcomes, ensuring that resources go where they create the most value.
- Quality as a differentiator: AI should raise confidence, not compromise it. Data governance, model validation, and continuous testing build trust in automation and decision accuracy.
- Value delivery: Success is measured by realized business outcomes, not just faster releases. Each delivery should move the organization closer to its strategic goals.
Why “faster” without these pillars fails
Without alignment, quality, and value, the pursuit of speed creates enterprise risk:
- Strategic drift: Teams move quickly but in different directions, reducing coherence.
- Operational debt: Process shortcuts introduce fragility into systems and data pipelines.
- AI sprawl: Uncoordinated pilots increase infrastructure cost and governance burden.
- Cultural fatigue: Teams burn out chasing metrics that do not reflect real progress.
AI amplifies what it is given. Give it clarity and it scales value. Give it chaos and it scales confusion.
The CIO’s dilemma: Balancing speed and strategy
CIOs sit at the intersection of innovation and accountability. They must deliver faster business outcomes while managing cost, security, and compliance. The pressure to show quick AI results often leads to fragmented pilots that never scale or deliver sustainable value.
The challenge is not how to go faster. It is how to go fast in the right direction, with visibility into every investment and initiative.
Turning strategy into sustainable speed
To achieve the above objectives, enterprises need more than isolated AI tools. They need connected systems that unify strategy, funding, delivery, and outcomes in real time.
ValueOps by Broadcom delivers this foundation. By combining SPM (Clarity) and Value Stream Management (Rally), ValueOps gives CIOs and PMO leaders a single, trusted view of enterprise work. It connects the “why” with the “what,” ensuring that AI-driven initiatives, budgets, and outcomes stay aligned with business priorities.
With ValueOps, organizations can accelerate confidently, knowing every automation, model, and release is backed by governance and transparency, and delivers measurable value.
Strategy is the multiplier
AI is not the strategy. It is the amplifier. When given clear direction, sound governance, and connected context, it accelerates transformation. Without those pillars, AI accelerates risk.
The organizations that win will not be those that move the fastest. They will be those that move with purpose, data integrity, and alignment. They’ll be the ones connecting every AI initiative to measurable business value.
Because faster is a tactic. Impact is a strategy. And the biggest risk of AI is going really fast—in the wrong direction.
