Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionising the way that we live, work, and interact with each other. It’s one of the biggest technological advances of the century – up there with the creation of online shopping and smartphones.
But, despite its benefits, there are also a number of concerns. Studies have shown that AI is now able to perform several tasks that human workers traditionally carry out, which has led to AI anxiety spiralling amongst employees. Goldman Sachs has even claimed that more than 300 million jobs could be affected by AI.
Every industry will be impacted by the new technology to a greater or lesser extent. But what about the brains of the organisation? Is AI set to take over here too?
To determine this, it’s important to look at the role of a business leader. As senior members of the team, our leaders guide the business and often control final decisions. Ultimately, it’s about managing other people while ensuring key targets and metrics are being met.
To do this, meetings are usually held with various stakeholders and while these business tasks do require time from business leaders, they can often become time-consuming and laborious. We know that AI technology is better at streamlining operations than humans as well as identifying patterns so it begs the question of whether AI could be used effectively in these instances.
One notable company to look at is Chinese video game producer, NetDragon Websoft. In 2022, they replaced their CEO with an AI robot. Describing it as the future of corporate management, the company witnessed its share price increase rapidly.
So, should business leaders be worried about AI taking their jobs? Not necessarily. However, AI could change the lives of business leaders in an incredible way. If you’re comfortable using AI as a business leader to power up your decision making, and make your life easier, you’ve got nothing to worry about.
AI can streamline processes, it can help you to decide which business activities are best to acquire new customers, and it can work at a much quicker pace compared to a human team. The idea is that business leaders present their ideas to AI and AI will determine whether it’s a good fit. For example, you could use ChatGPT to decide on a marketing strategy, or for other areas of initial research. In a matter of minutes, you’ll be provided with your answers which otherwise would have taken days.
It’s worth bearing in mind that AI such as ChatGPT does come with a few inaccuracies which is why business leaders will be required to filter through the answers. AI can still be very useful in quickening up the research process though.
AI could also potentially remove another common business issue – knowledge retention amongst employees. Most companies have members of staff who have been around for years and therefore know everything there is to know about the company. Attempting to pass this knowledge on to a new staff member is hugely challenging. AI can retain and replace this knowledge.
While daunting, as business leaders, it’s important to welcome AI with open arms. After all, it’s likely to help companies to learn and move faster while presenting solutions for business issues much quicker. This is going to elevate your role as a business leader.
There are, however, some leadership jobs that require a human touch, namely in the care sector. ChatGPT can do many things, but it can’t care for an ill or elderly person with the same level of compassion as a human.
Gope Walker, CEO of Data Kraken
After working for blue chip companies for 16 years, Gope was disheartened by the lack of innovation in the analytics arm of most businesses. The desire to innovate to optimise and improve businesses using data-driven techniques was rarely seen at the level Gope deemed appropriate – hence the birth of Data Kraken. Today, the Data Kraken team is working with clients across multiple continents, offering data-driven insights that allow companies to manage their business as effectively and efficiently as possible.”
