Rise of AI: how to prepare your business for the future of work

Richard Cownley, Head of Future Tech and Digital at Yonder, discusses the role of AI in the future of work and its impact on communication, processes, productivity and performance.

AI has advanced rapidly in the last few years, and it’s only getting faster. Although it isn’t new to the world of work, AI has transformed business communication, processes, and performance in a few short years. Organisations hoping to take full advantage of the technology will need to embrace new leadership approaches, flexible role remits, and asynchronous ways of working. And this is just the beginning.

Here's how AI technology adoption is shaping the world of work, what changes we can expect to see in the future, and how you can prepare.

Improved security

AI has helped vastly improve security technology. For example, software like Box Shield can monitor individual staff behaviour to establish a pattern and will send an alert whenever it detects anything outside of what it considers a ‘normal’ habit. If somebody who usually signs in at half eight in the morning and finishes around half past five suddenly logs on at 10pm from a different location, the technology can automatically flag the activity or lock down the account without our involvement.

Cleaning up processes

Tech-savvy businesses are setting up bots in company-wide communication technology to ‘nudge’ workers towards adhering to best-practice processes. Slack is a great example of this; it can look out for certain strings of characters and trigger a workflow from it. For instance, if a worker shares a file using the wrong method, a Slack bot can jump in and prompt them to use the correct process and give guidance on how to do that.

Greater efficiency on an individual basis

AI-based meeting transcription software has revolutionised how effective we can be in meetings. For instance, CoLoop, Microsoft Copilot, Otter.ai, and Zoom AI Companion can help create meeting transcripts and action points and even answer questions regarding the content of the meeting without the user needing to watch/listen to the whole thing. Moreover, Slack AI can deliver a priority-ordered report for staff returning from annual leave, allowing them to catch up on project progress and relevant work updates without trawling through every channel.

Read more: Business transformation: how to successfully unlock the true value of your project

Culture audits

AI can maintain and enhance company culture, even in a hybrid work environment. Yonder has a tool called 'Culture Magnet', which allows business leaders to audit company culture and understand how people in the team feel about the business, and the potential impact of AI. The results show leadership how to nudge the culture to benefit the staff, business, and strategic direction.

Give tech a voice at the top business level

Tech talent needs representation at a higher level via a CIO or CTO, who are well positioned to advise the exec board on trends. Using things like social intelligence, we can predict where things might be heading and ensure we’re prepared. It’s vital to allow executive boards to adopt new technology quickly and strategically.

Read more: Why 'talent on demand' hiring models are the gateway to growth

Take part in internships and diversity schemes

There’s a huge and obvious need for better diversity in tech roles, not just from a business benefit perspective but also to help round out AI’s development. Currently, AI is being created using content that has been generated on the age of the internet, which is primarily coming from businesses based out of Silicon Valley.

A great way to bridge the diversity gap is to get involved with internships, groups, and schemes. Yonder currently takes part in the 10,000 Black Interns scheme, works with local schools and colleges, and groups like Women in Data to close the representation and skills gaps in tech.

Facilitate open learning

Businesses can use something as simple as group learning and sharing sessions to disperse knowledge into their ranks. ‘Lunch and Learn’ groups allow anyone in the team to present any project or work that has been making a change for clients. This can even be progressed into what we call ‘growth groups’ at Yonder, which bring people together around shared areas of interest to promote learning and development.

Empower workers to find their own way

The most effective way to assuage employee concerns is to take them on the journey with you. Listen to their concerns. Help them adapt if needed — learning and development is a dual responsibility between the employer and the individual. Some roles will inevitably have part of their responsibility taken away by AI, but the people who can adopt the tech to make themselves more productive will achieve more. It’s a mindset shift: allowing AI to optimise part of the role, freeing you to focus on more value-added work.

Empower workers to find their own way

It’s common to butt up against concerns around things like AI and big data — many people feel like it's too big for them or that they need more control. So, I’d recommend laying a foundation for consequence-free experimentation. Give workers a sandbox environment that allows them to safely try something without worrying about threatening the integrity of the business. Create company policies and a structure that fosters a safe environment, enabling people to experiment within those areas.

Read more: How to successfully navigate the benefits and challenges of a hybrid model

Discovering untapped insights

AI can be a fantastic tool for democratising and diffusing knowledge throughout the company. On average, 10% of business data is tagged and filed correctly leaving 90% ‘unstructured’ and only easily accessible to the individuals who created the files or know where to find them. AI’s ability to search and analyse this unstructured data quickly and in volume makes it an incredibly effective way to unlock that knowledge for better upskilling and business development.

Businesses can also use that unstructured data to uncover new insights and potential whitespace—areas they may not have been aware they could grow in to. This could also create innovation platforms to generate new products and services in this space.

The proliferation of new roles

As businesses use AI to expand into new areas, we can expect to see new, specialised tech roles dedicated to tapping into those new areas. For example, we might see people creating focused models to look at untapped data, how it’s interpreted, and how to act on it.

New AI-focused skill sets

There’s a good chance we’ll see a significant shift in skill sets towards writing prompts and nurturing AI to generate the things we need. For example, if you want to use AI to help a business do a specific set of tasks, you have to be able to identify the right unstructured datasets and create templates that enable the AI to play in that world.

AI regulations will shape business agendas

New UK and EU AI regulations will also change how we work. Whereas the EU has mandated a policy based on escalating levels of risk, the UK is taking a ‘pro-innovation’ approach to its framework. Business leaders and AI-future thinkers are coming together to work on policy as it progresses, using a more consultative approach. It’ll give a clear framework for how businesses work with AI to ensure we all collectively learn and reach a better outcome.

Visit the Robert Half blog for more insights on the future of work, or contact the team for future-ready staffing solutions. You can find Rich Cownley on LinkedIn or at Yonder.