From C-suite to the front lines, how has artificial intelligence reimagined organizational hierarchy while changing the course of leadership?
The impact of artificial intelligence on the workforce is already felt by businesses globally. While the division of labor between humans and machines has always been in flux, it is now becoming more collaborative, thanks to the transformational advancements in data science, deep learning, and machine learning.
As AI draws inspiration from the vision, teamwork, creativity, and social skills of leaders to execute, leaders too benefit greatly from its speed, scalability, and quantitative capabilities to surpass their competition. That’s why, even if automation has started to become an irreplaceable differentiator of business, it’s all for the good!
It also has the potential to help leaders with the decision-making process, which is perfect because that’s one of the ultimate tests of leadership. From predictive capabilities, and multitasking to reducing decision fatigue—take a look at how AI has assisted in improving the work-life of leaders.
Improved predictive accuracy and speed
The use of data mining techniques is gaining popularity in the business world. Data mining can be thought of as a digital fortune teller, allowing companies to predict future events and trends based on the analysis of historical data sets.
A downside is that this kind of number-crunching can take a long time. It is also mentally taxing. That’s where smart bots come into play. For busy leaders, AI’s predictive capabilities are a relief, freeing up their time to tackle their hectic schedules effectively.
Complex data sets can be overwhelming without the help of AI algorithms. For instance, if you are presented with a large amount of information about product codes and names, it may be difficult to identify patterns and trends. However, AI can help make sense of this information.
For example, if a combination of products A and B are frequently purchased together and 75% of those buyers also bought product C, AI can be used to analyze the remaining 25% of customers and suggest product C to them. This way, the customers can receive a valuable recommendation based on the purchasing habits of others with similar preferences.
As AI penetrates the business world, leaders can say goodbye to spending countless hours on data analysis tools. By simplifying the process and providing insightful recommendations, artificial intelligence revolutionizes the way leaders approach predictive technologies. As a data interpreter, it eases the load of busy leaders.
There is no doubt that machines are better at numerical tasks than humans. Predictive AI technologies are a powerful tool for business leaders. They can provide support in multiple areas, including:
- Assessing cost-effectiveness and ROI potential
- Optimizing the buyer’s journey through sustained consumer behavior analysis
- Reducing customer churn rates
AI can help leaders achieve their goals by analyzing data from various platforms, software and apps. It can identify trends and provide insights that can help leaders make informed decisions.
Minimizing decision fatigue
According to a recent survey by Gartner, the complexity of decision making has increased in recent years.
This highlights the challenge of keeping up with the rapidly changing business landscape and making informed decisions in a timely manner.
Business leaders deal with all the issues they encounter in a day like firefighters. Regardless of whether they were expecting them or not, they have to address any crisis immediately.
There’s only so much mental energy that goes into making decisions that can resolve these challenges. When business leaders have to make a lot of decisions, they can’t help but get tired. This can often lead to suboptimal judgment.
It’s no wonder then that successful business leaders like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg limit their fashion decisions by wearing the same color shirt every day to office. This conserves their energy and mental capacity. As a result, there is more brain space available for business decisions.
However, algorithms don’t get tired, so they can take on more of the decision-making process to help leaders make better, faster decisions. AI technologies are powerful allies for business leaders because they can help eliminate many steps in the decision-making process.
For instance, with decision augmented solutions being automated, business leaders can generate recommendations or multiple decision alternatives from a single AI platform.
By providing a streamlined workflow, Artificial Intelligence solutions can provide a 360° overview. With data science tools and neural machine learning, these solutions provide leaders with insights that can give them a competitive edge.
Developing multitasking skills
Maintaining balance and consistency can become a bit of a challenge for senior leaders when they have to complete a number of tasks on a given day.
Multitasking can lead to leaders getting caught up in the details of the ‘fine points’. Having too much data around can overwhelm even the most mathematically inclined leaders. There is a risk of forgetting the big picture and augmenting value in one area at the expense of another.
Machines can handle multiple inputs simultaneously without suffering from human limitations like exhaustion or confusion. They can also give each area an equal amount of attention.
Multi-Task Learning (MTL) is an approach to machine learning where a single model is trained to accomplish multiple objectives. In the realm of deep learning, MTL involves training a neural network to carry out multiple tasks by sharing some of its layers and parameters between the tasks. As an example, Google has developed a neural network capable of performing multiple tasks simultaneously and has handled up to eight tasks at once.
Additionally, AI is going to make life easier for business leaders by automating routine tasks. This will free up leaders to be more productive and creative. They’ll be able to focus on one task at a time instead of trying to juggle multiple tasks.
Enough time to tap into emotional intelligence
With artificial intelligence entering the corporate world, emotional intelligence must enter into leadership.
By now, you are aware that AI technologies can help business leaders make more informed, data-driven decisions. With AI technologies, business leaders can equip themselves with hard evidence, possible outcomes, and predictions.
As AI takes over the hard-skills side of the leadership wheel, leaders will have to focus on what AI can’t do – the human factor. The future leaders will be the ones who stand out by effectively communicating and managing emotions at workplace. Emotional intelligence and communication skills will be the most important factors in defining successful leaders.
While AI technologies are surely changing the landscape of decision-making, leaders still have an important role to play. They have to inspire and motivate their team to work towards shared goals. The ability to mix flexibility with toughness, vision with passion, and compassion with justice is something AI can never do.
Lesser time to hire job-fit and skills-first candidates
In the past, recruiters had to manually scan through CVs and conduct assessment rounds for job roles; a process that could take up to 45 days or more. Thanks to AI in HRtech, filling even specialty positions such as ‘Robotics Automation Engineer’, now takes no more than two weeks. This has drastically improved the speed of recruitment processes and made them far more efficient than ever before.
AI is going to change the way HR leaders recruit and assess candidates. It offers a lot of support for leaders by automating iterative tasks. AI can sift through hundreds of CVs, analyse applicant sentiment, and dig through enough information to understand who fits best with the organizational culture. Most job applications also come up with automated assessments, hence eliminating the need for additional rounds.
Basically, AI algorithms know the set of skills and competencies to fill an organization’s vacancies. It has reached an advanced stage, where it can also eliminate bias in decision-making!
With the help of automation, HR leaders will be able to reach out to a larger pool of candidates faster, while shortlisting the job-fit, future-ready and skills-fit talent efficiently. Thanks to automation, hiring managers will only have to use their judgement to make the final decision.
Final Words
The rise of automation requires business leaders to carefully consider the environment and segment of society they operate in. AI technology has an important role to play, but when it comes to decision-making, it is essential to use AI as a collaborative and working component alongside people. To maximize the potential benefits of this combination, businesses need to clearly identify and address the issues that must be resolved. More specifically, we should aim at developing an AI system with capabilities to generate suggestions rather than taking decisions on its own. With a clear understanding of how AI and people can leverage each other’s strengths, together we can unlock powerful opportunities for organizations and society alike.