Before generative AI (GenAI) grabbed everyone’s attention, we had “digital natives.” These were people who grew up in the dawn of the internet age, or were early internet adopters, and were among the first to be comfortable using new tech in the workplace.
But digital natives are now the norm. The next generation of technology leaders in the workforce have to be “AI Enablers” — people who bring together actionable knowledge about AI’s possibilities as well as a deep understanding of their own business. AI Enablers think of ways to apply AI that benefit the business, solve challenges, and how to create environments that embrace change on an institutional scale.
Unicorns and rockstars aren’t enough to get AI off the ground
Many businesses seek to hire “unicorn” data scientists — experts who can develop fascinating models and are masters at harnessing information in the process. Or they seek out a “rockstar” engineer with expertise in deep learning and neural networks that can improve AI-generated results.
Instead, what they need is a class of AI Enablers.
With a wholly new set of skills, AI Enablers take novel approaches to organizational challenges. People within the organization who understand how artificial intelligence functions and where it can improve business functions possess knowledge that rockstars and unicorns do not.
For instance, although unicorns and rockstars may be important hires for other business functions, they don’t necessarily possess the practical knowledge needed to generate practical applications of AI in a company.
“Companies that focus too heavily on hiring data science unicorns end up with statistically interesting models that are of little to no business value,” says Roger Burkhardt, Chief Technology Officer, Capital Markets and AI at Broadridge.
Changing your business from within
Instead of hiring AI experts from the outside, Burkhardt recommends executives build a generation of AI leaders from within. Employees inside an organization with proven management potential should go through training programs that help them understand AI thoroughly. Executive leadership development programs in AI can help your business accelerate its digital transformation faster than any one solution or project.
“We’re running a program for a group of higher-potential executives across Broadridge to help turn them into AI Enablers,” Burkhardt says. “We’re building out use cases so we can create a pipeline for AI, rather than piecemeal innovation. That is how you build the human capital to make AI effective.”
After the program, these AI Enablers can take what they’ve learned back to their current role and consider new uses for AI tools. They’ll have an education in how to apply these emerging tools to solve strategic challenges across the organization, leading to change that lasts.
AI Enablers forge a fast lane to the future
Training up-and-coming leaders to be AI Enablers has a multiplier effect across your company that can take years off your digital transformation. As these employees rise the ranks, they bring with them new attitudes and approaches to business problems — many of which including AI and next-gen tech.
“The people who will be leading business units in three or five years, I'd like them all to be AI Enablers,” says Burkhardt.
When the next generation of business leaders are also AI Enablers, they take with them a problem-first approach to challenges, rather than relying on entrenched beliefs and company culture. They’re more likely to think about how technology can solve problems and dissolve barriers, rather than thinking about standard operating procedure as a starting point.
Raising a generation of AI Enablers also helps fight fragmentation. Business needs become more holistic, and so do the systems they operate. AI makes it easier to break down walls between programs, data, and people.
The management multiplier
GenAI provides businesses with an array of use cases: in some instances, training a chatbot to pull information requested by a user can speed up the information-gathering process. In others, GenAI can improve statistical modeling beyond what any individual — or even an entire team — could do on their own. These are just two of the innumerable applications of AI tools.
AI Enablers can help determine where and how to use this technology. They understand how the business functions in the present as well as what it should look like in the future. They can identify opportunities for AI to make a difference naturally, instead of forcing it into a place where it offers less tangible benefit or implementing it in a way that doesn’t unlock its true value.
“I was on a panel with a person who came up the technical track through her career,” says Burkhardt. “She ran the AI Center of Excellence within an investment bank, and then they asked her to run a business unit. She knew AI first and learned the business second. That’s how you create AI Enablers in your organization.”
AI Enablers can change your culture from within
Companies that are already struggling to implement digital transformation may be overwhelmed by the exponential rise of GenAI’s capabilities.
Burkhardt recommends executives build a generation of leaders that are AI Enablers. Employees from throughout the organization with proven management potential should go through training programs that help them understand AI thoroughly.
“You need to build a set of business leaders who understand how to drive outsized value from AI,” Burkhardt says. “It’s not necessarily about hiring a unicorn data scientist — or even 50 of them.”
Executive leadership development programs in AI can help your business accelerate its digital transformation faster than any one solution or project.
