Solving business problems with AI—the tech-comes-second approach

Francine Bennett, Board Member at the Ada Lovelace Institute, caught up with Emma Carroll, Head of Content at Source, on the latest episode of our Business Leader's Voice podcast.  Francine and Emma shared their insights on the following matters and more:  Businesses first need to think about their problems and then select AI tools intelligently, rather than following the hype. Many leaders are eager to integrate exciting new solutions without having a clear understanding of the problem they want to solve. Beyond just knowing you want to implement a solution, its important to consider how to monitor, track, and evaluate the outcomes to determine whether it is effective—particularly as business leaders might not be the ones working most closely with the tools. Businesses need to assess their existing level of technical maturity to use AI tools to their maximum potential. Leaders should consider how optimised the business's current processes are and how reliable and robust their data is. It's not only important to make sure your data is of good quality, but also to be mindful of how you govern it. There are ethical and confidentiality implications of using various AI tools, and its important to make sure your data and your business is protected. Many businesses are considering the potential pushback they might get from their workforce at the possibility of integrating AI. In some contexts, AI might be replacing jobs—particularly more junior roles—but generally it will be more a case of changing the job description. Biggest barriers to AI is when a board doesn't have a clear strategy. The first element should always be having a strong understanding of the goals, strengths, and risks of the organisation—if this is robust, then the AI part follows more easily.   If you enjoyed this conversation, don't miss our sister podcast, Future of the Firm. In a recent episode, we talked to Lesley Uren, Global CEO of Consulting at Korn Ferry about the future of human capital consulting