This week I had the pleasure of joining my Finance Transformation Consulting colleagues Mark Saywell and Colin Kelly on stage in Manchester. Hosted by our Partners Hays we held the second in our AI: Anarchy to Order series. Another bumper crowd made it an engaging session with experiences shared and our own approach to AI laid out on the table.
Since Tuesday requests to conduct our AI Readiness Assessment has started to flow in and we will be stretching our legs further afield over the coming weeks as Businesses across Ireland and the UK ask the burning question 'are we ready?'
There was many interesting insights which will form the basis of some opinion pieces over the coming weeks, always interested in hearing from Media contacts as the main opinions deserve a wider audience.
I will however share one telling insight from an attending Finance Director together with whom I chatted during the breakouts. The problem posed and a potential solution were discussed over coffee.
As he pointed out the ready answer from his teams to questions he poses now tend come with the 'polished air' of the chatbots. I ask a question and pretty soon I get a lengthy, nicely structured and referenced response. The result of this in many instances may very well be the 'right answer' but that is not his immediate concern.
His concern is that his teams are losing their critical faculties as they are not taking a question, thinking it through and devising options, with a recommended option they can stand over. Instead that critical human process is sidestepped as they 'rush' to give the Boss 'their' answer.
Now in all workplace instances you have to consider motivation at each level of the organisation from new starter to CFO. The lower rungs of the organisational ladder are, as the Media report everyday, under threat of existence from AI. Naturally, they therefore exhibit a 'human' motivation in their behaviour patterns.
They want a job, they want to excel, they want to impress the Boss and to get ahead. They are competitive so they will use any tool at their disposal. The problem is that 'tool' is now so powerful that their 'abilities' are supercharged. Try assessing their performance at Year End Review time now!!!
We kicked this about for a bit and I suggested the 'Education Session' once every two weeks. Bring the team together and don't ask then what they did, instead ask them what they learned in the previous 2 weeks.
It might well be the most instructive Management session you hold all year, so hold it regularly.
Much more to come at Finance Transformation Consulting
Best Regards,
Michael Ryan.
