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Stephen Rose (left), head of global communication services at Siemens AG, and Albert Cerezales Garcia, strategic consultant at MCI Group, during the recording of a Convene podcast episode a Convening EMEA 2023.
A recent McKinsey study corroborates what we all know: There has been a massive adoption of AI in the workplace. Cited in a recent Forbes article, the study found that 72 percent of organizations are using AI in at least one business function, with three-quarters of respondents predicting that generative AI would lead to significant change within their businesses in the coming years.
But despite AI’s major integration in the workplace, questions remain about how to use the tool to drive positive change, rather than just jumping on the AI bandwagon for fear of being left behind.
“These emerging digital technologies all come with complex trade-offs around ethics, sustainability, and ‘tech for good,’” said Richard Markoff, supply chain management professor at ESCP Business School in Paris in the Forbes story. He noted that AI should only be used when there is “a robust business case” and when AI is subject to “a careful implementation with deep engagement and commitment from company leadership.”
Using AI tools in a meaningful and effective way is something Albert Cerezales Garcia, strategic consultant at MCI Group, and Stephen Rose, head of global communication services at Siemens AG, have been seriously considering in their daily work, they both told Convene podcast host and Digital Media Editor Magdalina Atanassova at Convening EMEA 2023 in Copenhagen.
Cerezales Garcia noted that AI has “grown exponentially” — a year ago, he said, “maybe I used half the AI tools, or even less than half, than I use now.”
Cerezales Garcia thinks most workers are still in the experimentation phase of using AI tools — himself included. “I think we’ve got maybe 20–30 tools, and I maybe know how to use two or three properly, because it’s such a new field and it’s so broad that you never get into the specifics of it,” he said. New tools come out every day that may be more appropriate for his work needs, he added. In his role, he uses AI tools for market research tasks such as social listening, segmentation of data, and persona analysis. “I don’t think what the tool is matters, I think it is what the purpose of it is that matters.”
Rose noted that there are a “multifold of challenges” when it comes to widely adopting AI tools in the workplace — particularly when it comes to getting employees to understand its best-use cases. “I think technology with purpose is the key word here,” Rose said. “Only if you understand how you can use it and what the purpose is, it’ll actually be taken and applied,” he added, which is why he feels employees should be trained to learn exactly how AI works — or doesn’t work — in the context of their roles.
Learning to use a knife makes a good metaphor, according to Rose — if you know how to use a knife, “you can cut bread, but you can also kill people,” he pointed out. “So, it’s really important to understand how to apply this technology in the process so that it actually is for a better and greater purpose … I think we really have to think about where it adds value.”
In the events industry, Rose would like to see how AI can help integrate various touchpoints, from marketing to sales to communication processes. “I think that’s where we need to see where the interfaces are, to other tools from marketing automation and others,” he said. “It’ll definitely become part of our job, but we really have to understand how it fits into the overall value chain.”
Listen to the full episode below or visit the Convene Podcast page, where you will find all our episodes.
Casey Gale is managing editor of Convene.