The AI era: how to keep pace with new technologies

The permeability that Artificial intelligence has in our lives, both the private and work spheres, elevates it to a key item on the agenda, both highlighting its undoubted potential and analysing the risks of mass use. There is, however, one aspect which is still being overlooked: the implications that this technology has, or could have, in managerial roles.

Artificial intelligence can resolve many computing issues, but there are many other corporate problems it is not able to take on, even after a long learning period. What is required in these cases are the purely human competences of creativity, lateral thinking and identifying hidden connections

With these words Philip Hult, President of EF Education First, the largest private education company in the world, allows us to introduce Moravec's paradox, first formulated in 1988. This paradox explains that machines can excel in tasks considered difficult for human beings, while they can have great difficulties with apparently simple tasks, thus opening up a reflection on managerial roles: is Artificial Intelligence able to effectively replace the roles of a leader? According to Gartner it is not correct to talk about replacement: by 2030, 80% of a manager's work will undergo significant change, but will not be replaced by technology; this is because the role of leader is complex, incorporating both hard skills and soft skills.

A decent manager must undeniably have the skills required to understand and exploit the potential of new technologies, but adoption in and of itself is not a differentiating factor. Present and future leaders will have to deal with ever-faster and more radical changes and with ever-more democratic technologies: just consider that no previous technology had ever been used so widely as Artificial Intelligence: Chat GPT reached 100 million monthly active users just two months from launch, becoming the fastest growing software application of all time.

Soft skills therefore have the same importance as specific expertise and are essential in differentiating oneself, because although AI can analyse data with greater speed and precision than humans can, its ability to understand and respond to emotions and complex social contexts is still very limited. These aspects require empathy, creativity, judgement and the ability to adapt, qualities which are intrinsically human and still difficult to replicate through algorithms.

In order to best manage the introduction of new technologies, suitable cultural and training models are required: a model which is still little adopted yet particularly effective when it comes to learning and applying technologies such as Artificial Intelligence is that developed in the 1980s by the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL), and based on experience-based learning. Its application requires training to be divided as follows in order to be effective: 70% should be informal and supported by experience, while 20% should be based on personalised mentoring and coaching, with just 10% spent on formal training with structured courses. This strategy is also adopted by Angelini Industries:

“We are always trying to anticipate and move quickly when new technologies emerge which we expect to impact behaviour, the organisation and ways of working with people. We take the time (2-3 years) for sector experts who are curious and open to innovation, assisted by expert technicians, to develop pilot projects. The goal is to verify the benefits and applications to our business, and only later, once the impact has been confirmed and the applications consolidated, do we extend it to the entire population. We then provide learning pills and individual support (mentoring and coaching) from those who are already practised and expert.”

A strategy able to supply the skills required by all players, but which requires the support of a corporate culture able to support fast-paced innovation. In the book Smart Leadership Canvas by Filippo Poletti and Alberto Ferris, modern leadership is described as an art “of the heart and mind”, succinctly summarising something very important which we have already mentioned: we need to go beyond simply the technology. Leaders are those who should be the bearers of a corporate culture able to support the understanding and adoption of new technologies, so it is therefore natural to ask what the characteristics of a good leader are in the current context.

• Trust (sufficient): in an age where physical office space is increasingly decreasing and where technologies allow for ever-greater control over what someone is doing, it is essential to put trust in but also to spread a culture of innovation which promotes ethical and informed use of new working methods and new technologies. 
• Adaptability: the speed of adoption of Artificial Intelligence opens the doors to an era which is destined to move at ever-greater speeds. A good leader must be able to adapt themselves and their strategies to technological change and more besides; they need to surround themselves with people equally capable of adapting to continually changing contexts. To do all this, attention must focus on soft skills and the role they play in building a professional profile: creativity, lateral thinking, identifying hidden connections, and problem solving.
• Collaboration: in order to strategically approach change, organisations must move from hierarchical structures to network-based structures, allowing the decision-making process to be distributed. This does not mean delegating the task of leader to others or to technology, but working together to make decisions thanks to the support and maximisation of each team member's competences (including Artificial Intelligence).

Leadership roles, like those of other professions, are destined to feel the effects of the spread of new technologies, but not in the more widespread way we may think of: we are used to hearing about AI on the basis of machines replacing people, but in this case, maybe more than others, it is more correct to talk about change.

In order to adapt strategically to the new context, leaders all around the world cannot limit themselves to learning specific skills which allow them to exploit the potential of AI with a view to delegating decision making to it, but will also need to review their priorities and orient themselves ever more towards a leadership model able to fully exploit purely human traits such as empathy, creativity, judgement and problem solving. A change in mindset which prioritises collaboration, adaptability and trust of all players, including by making use of training models such as “70-20-10”.