Bringing AI into an Organization

A commentary and my opinions on the HBR article, 'A Better Way to Onboard AI', by Boris Babic, Daniel L. Chen, Theodoros Evgeniou and Anne-Laure Fayard.

I recently came across a Harvard Business Review article, titled ‘A Better Way to Onboard AI’ that caught my eye. The independent study that I had conducted with my peers during my Master's program was focused on AI and its role in Business & Marketing so naturally, this topic intrigued me.

One of the major insights that we had collected from our focus group was also echoed in this article - that individuals fear and distrust the technology. There is a fear of being ‘replaced’, fear of the power that the technology could have, and in line with a lot of current news- fear of privacy invasions and data being collected and used in ways that the victim is unaware of.

An interesting perspective given in the article on how to better assimilate AI in an organization is to treat it like new talent. To set it up for success rather than failure, mentoring it through the tasks to be performed and showing others on the team about the value that it contributes.

Another point that stood out for me was that AI should be used as a dialogue. I can see humans being much more comfortable with this scenario, where they are taking inputs, rather than there just being subjected to a directive of what to do and them losing their decision making power. Autonomy to an extent is considered to be vital for job success, and losing that to technology can increase the negative sentiments towards the technology that is meant to add on more value and increase efficiency in processes.

"Of course AI is not always "right." That's why using it should be like a dialogue."

The 4 phases described in the article to implement AI, namely - The Assistant, The Monitor, The Coach, and finally The Teammate show the progression of the technology where ultimately it is able to seamlessly integrate as a part of processes and is considered to be a valuable contributor.

The ways in which AI can be used in organizations are innumerable, but the biggest impediment to it being optimally utilized currently is the lack of trust, confidence, and transparency that the individuals, both on the management and engineering side, have in the technology. Developing a partnership with AI is integral and this can only be done by gaining knowledge of how it operates. As with all other relationships (human and non-human), understanding the background will help to eliminate the fear of the unknown, open new avenues, and create a stronger and more mutually beneficial relationship.

On that note, an opinion: Being an employee who is open and receptive to this change in processes in organizations may give them an edge over pre-AI employees who are hesitant and resist the inculcation of AI in their teams & workplace. This falls directly in line with my independent study, where based on our research and insights we created a syllabus for a graduate-level course on AI in Business & Marketing. Educating oneself about this realm will allow the individual to be an asset and the go-to person in their organization.