The topic everyone is talking about: AI. It’s mentioned in the news, social media, and casual conversations with friends and family. It has influenced the growth of companies, and an earnings report can’t end without discussing how AI has already positively influenced the past quarter of a company’s success. You can’t deny the influence it has had in a very short period of time. It’s not an exaggeration to state that almost every company leader is focused on the impact AI will have on their company or what will happen if they don’t figure out a way to integrate it into their company in some impactful and meaningful way.
The initial challenge was understanding how to access the technology. That has become easier, although proper access and management of Generative AI are still a challenge. We will save that for another discussion and blog. The biggest challenge most companies face today is where to apply AI in a meaningful way
There is no shortage of motivation and willingness from leaders to invest significant amounts of money in AI. There has been moderate success in certain areas, but for the most part, companies struggle to figure out how to get the impact they desire from the application of Generative AI.
Generative AI is a somewhat magical and amazing thing. I liken it to the missing link to capabilities people in technology have struggled to overcome in the past but can now achieve. It offers a form of reasoning, something that in the past was impossible with technology. What it is not is automation itself. Automation is a process or series of steps that replaces manual efforts, often tedious and repetitive. Generative AI by itself is not automation. It is an important part of automation, but by itself, it is not automation. There are things that may not have been possible to automate in the past, and these can now be done with Generative AI. For example, the process of summarizing complex legal contracts and answering questions that are submitted through text or emails. Acting as an intelligent help desk agent is another example. However, these things require traditional automation platforms or programming combined with Generative AI.
Aside from framing the challenge of what companies want to solve and differentiating between AI and automation, there is a dirty little secret related to AI that hinders its adoption. Most employees aren’t excited about it or motivated to help adopt it. Why? Because they are low-key worried about being displaced by it. Who can blame them??? As a result, company leaders can be frustrated by the lack of adoption even though they strongly support it and push for its adoption regularly.
There are questions about the viability of Generative AI: Is it too early and not mature enough for general usage? While I believe there will be continued maturation of the capabilities in Generative AI, the capabilities of LLMs today are significant enough to warrant widespread adoption and usage. It should influence and change how companies operate in a meaningful way, but it’s not in many cases.
What can be done if the problem isn’t the underlying technology? Leaders and managers would benefit by thinking about ways to incentivize employees to volunteer the use-cases that would meaningfully benefit from the application of AI. I am confident there are employees in each company who are aware of use cases that would meaningfully improve the efficiency and operation of the company. But they aren’t raising them because they are worried about the personal implications for themselves. Employees should be provided with a safe harbor and rewarded for sharing these ideas and participating in making them a reality. Most employees have career aspirations and interest in other jobs. Internal mobility is a hot topic most companies want to promote; let’s marry these two ideas and make it a win-win for the company and its employees. Offer early retirement for some employees and offer employees opportunities for free training and education to be promoted into more senior roles. These are just a few examples of incentives that can be provided. Without these safety nets, companies will continue to struggle to find opportunities for Generative AI or other innovative capabilities.
Adopting AI effectively requires understanding the technology and addressing the human element within your organization. Differentiating AI from automation and incentivizing employees to embrace and contribute to AI initiatives are crucial steps. By creating a supportive environment where employees feel secure and valued, companies can unlock AI’s full potential and drive meaningful innovation and efficiency. Let’s discuss how we can help your organization navigate these challenges and succeed in your AI journey.
