By Uma Ganesh
For a while now, AI has been viewed as a potential threat to the jobs that have repetitive and mundane tasks at their core. Most attention has been on robots and other AI tools taking over the roles of ‘doers’ like factory workers or telecallers. With AI getting smarter with every passing day, it is now possible to envision a future when AI could pose a threat to the jobs of the bosses too and have to be aware of the potential of AI tools to make their roles redundant.
Executives have started getting comfortable with chatbots that are performing several tasks of humans — answering queries of employees, interacting with candidates for the recruitment process, providing options to customers in their decision making process to name a few. Companies like 7-Eleven and Uniqlo are using AI tools like Percolata to know real time productivity of their staff in the retail environment, thereby enabling them to maximise sales from footfalls. Several call centres are using tools like Cogito to enhance the productivity of their staff which provides them with timely inputs by monitoring their performance.
With the help of AI tools, Amazon is able to direct work at each one of its warehouses and the supervisors aimed at maximising efficiency. Online mobility platforms like Ola and Uber have built their new business model by enlisting the support of algorithms and computers to address every dimension of the business fulfilment process pertaining to customers, administrators and service providers. Cyrano.ai is another interesting example of how AI is blending neurolinguistics and profiling of stakeholders to create personalised solutions that are built around empathy.
Extending these experiences and learnings into the supervisors’ domain, AI is capable of taking over routine administrative tasks, report making and rule based decision making using analytics. Would this mean AI would replace the bosses? Polish spirits and beverage firm Dictador introduced Mika as its new CEO bot and the Chinese gaming company NetDragon Websoft introduced AI bot Tang Yu, as its CEO. It is too premature to know the impact on the business based on such initiatives.
Adoption of AI tools in place of humans is still at a nascent stage. Emotional intelligence would always remain the forte of humans and leaders would continue to act as the link between AI and the team. Leaders would be able to meet their goals in a positive work environment. However, seldom all leaders possess the ability to connect with their employees and align to the common goals. AI tools would develop the wherewithal to support the leaders with the sensitivity analysis of the work environment by studying the moods of the staff.
Therefore, supervisors’s role would get redefined; the focus of leaders would be to manage human behaviour to AI systems. In this evolving scenario, in order to avoid becoming obsolete, managers should develop the required skills to adapt to AI and reinvent their roles.
The author is chairperson, global talent track, a corporate training solutions company
