Business leaders continue to panic around a perceived lack of AI skills.
According toSalesforce data, only one-in-10 global workers have so-called in-demand AI skills.
Instead, leaders should focus on how humans can manage and work alongside AI tools.
In practice, only a tiny proportion of employees will ever actually build AI and write code.
They will continue to need high levels of technical skills, for sure.
But what about the rest of us?
The AI skills gap is misunderstood.
Heres what business leaders should think about.
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Addressing the skills gap isnt about teaching your staff to build AI models en masse.
Instead, its about educating your business precisely about what problems AI is good at solving.
Take the implications of the industrial revolution.
Imagine youre a farmer using a horse-drawn plough.
Suddenly, along comes the combustion engine.
Ignoring this innovation would be ridiculous.
The productivity gains are huge, so the farmer needs to upskill.
However, they dont have to become a combustion engine designer or engineer overnight.
The same goes for AI.
But for most of us, its about understanding how to leverage AI effectively in our day-to-day tasks.
In other words, it has to be human-centric.
Third, businesses must reimagine the entire process by connecting AI solutions that are individually valuable and collectively transformational.
Prioritise transformational thinking
Anyone remember the classic simulation video gameSimCity?
Now, imagine having a SimCity equivalent for running your business.
Happily, leaders no longer need to imagine this, as AI can do this for you today.
In the near future, staff will need to upskill themselves in using these types of tools.
Leveraging AIs strengths while nurturing human capabilities
Picture the two ends of the AI spectrum.
On one end, you have things AI excels at.
At the other, things it struggles with.
For example, AI is fantastic at extracting insights from data.
But when it comes to making complex decisions, humans are still far superior.
AI is good at drafting messages, but it cant create human connections.
Ask yourself: Which farmer do you want to be?
In the age of AI, both individuals and organisations can thrive by embracing AI.
Going back to our story of the farmer.
The question for business leaders today is therefore simple: which farmer do you want to be?
Dr Angie Ma is theco-founder ofFaculty, a company that builds custom enterprise AI solutions.
Ma founded Faculty with Dr Marc Warner and Andy Brookes in 2014.
Ma founded Faculty with Dr Marc Warner and Andy Brookes in 2014.
