Highlights
- Artificial intelligence (AI) is often discussed in futuristic terms, but it is already here, impacting our lives and work.
- AI adoption is set to increase at exponential rates, organizations must prepare now for the impact on their workforces.
- Companies must prepare themselves and their people for the workforce change with the understanding that while some jobs will be lost, others will be created.
In this article
AI is transforming lives
AI is already an intrinsic part of our lives.
Some of the most prominent use cases are so pervasive that we don’t even think about them, says Nidhi Srivastava, Vice President and Global Head, TCS’ Google Business Unit. We think nothing about letting a smartphone app guide us to a destination a hundred miles away and trusting it to find the shortest possible route. Machine learning algorithms power search engines with the uncanny ability to know what we’re looking for even if our search terms are vague.
At work and within the workforce, the AI transformation is already taking place, as evidenced by the fact that 91% of organizations have adopted, or plan to adopt, a “digital-first” business strategy, according to the Foundry 2021 Digital Business Study.
With organizations starting to see AI as an enabler of business transformation, the scope and influence of AI in businesses across all industries will increase exponentially.
Democratization of AI
AI for all is becoming a reality with low-code and no-code programming tools.
AI helps organizations move from intuition-based decisions to decisions supported by facts and intelligent predictions. Low-code and no-code programming tools are helping in this transition—they are enabling people with little technical knowledge to use AI. For example, Google Cloud offers an AI and ML platform that allows scalability and democratization to accelerate an organization’s transformation journey.
There’s no doubt that AI is bringing about fundamental changes in our ways of working. Those changes will extend to an organization’s entire workforce, as AI is scaled and becomes more embedded in the day-to-day business.
Reskilling the workforce
Preparing the workforce to help them adapt to the changes AI brings is key.
Organizations must get ready now for the impact on their business and workforce. They must prepare themselves and their people for the transition with the understanding that while some jobs will be lost, others will be created.
They shouldn’t hold back this impending change but rather equip people to navigate it. Many of the jobs AI creates will require specialized technical skills. Leaders must be realistic about the roles that could be eliminated and formulate strategies so that those individuals with the aptitude and ambition for AI can develop those skills.
A concerted focus on managing people through this change is critical. This includes providing training that strikes the right balance between helping employees understand AI’s immense potential to drive innovation and growth, and giving them the information and tools they need to use AI responsibly.
Trust is key
Empowering people to experiment with AI is important, so is helping them to use AI responsibly.
Establishing robust guidelines for AI governance is imperative. Algorithms are only as good as the data they are given, so organizations must constantly monitor the quality of data used to train AI models to ensure against bias. AI-driven decisions must also be transparent so that people can fully understand how they were reached. Algorithms must never become a “black box,” as any evidence of bias or error can undermine confidence in the entire system.
Finally, as organizations continue to explore how to use AI more effectively, they need to keep in mind the evolutionary nature of AI’s impact. While AI is now commonly used in key areas of the business, that progress didn’t happen overnight. Organizations should foster an environment in which teams are continually empowered to experiment with AI tools to find new ways to capitalize on AI’s power and can independently explore, ideate, and implement use cases specific to their needs.
To learn more on the impact of AI on the workforce, download the PDF.
AI won’t be a big bang; it will be a growing part of our daily routine and all of these opportunities are underpinned by cloud
