People are central to organizations’ efforts to accelerate the adoption of new technology
The relentless march of AI and other exponential technologies is inevitable. For organizations grappling with the diverse needs of a multi-generational workforce, leveraging these technologies for sustained value creation presents various conundrums.
Generation X witnessed the shift from analog to digital, and have maintained a degree of caution in technology adoption. Generation Y, or Millennials, who today dominate the workforce, were the pioneers of the digital economy, using digital to create apps and market products globally. The youngest cohort in the workplace, Generation Z, has a far more creative and fluid approach, experimenting with how technology can connect their social and professional lives. They are at the forefront of the adoption of new technologies, such as AI and blockchain.
The instincts and capabilities of these groups form a critical part of the context in which organizations take decisions about AI and other new technologies. After all, decisions about which technologies to use, for what purpose, and when, are creative and contextual choices. Leaders – humans – have the power and responsibility to make those choices. As they do, they would be well advised to consider three imperatives.
Imperative 1: Help people see where technology can create the most value
Moving from deployment of technology in isolated pockets of innovation to an integrated enterprise effort is really about people, not technology. It requires understanding the pain points faced by a diverse set of users, and designing to solve for them.
For example, Philips holds co-creation sessions with patients and healthcare professionals to understand the practical and emotional context in which digital technology is used. This has led to solutions that help physicians manage ever-increasing workloads, and that empower patients and care providers to be more proactive about managing chronic diseases at home.
Harnessing the power of technology relies on accurate data and interoperability between different platforms and healthcare settings. The persistence of data barriers can hold back technology implementation – as has been the case in the UK’s National Health Service (NHS). One 2024 study found that almost all (94%) healthcare leaders across the NHS said that their organization experiences data integration challenges that impact their care provision. About three-quarters (76%) of leaders noted a particular lack of healthcare data for underserved communities in their areas. Yet only a quarter of leaders (27%) saw the benefit of data-driven insights in detecting medical conditions – one of the biggest ways that AI could benefit healthcare providers around the world.
Getting the most value from technology relies on helping people to see the potential for where technology can deliver the most value – and winning their engagement in, and commitment to, driving transformation.
Imperative 2: Upskill and empower employees to get the most from technology
The IMF recently estimated that almost 40% of jobs globally will be impacted by AI – although the effect varies by a country’s income level. In advanced economies, as many as 60% of jobs may be impacted by AI, while in emerging markets and low-income countries, it could be 40% and 26% respectively.
Almost everywhere, however, there is as yet a glaring lack of education and training options that are keeping up with the pace of technological innovation. Traditional technical training facilitates knowledge transfer, but the pace of technological innovation requires rapid acquisition of skills. We need a shift to applied technical training, which equips workers with the ability to understand and operate evolving technologies. This must be combined with continuous upskilling in human-centered design, engineering excellence, and technical innovation, which also offer opportunities for application in the flow of work.
For example, real-time video collaboration is helping experienced specialists to remotely guide their less experienced peers in satellite locations. In oil and gas drilling, the shift is creating a better way to search engineering, seismic and thermal data, to building intelligence based on that data. Organizations are reducing their reliance on a pool of specialist analysts and enabling more individuals across the business to interact with key data. As shifts such as these take place, organizations will need to both invest in employees’ skills and establish guardrails that ensure insights are interrogated in a responsible and timely manner.
Imperative 3: Sustain the environment to adapt
While training staff to utilize technology effectively is necessary, it will not be sufficient. The dual transformations of digital and sustainability are propelling us towards ecosystem-based business models. As a result, the future will be built on solutions from multiple vendors working in concert across the value chain, on open and interoperable platforms.
This means that organizations that cultivate the ability to adapt as technology changes will establish a clear role in their ecosystem, based on their unique strengths and underpinned by strong collaboration capabilities. They will also take seriously their role in responsible data stewardship across the entire data life cycle, in ensuring security in product design, and in development, through to testing and deployment. For example, Amazon Bedrock is a signal of Amazon’s intended role in the AI age. It offers companies various foundational models as a base for building their own native AI applications. This makes Generative AI applications cheaper, less time-consuming and more accessible. The choice about where a company will play in a broader ecosystem is a strategic – and fundamentally human – one.
Unlocking technology’s potential
The imperatives that should be driving leaders’ decisions around technology adoption have less to do with the technologies, and more to do with how humans use tech to become more productive, more innovative and, ultimately, more intelligent. The natural orientation of different generations in the workforce towards technology poses new challenges and opportunities for technology adoption. Inclusive approaches to design, which build trust in how data will be used for the greater good, will be key to unlocking the exponential value that rapid technology growth offers.
Camelia Ram is a partner at Korn Ferry. She is affiliated with executive education at Duke Corporate Education, Loughborough University and EDHEC Business School