CEOs and the C-suite should prioritize the development of AI Enablers to help drive AI adoption within their firms. These individuals should possess a unique combination of deep AI knowledge and business acumen that is critical for driving successful digital transformation across the firm, cultivating an environment conducive to innovation and success.
The disconnect between digitalization’s success and failure may not come down to the tools you bring into your stack. Rather, it might be that your company culture needs an upgrade. AI natives aren’t held back by company culture in their thinking — they either come up through the technology ranks and also gain a deep understanding of the business, or they have significant business knowledge and are trained to become AI masters.
A third path
AI natives offer your business a third path. They understand how the business functions in the present as well as what it should look like in the future. They can identify opportunities for AI to make a difference naturally, instead of tacking it on to an existing tool or by dismantling an entire platform in the process.
Companies that struggle to implement transformation may be taking the wrong approach. AI is far from plug-and-play: building the right tools to solve the right challenges is vital.
Executive leadership development programs in AI can help your business accelerate its digital transformation faster than any one solution or project. That's why Burkhardt recommends executives build a generation of leaders that are AI natives. Employees from throughout the organization with proven management potential should go through training programs that help them understand AI thoroughly.
After the program, these AI natives can take what they’ve learned back to their current role and consider new uses for AI tools. They’ll have an education in how to apply these emerging tools to solve strategic challenges across the organization, leading to change that lasts.
How AI natives can change your business’ future
AI natives throughout your business can take novel approaches to problems; when they ascend the management ranks, they’ll take these ideas with them. That can create exponential change — and quickly.
A fast lane to the future
Training up-and-coming leaders to be AI natives has a multiplier effect across your company that can take years off your digital transformation. As these employees rise the ranks, they bring with them new attitudes and approaches to business problems — many of which including AI and next-gen tech.
“The people who will be leading business units in three or five years, I'd like them all to be AI natives,” says Burkhardt.
When the next generation of business leaders are also AI natives, they take with them a problem-first approach to challenges, rather than relying on entrenched beliefs and company culture. They’re more likely to think about how technology can solve problems and dissolve barriers, rather than thinking about standard operating procedure as a starting point.
Raising a generation of AI natives also helps fight fragmentation. Business needs become more holistic, and so do the systems they operate. AI makes it easier to break down walls between programs, data, and people.
– Roger Burkhardt
What you need to do next
Building your company’s roster of AI natives takes time. The sooner you begin, the faster your first class of AI experts can apply what they’ve learned — and teach others how to think like AI natives too. Here’s how to start.
There are two ways to get AI-savvy people within your organization: hiring them from the outside or growing them from within. Most businesses do the former, not the latter.
“You could hire people who have AI knowledge from tech firms and teach them your business. Or you can take your existing business leaders, who already know the company and the market, and train them to become your future generation of AI savvy leadership,” Burkhardt says.
When you build AI programs in your business, you’re not just training leadership. You’re setting the foundation for institutional knowledge, too.
Leaders who graduate from an in-house AI academy take what they’ve learned and share it with their teams. The way they approach problems, tackle projects, and collaborate across functions serves as a model for others to replicate. Thinking changes, cultures adapt, and businesses shave years off their transformation process — all because you’ve taken the time and resources to make AI a priority among your leadership ranks.
AI is not a cure-all. Eight out of ten executives think artificial intelligence can help them solve almost every business problem, yet a little less than 55% of pilot projects ever make it to the next stage. There is a disconnect between what leaders think AI can do and the art of what’s possible.
“Leadership has to know when and where to embed AI into their projects,” Burkhardt says. “Otherwise the business is likely to have more pilots than an airline.”
AI natives can help you pick the right use cases for your business. Some projects may yield more success than others; others may be more capital intensive with less return on investment. Without AI leaders throughout your company, you may not know when and where to deploy the right projects. Lean on your experts to help you make these choices.
1 Watt, M. (2020, July 22). How digital natives are influencing traditional organizational design. EY. Retrieved February 7, 2023, from https://www.ey.com/en_us/workforce/how-digital-natives-are-influencing-traditional-organizational-design
2 Rogers, B. (2016, January 7). Why 84% of Companies Fail at digital transformation. Forbes.com. Retrieved February 7, 2023, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucerogers/2016/01/07/why-84-of-companies-fail-at-digital-transformation/
3 American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Change at work linked to employee stress, distrust and intent to quit, New Survey finds. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2017/05/employee-stress