Workiva Puts Business Outcomes at Center of AI-Native Workflows, CIO Says

Huffman spoke with theCUBE Research’s Krista Case and co-host Alison Kosik in an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. She said building AI-native workflows requires rethinking how people, processes and data work together across an entire task. According to Huffman, success means moving beyond individual productivity gains toward measurable business results.

“I think AI is a fundamental technology that’s going to reshape the landscape of technology portfolios in every organization,” Huffman said. “When you think of it as a bolt-on capability, you’re probably going to get bolt-on outcomes.”

Designing those workflows starts with bringing employees from different functions together to define a shared outcome, she said. Teams can then identify where artificial intelligence could perform parts of the work while preserving opportunities for users to validate and approve its actions. Preparing employees for those changes is essential, according to Huffman.

Huffman said AI has increased the importance of data quality, data trust and data governance. Historically, governance functions around data have been viewed as potentially slowing down the speed at which organizations want to move, she said. In the era of AI, she views governance as an ability to move faster.

“If you can build strong governance, you have a greater degree of trust so that you’re able to trust the outputs,” she said.

Workiva’s Agent Studio, announced at the Amplify event, lets users build and customize agents without writing code, according to the company. Huffman said giving employees those capabilities can uncover opportunities technology teams had not anticipated.

“I think the biggest ‘aha’ moment was how quickly the teams that were introduced to Agent Studio were able to understand it and were able to build something that was really valuable in a very short period of time,” she said. “In days, they were able to get something that worked for them for their specific use case, and they were able to see immediate results.”

The interview was part of theCUBE’s coverage of Workiva’s Amplify event. TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the event, and neither Workiva, the sponsor of theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE, according to the disclosure accompanying the interview.