New study calls for a human-first approach in AI workplaces

A new study sponsored by Unit4 has highlighted a human-first strategy required for an AI-driven workplace of the future.

The IDC InfoBrief titled "The Path to AI Everywhere: Exploring the Human Challenges" outlines strategies critical for organisations aiming to build an AI-driven workplace. The study emphasises a human-centric focus that includes nurturing organisational culture around an AI DNA, developing roles such as AI Orchestrators, and prioritising expertise over managerial abilities.

This research is grounded in expert interviews and IDC's data-led insights globally, suggesting that while task automation may deliver short-term productivity, the real long-term advantage of AI lies in its capacity to transform work processes fundamentally.

Telephone Innovacion Digital's Head of AI, Alejandra Diaz, commented on the need for technological leaders to maintain a strategic vision for AI. "Technology leaders need to always have a strategic vision of how data & AI can transform the business," said Diaz. "But it's vital that they stay results orientated, to be able to translate technical concepts into commercial impact and customer experiences."

According to IDC forecasts, by 2028, 80% of CIOs are projected to implement organisational changes leveraging AI, automation, and analytics to create agile, insight-driven digital enterprises. Nevertheless, despite the anticipated pressure, AI investment remains just a small fraction of the total digital spend in Europe, and most AI proofs-of-concept are yet to transition into production as of 2024. IDC describes the "Path to AI Everywhere" as comprising a three-stage journey, each phase imparting varied workplace impacts and necessitating specific human skills.

Stage One focuses on AI Assistants, where workplace impact revolves around executing tasks for productivity gains. Here, employees need to enhance prompt-writing abilities and skilfully apply data for task execution.

Stage Two involves AI Advisors, which will synthesise information to offer sophisticated insights. Employees in this phase must manage multiple data sources, applying critical evaluations to develop coherent insights derived from AI outputs.

By Stage Three, AI Agents will become autonomous, aiding employees in delivering innovations and competitive advantages. Staff are expected to orchestrate AI applications to derive and leverage insights for competitive benefits.

Significant obstacles remain before companies can maximize AI's potential, with 43% of European and North American employees expressing distrust in their employers regarding data handling in AI contexts and 28% apprehensive about AI-induced job reductions. Therefore, establishing an AI DNA is crucial for embedding AI effectively within organisational cultures, ensuring ethical AI usage, and mapping roles and skills to enhance teamwork and workflows.

AI orchestrators will develop as crucial figures, managing the AI-employee relationship—overseeing data strategies to certify the use of accurate sources and maintain policies protecting employees and firms from tool misuse. Although managerial roles will persist, upon reaching Stage Three, there will be a shift towards expert roles, with AI supporting employees in advanced tasks. Companies need to ascertain what constitutes expertise that delivers a competitive edge and consider pathways for employees to gain expertise skills.

Claus Jepsen, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Unit4, remarked on the growing role of AI in the workplace. "AI is going to have an increasingly important role in organizations in the future and the AI-fuelled workplace will be very different, so we should prepare long-term strategies now," Jepsen stated.

"For successful strategic AI adoption, organizations must be clear on the problems they want to solve and know that AI cannot replicate every aspect of human-to-human interactions or random situations unique to every business. At Unit4 we've built our AI DNA around ensuring AI empowers the potential of our people, focusing on pragmatic adoption that's underpinned by human-centric design excellence."

The human-centric approach to AI involves a commitment to continuous education, as 50% of survey respondents indicated a need for additional training to fully leverage AI functionalities. By 2030, employees are expected to cultivate skills across IT, digital business, as well as human and leadership domains, underpinned by the IDC Skills Development Framework.

This framework identifies essential IT skills, like integrating large language models and quantum security, alongside digital business skills inclusive of DataOps and prompt engineering. It also stresses human-centric skills such as collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking, while leadership skills focus on demonstrating empathy, AI proficiency, and governance awareness.

Meike Escherich, Associate Research Director for European Future of Work at IDC, underscored the importance of a company-wide understanding of AI's role. "Purposeful, sustainable implementation of AI at work requires a deep-rooted, company-wide DNA-like understanding that Artificial Intelligence should not be seen as a replacement for human intelligence; rather, that it should serve as a powerful tool to enhance people's creativity and innovative spirit," she noted.