Experts from Accenture, BearingPoint and Workhuman discuss how AI and automation can positively impact working life.
For many professionals Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automation have the potential to transform daily work. David Burke, senior director of global talent acquisition and employer brand at An employee he explained that this change works well not because it is ‘for the future’ but because it meets the needs of a changing workforce.
“It’s more practical than that,” he told SiliconRepublic.com. “We use AI in all our internal systems to reduce manual work, improve decision-making and help teams move faster. The goal is not to replace roles, to remove conflict.
“In areas like recruiting, cross-functional enablement and collaboration, automation takes care of repetitive tasks and produces better data. That means our teams spend less time chasing information or managing processes and more time solving problems and focusing on the work that drives the business forward.”
This is a view shared by Wendy Walsh, head of talent and organization Accenturewho noted that AI and automation have not only changed the tools he uses at work, but have actually changed the way he “appears at work”.
He said, “On a practical level, I use AI every day to think better. I use it to test ideas, challenge my own thinking, adjust thinking early and arrive at a strong idea before anything becomes a document. For me, it’s less about productivity shortcuts and more about brain support.”
Walsh added, “It helps me to get to the point and the clarity, not just get it out of the way.
Because BearingPoint’s Barry Haycock, senior manager of data analytics and AI, when it comes to the topic of AI and automation, one topic that has dominated the conversation is agent AI. He explained, he has noticed in the last 12 months or so, more and more people are choosing to use AI as a tool for augmentation as opposed to automation.
He said, “In my personal day, I use AI to write code that I plan to write, or as a sounding board to discuss and tease out ideas before I start building a slide deck or document.
“In many places, people can use AI to do detailed searches, for example household documents, or to summarize their upcoming week and help them plan their goals. I also find it useful to flag upcoming days and prioritize them every Monday.”
For Walsh, Burke and Haycock, in the midst of the transformation brought about by the increase of advanced technologies and processes in the working ecosystem, comes the need for a modern skill development strategy.
New day, new challenges
For Walsh, soft skills have grown in importance, and AI serves as a key catalyst. He said, “As AI becomes part of everyday work, the qualities that really set people apart are people. Skills in AI and data are essential and learning and technology will be more expected of everyone.
“Looking ahead to 2030, many of the fastest-growing critical skills are deeply human. AI can analyze, generate and improve at incredible speeds. But it cannot build trust.
“It can’t decide what’s most important in a time of uncertainty. Technology is a powerful factor, but we still need people to shape it, question it and use it purposefully. Successful organizations will be those that invest as deeply in human power as they do in AI.”
Especially in software development, MLOps, and AIOps roles, business analysis becomes a very important skill, noted Haycock, who explained that, while the latest high-end AI models are very efficient at coding or creating a script that a developer may need, the developer really needs to define what is needed clearly.
He said, “This is often considered a soft skill and in the past a developer might write code to explain their thoughts.
“Technical skills will always be important”, says Burke, “but they are becoming increasingly learnable. AI can help people acquire knowledge and skills faster than ever before. What is difficult to automate is therefore very important, human skills.”
Skills such as judgment, communication, the ability to trust, contextualization, ethical decision-making and implicit leadership are among those that should be prioritized, especially as professionals are expected to embrace and understand technological advances.
Said Burke, “As technology accelerates, the differentiator won’t be who knows the most. It will be who can interpret, connect and lead. Ironically, the more advanced AI becomes, the deeper human power becomes around it. That’s ultimately what drives continued performance.”
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