BRIEFINGS PODCAST: AI, WHERE ARE YOU?

AI, Where Are You?

NOTE: While this transcript has been reviewed, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript.

Jill Wiltfong:

Is artificial intelligence truly transforming the workplace as fast as we thought?

[Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark – ‘Iron Man’ movie]:

Little ostentatious, don't you think?

Bryan Ackermann:

We're just learning, we are to trust it, we are to use it.

Jill Wiltfong:

AI could soon take over a CEO role.

Bryan Ackermann:

Just because we can doesn't mean we should have. This is a really important leadership moment.

Jill Wiltfong:

It sounds like quite a pickle.

[Professor]:

Okay, let's begin class, everyone. Open your textbooks.

[Student]:

Uh, question professor who's AL?

[Professor]:

I think you mean AI, as in artificial intelligence.

[Student]:

Oh, so that's what that stands for!

[Professor]:

Yes, we'll begin this AI skills workshop by talking about why the prompt is so important.

[Student 2]:

"Prompt?" So, like AI only works if you're on time?

[Professor]:

No, prompt as in the command that you enter.

[Student 3]:

Professor, about this chapter on large language models, is that like the time I modeled for an art class in Italy to learn how to speak Italian?

[Professor]:

Clearly I need to come up with a new lesson plan.

Class dismissed! Humans...

Jill Wiltfong:

Hi, I am Jill Wiltfong, Chief Marketing Officer for Korn Ferry and this is, "Briefings," our deep dive into topics that corporate leaders need to care about.

AI, two letters that have rocked the business world over the last year and a half, but as we come out of the honeymoon phase, is artificial intelligence truly transforming the workplace as fast as we thought? One study found that just 10% of companies are implementing generative AI projects at scale and only 15% are seeing any positive impact on earnings. Listen, nobody denies the potential power of AI, but it seems humans may be the ones holding things up. In a Korn Ferry survey over 240 CEOs and senior executives, 40% of them cited a lack of AI-related knowledge and skills within their HR team as the biggest obstacle to AI integration.

So today, let's get to the bottom of why I don't yet have my very own R2D2 or C3PO to help me build a marketing strategy and manage my team. In other words, AI, where are you?

Of course, before we start, if you're watching us on YouTube, please be sure to like, subscribe, and leave a comment to let us know your thoughts on this topic. I'm joined today by Bryan Ackermann, Korn Ferry's Head of AI Strategy and Transformation. He is waist deep in all the latest AI developments and companies, so it's a treat to get his take on this topic. Bryan, thank you for being here today.

Bryan Ackermann:

Thanks Jill and I don't know if it's just my waist, I might be higher.

Jill Wiltfong:

I believe that.

It is really hard to separate AI fact from fiction these days. It seems that progress is slow on the one hand and then on the other hand, you have a major video software company recently proposing the idea of a "digital twin," that could sit in on video meetings, synthesize notes, send out emails, file expenses for you. So, help me out here, where are we currently in terms of actual capability with this technology?

Bryan Ackermann:

Look, Amara's Law says we always overestimate the impact in the short term and underestimate the impact in the long term, and that's certainly going to be true when it comes to generative AI. Companies are experimenting, the technology is new, and the green shoots of those savings that you talk about are all there. We're just learning where to trust it, we're learning where to use it, where not to use it, how much time does generative AI specifically really save and where does human intuition still need to come to the front? So, everybody is learning. So, I wouldn't lose faith, but we are, as Gartner would say, probably heading into a little bit of a trough of disillusionment and a reality check, but this is a long-term transformation.

Jill Wiltfong:

Are there any specific gadgets? Is there software coming down the pipeline, let's say by end of this year, that we can start or should be starting to get excited about?

Bryan Ackermann:

I think two come to mind. By the end of the fall, Apple and Google will have generative AI firmly entrenched in your phone. And so, whether we like it or not, generative AI is gonna be our companion at that point. The other thing that's really exciting to me is the emergence of devices that are self-contained, that have little generative AI chat bots built into them, because it takes it away from just using it on your computer or on your phone and really has the little assistant that you're carrying around with you, either in a pendant or attached to your clothing. That will open up use cases for AI in industrial settings and medical settings that probably don't exist today.

[Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark – ‘Iron Man’ movie]:

J.A.R.V.I.S. you up?

[Paul Bettany as J.A.R.V.I.S. – ‘Iron Man’ movie]:

For you, sir, always.

[Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark – ‘Iron Man’ movie]:

I'd like to open a new project file, indexed as marked two.

[Paul Bettany as J.A.R.V.I.S. – ‘Iron Man’ movie]:

The render is complete.

[Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark – ‘Iron Man’ movie]:

A little ostentatious, don't you think?

[Paul Bettany as J.A.R.V.I.S. – ‘Iron Man’ movie]:

What was I thinking? You are usually so discreet.

[Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark – ‘Iron Man’ movie]:

Tell you what, throw a little hot rod red in there.

[Paul Bettany as J.A.R.V.I.S. – ‘Iron Man’ movie]:

Yes, that should help you keep a low profile. The render is complete.

[Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark – ‘Iron Man’ movie]:

Yeah, I like it fabricate it, paint it.

Jill Wiltfong:

That's a clip from the movie, "Iron Man," in which Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark begins to build his famous Iron Man suit with the help of his AI companion J.A.R.V.I.S., which I'm sure would cost a pretty penny.

Bryan, even in the real world, you've estimated that integrating AI into business costs could cost an additional 50% or more per employee, which may be holding some firms back from committing at this time. What is the answer? Do we have an answer to the higher cost of AI?

Bryan Ackermann:

What it's forcing companies to do is treat the topic seriously and what I mean by that is not to take a productivity tool and just give it to the organization and hope something magical happens with it. So, we're seeing organizations that are forward-leaning here really get serious about what uses of generative AI will yield productivity saves and exactly how. We're seeing organizations really begin to redefine roles so that the savings of their productivity savings get baked into the role, not left to chance so to speak or somebody's individual wants and desires or proclivity with a tool.

Jill Wiltfong:

And certainly, there are challenges. I mentioned at the top, a lack of AI-related knowledge and skills seems to be another big hindrance for companies beyond just cost. But you've said that every single piece of formal training material in this space right now is out of date the moment it's produced. It sounds like quite a pickle! What then should firms do to combat the skills gap?

Bryan Ackermann:

What we're recommending, certainly what we're doing ourselves, is turning to our own communities. The most effective way to learn skills around the use of generative AI is from people using it every day in their jobs. So this is a wonderful opportunity for organizations to reassert the role of the community in their companies and put processes and tools in place that allow the contribution of best practice. We ourselves create short videos of us using generative AI in our daily work and then we share it with our communities. That's proving to be more timely, more relevant, more focused, frankly more engaging. It's beginning to create communities around practice and champions around AI that's serving far better than "here is your formal training." That will come I think more as the technology settles down a bit, but right now the answer is learning from each other in the moment.

Jill Wiltfong:

Nice, finding ways to demonstrate AI's value was the biggest barrier to its use within organizations according to one survey. But you've come up with a number of use cases to do just that, one being turning an assessment report into a coaching tool via AI, which is interesting. Can you walk me through how that would work? Just give us a really tangible example.

Bryan Ackermann:

Yeah, so people have been taking assessments for development for a new job for ever and ever and it's an isolated event that you stop what you're doing, you take an assessment, you learn about yourself and then hopefully something happens. And then you'd go back to your job and then you go back to your life. So what generative AI is giving us the ability to do is take that knowledge of what you are good at and what you should be aware of and what you may need to develop and instilling that in a bot and giving it to you on your phone so that you can use it as a tool in everyday situations. We have managers using it when they're about to walk into a difficult meeting.

[Geoffrey]:

I think we're moving into a period when for the first time ever we may have things more intelligent than us.

[Interviewer]:

You believe these systems have experiences of their own and can make decisions based on those experiences?

[Geoffrey]:

In the same sense as people do, yes.

[Interviewer]:

And so human beings will be the second most intelligent beings on the planet?

[Geoffrey]:

Yeah.

Jill Wiltfong:

That's the so-called godfather of AI, Geoffrey Hinton on, "60 Minutes," making some bold claims about what AI will soon be capable of, and some business leaders might agree.

In a recent survey of hundreds of US, UK and Dutch business leaders, 43%, almost half, believed AI could soon take over a CEO role. Bryan, what do you make of that? Is that just hyperbole or is there a kernel of truth in there somewhere?

Bryan Ackermann:

With respect to the gods of AI, I don't buy it. I think this is an opportunity for us as leaders to reassert what's important about being a leader and being human and bringing human agency and experience and emotion and talent to the decisions that we make and the businesses that we run. Since we're showing movie clips, Jeff Goldblum in "Jurassic Park," "Just because we can doesn't mean we should." I think this is a really important leadership moment to reassert how we use AI as a tool to allow us to bring our humanity to the fore in important points and decisions that matter.

