The advent of artificial intelligence will require organisations, boards and employees to embrace change. Ensure that you manage AI effectively by:
1. Providing relevant training and ground rules for the use of AI.
Many staff members will be excited about the potential for AI to support them in their roles, from automating tasks to expediting desk research. However, the absence of an AI framework can lead to the adoption of shadow AI where staff members are making use of tools in a way that has not been sanctioned and may put the organisation at risk. Make sure that staff are aware of the ways in which they should or should not use AI tools at work and consider asking them sign up to AI terms of use before integrating AI into their processes.
2. The AI landscape is evolving rapidly, make sure that the board is provided with regular technology updates from relevant internal teams.
It is widely acknowledged that AI tools and technologies are evolving at an unprecedented rate. What may feel innovative now could well be seen as business as usual in a year’s time. To keep pace with the changes and the risks and opportunities that developments present to the business, boards should receive regular briefings from internal experts who are monitoring the technological landscape. Complacency in this regard may result in being left behind.
3. Evaluate the benefit of AI for your organisation.
AI should not be seen as a single technology or tool. There are as many different applications of AI as there are problems to solve. Organisations should give thought to the specific ways in which AI technologies can benefit them and their consumers, rather than attempting to adopt every new iteration for fear of missing out. This will also be crucial to maintaining board engagement. A board will rapidly lose interest in AI if they see it as a series of flash in the pan wonder products that quickly become obsolete. Focus on the AI tools that will make a meaningful impact in the longer term to demonstrate return on the time and money invested in implementation.
4. You don’t need a board of AI experts, but you do need to pave the way for useful conversations.
It is unlikely that many boards will be able to appoint an AI expert as a NED, since most of the people currently at the cutting edge of AI technologies are ‘in the trenches’ working on development. Instead, boards need to have sufficient levels of AI understanding to be able to ask pertinent questions and be comfortable in their ability to oversee AI’s use. It can be helpful to introduce the topic in a more informal setting, such as a board dinner, where board members may feel less inhibited about asking basic questions. These types of get-togethers can also provide insight for the company secretary or governance professional on board attitudes and understanding levels, prior to more formal discussions in the boardroom.
5. Set the culture throughout the organisation.
AI and technology solutions can’t be implemented in a vacuum. Not only is it essential to make sure that staff understand rules around the use of AI, it is also important to make sure that they buy into any changes that are implemented. All the set-up, testing and investment that goes into integrating AI into ways of working will go to waste if staff don’t make use of the new tools because ‘that’s not the way we do things around here.’
6. The board need to be open to learning.
While you don’t need a board filled with AI experts, you do need a board that is open-minded, receptive to new information, and that can acknowledge that there may be some gaps in their understanding. AI presents a learning curve even for the most knowledgeable technophile as new developments and applications emerge almost weekly, so it’s important to continue to identify gaps in knowledge and understanding rather than thinking that one training session is enough.
7. Do a reality check.
AI technologies won’t be able to solve every problem, and not new AI application will solve a strategic issue for the organisation. Be mindful about how you allocate resources when it comes to experimenting with and investigating in new AI tools. Focus on the issues that need to be addressed, rather than trying to find a problem to which you can apply AI tools.
8. The change and transformation associated with AI implementation will depend on the organisation’s stance.
AI is not an all or nothing game, and the scale of change and transformation can be tailored to best meet the needs of the organisation. Some organisations may be happy to watch and wait when it comes to AI, others may be ready and eager to adopt AI to strategically change their organisational processes. Some may adopt AI to optimise processes in discrete areas, others may be experiment on a broader scale. It’s possible that many organisations will fit into several of these categories at once.
9. Organisations are part of a competitive landscape.
Organisations can’t afford to focus only on their internal stance when it comes to AI. They also need to be aware of what others in their sector are doing if they are to maintain their competitive advantage.
These tips are based on the conversation in the third instalment of our AI Series – Organisational Transformation. Catch up on the series so far and register your place at the next event.
With thanks to panellists:
- Professor Ashley Braganza Dean of Brunel Business School and the Director of Brunel’s Research Centre for AI and AI Lab
- James Harley (Head of Innovation at Nasdaq)
- Victoria Whyte FCG (SVP and Company Secretary at GSK)
This session was sponsored by Nasdaq.
