AI Governance and the Decentralization of Technology Production: An Investigation of AI-Based IPA Bots
通过与一家财富200强企业合作，研究AI驱动的智能流程自动化机器人项目，发现传统集中式治理会抑制利用率和重复使用，而过度去中心化则可能导致碎片化，为AI治理提供新视角。
We revisit the centralization–decentralization tension in the context of decentralized technology production at the AI frontier, focusing on Intelligent Process Automation (IPA) bots as a salient manifestation of the democratization of AI. IPA bots combine robotic process automation with AI technologies and process mining based on deep, mindful domain expertise. We collaborate with a Fortune 200 multinational to study how IPA projects yield successful governance outcomes of utilization and repeatability. Our research reveals that traditional centralized mandates, when paired with the unique learning and adaptive capabilities of AI systems, can actively suppress utilization and stifle organizational reuse of the bots. Conversely, democratization is no panacea. While empowerment of business users through decentralization usually leads to successful outcomes for the deployed bots, when certain boundary conditions are crossed, these same decentralized efforts can produce fragmentation in the form of one-off solutions. Our research challenges core tenets of the IT governance canon, demonstrating that centralization–decentralization logic at the AI frontier must expand to account for the evolution of governance, process, and technological characteristics to realize effective AI governance.