Jill Wiltfong:

It is interesting that in one study, 1/3 of employees do say they've already received better career advice from AI than from their managers. So there is some guidance and learning out there happening and Bryan, is that a good thing? Should firms be training their managers better or is it acceptable to let AI kind of take over some things like mentorship?

Bryan Ackermann:

I think it is certainly appropriate for AI to help and take over certain tasks, and there are ways it will be a benefit, in situations like coaching and mentoring. Absolutely, no doubt about it. But there's a difference between helping and delegating. I absolutely do not think that coaching as a topic or being a great manager is all of a sudden going to be delegated to the assistant on your phone. Hopefully it will allow us to elevate our contribution to being a great manager as a person and let AI do what AI is good at: task tracking, development planning, research, summarizations, insight. That's all wonderful stuff but it doesn't mean that it's appropriate to delegate the rest of what it takes to be a great manager.

Jill Wiltfong:

Maybe we dig in a little bit deeper there, 'cause it is a little more people friendly note for us to end on. You've said, the transformation to an AI-integrated world isn't gonna take away the role of the creator and of the human. Paint the picture for us, what's an example of what that duality looks like?

Bryan Ackermann:

Creators have been using technology-driven tools for years and years from paintbrushes to special effects systems. So generative AI would be the next turn of the crank there. In each of those scenarios, the creator has found a way to assert what makes them unique in their art or in their prose or in their music. That will be the case here with generative AI. As managers, as coaches, as leaders, as colleagues, this is going to be the next great generation assistant to help us go faster, I completely agree, help us focus on the things that only we can contribute to the equation, if you like. It's gonna be a productivity tool and an accelerator and a way to learn new skills. I'm just really focused on, it is an important point to reassert that AI doesn't have agency, that it doesn't have emotion, it doesn't have experience, it is a simulation of all of that. And it is important for us to come back and reassert the importance of bringing that back into this discussion. Then it's gonna be great.

Jill Wiltfong:

Bryan, thank you so much for coming on, really appreciate your insight today.

Bryan Ackermann:

Thank you.

Jill Wiltfong:

Up next, don't miss the must know news in business from "This Week in Leadership."

Rupak Bhattacharya:

Hi, and welcome to "This Week in Leadership." I'm Rupak Bhattacharya and here's a quick look at what else is happening in business.

[Announcer]:

An innovative solution, flex retirement.

Rupak Bhattacharya:

Flex Retirement is the latest workplace euphemism to describe someone who works on a flexible schedule, whether it's a standard nine to five with extra vacation months or a shorter work week. It can create a headache for managers when coordinating schedules, but experts say accommodating this new trend can be helpful in cases where firms lack the skills brought by a seasoned professional.

[Announcer]:

It's important to reduce the stigma around mental health.

Rupak Bhattacharya:

Nearly half of HR professionals don't feel comfortable discussing their own mental health at work and 26% don't feel comfortable asking for mental health resources. It's an issue leaders need to stay on top of or they risk losing talent and slowing productivity.

[Announcer]:

We are gonna be makeup shopping very differently today.

Rupak Bhattacharya:

Online cosmetic sales are up 8.8% year over year for the first five months of 2024. That's impressive compared to an all-sector average of 3%, but experts say it's less impressive for the economy as a whole because it means that consumers are splurging only on lower priced items while they reduce overall spending.

For more insights on business and leadership head to kornferry.com/insights.

Jill Wiltfong:

The Executive Producer of "Briefings" is Jonathan Dahl. Today's episode was produced by Rupak Bhattacharya, Nadira Putri, and Teresa Allan, and it was edited by Jaron Henrie-McCrea. It contains reporting by Russell Pearlman, Arianne Cohen, and Peter Lauria.

Our video segment contains original artwork by Frazer Milton, Hayley Kennell, Jonathan Pink, and Sasha Kostyuk.

Don't forget to read our magazine, available at newsstands and at kornferry.com/briefings. That's it for Korn Ferry “Briefings”. I'm Jill Wiltfong. See you next time.

Jill Wiltfong:

I know you're the godfather of AI, Bryan, but this is the so-called godfather of...

Bryan Ackermann:

I'm that old, I'm just that old.