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Business leaders are ‘falling short’ on AI adoption

The road to successful AI integration as something far from straightforward.

Business premises at night. — Image © Tim Sandle
Business premises at night. — Image © Tim Sandle

Artificial Intelligence (AI) stands as a transformative force that holds the potential to revolutionize the way we work, make decisions and interact with technology. AI promises greater efficiency, data-driven insights, and enhanced productivity, making it a valuable tool for businesses across various industries.

With this promise, why are business leaders are struggling with deficient workplace AI adoption and a related  employee upskilling opportunity loss? Commentator Joe Hart has been looking into these issues and he had developed some interesting insights.

As CEO of the largest, oldest and most revered business skills training company in the world, Joe Hart regards inadequate AI implementation as something that matters to business success. Hart details how leaders are already falling short on AI adoption—a situation made more concerning amid Biden’s recently signed executive order imposing new AI regulations that Hart thinks further the complexities leaders must navigate.

Hart considers the road to successful AI integration as something far from straightforward. There are several reasons for this.

Hart begins by considering a Harvard Business Review report relating to C-Suite AI failures. This notes how too many companies “are set up to fail by poor alignment, lack of trust, not enough focus on business opportunities, and how their job is understood internally.”

Hart says these are among the reasons McKinsey’s State of AI survey found that less than one-quarter of companies using AI realized a significant bottom-line impact—deficiencies eluding impact at scale it suggests might be caused “not only because of the technical challenges but also because of the organizational changes required.”

Hart notes these are changes that many leaders simply are not making—whether intentionally or unknowingly.

In terms of what is happening within many firms, Hart finds that many businesses are increasingly understanding AI’s utility for many of their more mundane, or even complex, tasks yet they are struggling with effective and scalable implementation—particularly in a fashion that fruitfully engages employees in the process.

This leads Hart to state: “In an ideal world, AI does the brunt of the menial tasks, leaving humans to creative and critical thinking tasks. An AI program might collect and analyse data, supplying it in understandable ways for a worker to interpret, present, and make decisions on.”

In terms of the necessary actions, Hart asserts: “This requires buy-in from employees, something that requires work to produce and is far easier said than done. In fact, the inability to achieve or optimize this staff sensibility is further undermining successful AI utilization across industries.”

To illustrate this, Hart puts forward: “One survey showed that the best way to get employees excited about AI—three times as excited, to be exact—is to inspire trust in leaders, help employees understand how the tech works and increase workers’ soft skills to help them feel relevant to the company and their position.”

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Written By

Dr. Tim Sandle is Digital Journal's Editor-at-Large for science news. Tim specializes in science, technology, environmental, business, and health journalism. He is additionally a practising microbiologist; and an author. He is also interested in history, politics and current affairs.

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