Insights

Balancing Innovation and Resilience in the Age of AI

Henric Andersson
,
Chief Information Officer
July 22, 2025
July 22, 2025
Balancing Innovation and Resilience in the Age of AI
July 22, 2025

This article originally appeared as part of a feature in Intelligent CIO.

At Intellistack, we’re operating in a world where AI is reshaping how we build, ship and support software. But as CIO, I’ve learned that the best way to stay ahead isn’t to chase every new capability – it’s to balance innovation with resilience and to do so intentionally.

That balance starts with one simple rule: AI should amplify systems that already work – not compensate for ones that don’t.

We don’t deploy AI into areas where the fundamentals aren’t solid. For example, while we use AI to assist in writing code, every change still goes through human review. Same with our security questionnaires and trust center: AI is explicitly not allowed to answer customer questions. It might be fast, but if it hallucinates or omits something critical, we pay the price. That’s not a risk we accept lightly.

To keep that discipline in place, we’ve established an internal AI council. They help evaluate both the products we build and the tools we adopt internally, making sure we have clear, responsible guardrails. If we can’t codify those guardrails simply – if it takes a policy manual to explain – then we wait. Simplicity isn’t just elegance; it’s enforceability.

That said, we’re bullish on experimentation. We want our engineers and teams to test and play, so we provide sandboxes where they can try things without touching production or regulated data. Most experimentation doesn’t need permission – it just needs boundaries. And boundaries create freedom. They make it safe to take risks and learn without unintended consequences.

For non-engineers, we apply the same philosophy. If a tool doesn’t integrate with our systems or access sensitive data, they’re free to explore. If they find something worth using more broadly, they bring it to our onboarding process, which includes legal, privacy and security review. If any one of those three says “no,” it doesn’t move forward. But if we all agree, we move fast and help operationalize it safely. It’s a gate, not a wall.

The key to keeping this process lightweight is training and guidance. When people understand the risks and trade-offs, most don’t need to be policed. They self-regulate. And that keeps the onboarding process focused and efficient. A little knowledge goes a long way, especially when paired with trust.

If there’s one piece of advice I’d offer to other CIOs trying to strike this same balance, it’s this:

Give people a playground. Hype dies quickly when people can test things hands-on. Empower them so they don’t have to sneak around – because nothing fuels shadow IT like a culture of “no.” Be a partner. Educate your teams. And when it’s time to go live, always weigh the risk and the blast radius.

That’s how we do it at Intellistack. And so far, it’s kept us moving fast – without losing control.