AI promises unprecedented business opportunities to connect human capability with machine intelligence. But its rapid adoption is raising legitimate concerns about workforce displacement.
While automation can reduce costs and increase efficiency - critical advantages in today’s uncertain economy - the true potential of AI lies in augmenting rather than replacing human workers.
Research from IDEO, a global design and innovation company, reveals that businesses using AI to fuel innovation saw 38% stronger growth compared with those focused solely on efficiency gains.
But how can organisations enjoy the benefits of automation while preserving the irreplaceable human elements that drive meaningful innovation?
Here, Sergio Fregoni, executive director at IDEO, shares his thoughts.
Q: What’s the biggest hurdle for businesses attempting to harness the power of AI?
A: Culture and mindset are the big hurdles that we’re observing with companies today. Most organisations embrace AI to automate tasks and create efficiencies, or they might just be jumping on the bandwagon and rebranding products they already have. But very often they’re just scratching the surface.
Sometimes that’s creating fears about job displacement. There can be an overtrust in AI capabilities – because they’re being marketed like that – and these fears are not being tackled in a more profound way.
We did some research with Generation Z which found that focusing on automation missed their real needs. Younger generations going through the struggles of learning, or through different phases of life, find that additional friction is part of the experience that they want. The idea of using AI as a way to simplify everything is not necessarily part of the values of the people being affected by this technology.
Seeing AI as an ally, and not necessarily as a replacement for human capabilities, is a cultural shift. You need to go from a mindset of optimisation to a mindset of collaboration and alliance so that you can rethink your processes with a strategic partnership in mind.
Q: What does a strategic partnership with AI look like in practice?
A: Strategy is a fairly simple act: you create choices and then you make choices. If you rely on past data, chances are you’re going to end up having the same set of choices available. But AI can augment your intelligence, expand your limited knowledge of markets and consumers, and embed and crunch more data.
AI can be an incredible strategic partner because it enables us to read the world in a better way – we can test better, test more quickly and test with more users — and ultimately make better choices.
Q: How can AI help businesses rethink their approach to innovation?
A: In modern digital transformation theory, the best companies are those that can experiment at pace. They’re ‘learning organisations’, which can keep testing, gain insights and evolve their products while they test.
Experimentation is a mode that could potentially never produce an outcome. But if you embrace it as a mindset, experimentation is how you deliver a product and gain confidence in your go-to-market strategy. Experimentation becomes the tool for going to market.
In that sense, there’s no way for you not to deliver something. If the outcome is that you learn your product is not right, then AI has helped you make the right choice of not releasing it.
Q: What role should human-centred design play in an organisation’s AI adoption strategy?
A: Deep human-centricity is the idea of designing with people, not against people. Design thinking is an incredible tool to humanise technology and understand what people really want. It’s rooted in learning with users and understanding the needs of a community, so you can start designing for those needs.
In a recent project, we used it to understand how education tools could be designed, using AI to augment the human experience and human connection. It led to the creation of a generative AI-based learning platform called Ethiqly, which helps both students and teachers.
On one end, students are encouraged to think more deeply about a topic, overcoming the problem of a blank page by being prompted with automated questions and guided through findings.
On the other end, we automated feedback to save teachers more time. When students submit an essay, teachers are automatically shown where the problems might be and can focus on those areas to give personalised feedback, making grading way more efficient and giving them better insight into how to support their students.
Q: What lesson do you think leaders need to learn about AI in their business?
A: Companies must treat AI adoption as a cultural transformation, not just a technological upgrade like a shiny, new website. Leaders should focus on upskilling their workforce, experimentation and strategic alignment.
While AI will inevitably impact operations and customer experience, leaders must embrace transformation where what can be augmented by machine capabilities is in sync with human judgment.
For more information please visit: ideo.com/
AI promises unprecedented business opportunities to connect human capability with machine intelligence. But its rapid adoption is raising legitimate concerns about workforce displacement.
While automation can reduce costs and increase efficiency - critical advantages in today's uncertain economy - the true potential of AI lies in augmenting rather than replacing human workers.
Research from IDEO, a global design and innovation company, reveals that businesses using AI to fuel innovation saw 38% stronger growth compared with those focused solely on efficiency gains.
