CA Technologies’ Mike Gregoire: Bridge the digital divide

US tech giant CA Technologies’ boss Mike Gregoire says digital disruption damage must be contained.

CA Technologies global chief executive Mike Gregoire in Sydney. Picture: John Feder

US tech giant CA Technologies’ boss Mike Gregoire says the ­sector heavyweight needs to step up and bridge the gaps created by digital disruption.

Speaking to The Australian on a recent visit, Mr Gregoire said the profound impact of technology on economies and societies needed to be channelled in a way that contained the damage caused by digital disruption.

“We have failed to understand the impact of technology and the speed at which the changes are coming through,” he said. “Things are getting compressed so quickly that the ability to adapt, lifelong learning, and the ability to collaborate become very critical skills for everyone.”

As governments globally come to grips with these tectonic shifts and their impact on jobs, Mr ­Gregoire said a lot of work needed to be done to bridge the gap ­between the jobs that are being ­replaced and those that are being created.

“We haven’t done enough, both the private and the public sector, to take a look at the people who are being displaced, and help them,” he said.

“We also haven’t done a great job taking young people and giving them the critical skills they are going to need to survive in the digital economy.”

Pointing to the scandal surrounding Facebook, Mr Gregoire said that while public trust of Big Tech had taken a hit over the past 12 months, it was a necessary part of the technology starting to affect people’s lives at scale.

“Name me one single industry or a big idea that didn’t go through this same trajectory?” he said.

“We figured those out and we will figure this out.”

He added that the push for greater transparency in the wake of Facebook’s troubles may be a blessing in disguise.

“The transparency will help us adapt quicker,” he said.

“Many people are now starting to understand that the free apps aren’t really free.

“Now that enough people are asking what they are really paying for, the benefits they get, it will force technology companies that serve consumers to become a lot more transparent on how they are using the data and the opportunity to opt in or opt out.

“Facebook is selling attention, while Google owns our intent.”

The backlash faced by Facebook, according to Mr Gregoire, was a result of the public rejecting the social media company’s ­attempt to manipulate their value system: “People weren’t so upset when Facebook used its data to pitch them ads, but when it used it to try to alter their value system, then there’s a violent reaction.”

The ongoing public discussion around data, who owns it and what the duty of care around it needs to be, will need to be carefully calibrated, according to Mr Gregoire, who warned that ­excessive control could have a chilling effect on innovation.

“Things could get very awkward because different countries will have different approaches, but think about how it can impact a trend like artificial intelligence, which relies on data,” he said.

“If you are in a G7 nation that has highly regulated privacy on data, which I am not against, but you compare that to China, where the state owns the data. How good do you think the ­algorithms will be in China? It has the biggest data set in the world and can do whatever it wants with it while the Western nations are left to figure it out all for themselves. That’s where the danger lies and that’s why we need a clear public, private partnership on this.”

With no clear global consensus on data privacy, Mr Gregoire warned that fragmentation would leave Western nations at a distinct disadvantage. “You can protect the data but you don’t want to stifle innovation, which is a recipe to change, and those who change quickly win, and China is well poised on that front,” he said.