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Headline Partner

Steven Mills, Managing Director and Partner, Boston Consulting Group

What has been your path to power?

My path has led me to my career via some rather unexpected directions. I started as a forester and returned to graduate school to study forest management and operations research, and it was here that I discovered my love of mathematics and computer science. After a brief stint blending forestry and OR for a consulting company, I moved to a strategic consulting firm where I helped found the firm’s data science practice and, later, its AI and advanced machine learning practice.

 

The more I worked in AI, the more concerned I became about the societal impacts of AI systems. I couldn’t help but notice that the small decisions AI developers were making as they built their algorithms had in aggregate many effects that could have profound, inadvertent, and often negative effects on society. My desire to rectify this situation has led me to where I am today.

 

After joining BCG, I continued to think critically about this and other data-related issues, and to discuss with our product teams better ways to evaluate and avoid the unintended harms caused by biased AI systems. I have since assumed the role of BCG chief AI ethics officer and now lead its responsible AI programme. In this capacity, I continue to work with our clients, helping them think about ways to put in place their own RAI programs.

What impact has the pandemic had on demand from your clients?

As we work with companies to help them anticipate changes in a volatile market, we’ve seen rapid growth in the use of real-time data and insights. At the same time, increased virtual collaboration, purchasing, and interaction with services has caused companies to produce more data than ever. While the ability to harness data and analytics has delivered real value for businesses, it has also resulted in AI systems that inadvertently harm users and society. Companies across sectors are proactively seeking our support to make sure they have ethical standards in place to ensure that they are using data and analytics in a responsible way.

 

Do you get a seat at your clients’ strategic discussions? If not, what will it take to get you there?

Yes, data and AI are now widely seen as a strategic priority and, as such, sit at the top of management agendas. This naturally brings us into our clients’ strategic dialogs. We partner closely with their management teams to help shape strategic approaches to their use of data and AI, while making sure they take steps to implement their AI programs correctly and responsibly.

 

What are your key areas of focus for the business in 2022?

We are focused on bringing our responsible AI capabilities to ever more clients across ever more industries. We are accomplishing this through direct consulting support and through our industry engagement with groups including the World Economic Forum and the Business Roundtable. We believe deeply in the business value of responsible AI and want to do all we can to make sure companies take this issue seriously.

 

How do you apply your leadership skills a) within your own business and b) on behalf of your clients?

Implementing responsible AI is not just about effectively managing an AI project. Fundamentally, it involves catalysing a cultural transformation throughout an organisation. It’s about inspiring leaders and teams; pulling together diverse groups of leaders and staff; implementing solutions that reinforce the culture you want to create; and tailoring solutions to the unique corporate, industry, and regional culture in which each company exists. Every day, I focus my skills on balancing these considerations for BCG and its clients.

What key skills or attributes do you consider have contributed to your success in this role?

I have a great deal of passion for responsible AI; for ensuring that BCG lives its purpose and values in every AI product we develop. I regularly use my ability to convene diverse sets of leaders from across disciplines, regions and industries to make sure BCG maintains a broad, global perspective, using a lens of complex systems, rather than one-off products.

 

How did you develop – and continue to develop – these skills or attributes?

Although seemingly disconnected from AI, my forestry background has been hugely important. It instilled in me the ability to see things in terms of systems and continually pushed me to think about secondary and tertiary impacts. It also helped me develop the skill to manage large, diverse sets of stakeholders as I interacted with everyone from loggers and landowners to conservation groups and the general public. And it taught me to take a pragmatic, practical approach to solving problems, rather than focusing on solutions that might be theoretically perfect, but unfeasible in the real world. These are skills I constantly use and hone as chief ethics officer.

How do you ensure that your proposition keeps pace with your clients’ goals and requirements so that you are leading rather than lagging behind their demands?

One thing I’ve learned is never to think I have all the answers – that I must continually strive to learn and grow and push the boundary. This approach encourages fresh thinking and ensures that I am always bringing the latest thinking and insights to our clients. It also encourages me to build highly collaborative relationships with our clients. While we certainly bring deep expertise and solutioning to the table, there is much we learn from them as well. By keeping an open mind, we as an organisation are constantly evolving our offerings and helping our clients see around the corner to the next emerging issue.

Steven Mills
has been included in:
  • 100 Enablers 2022 (EMEA)
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