By Michael Gibbs, CEO — Go Cloud Careers
Artificial intelligence changes everything, especially for businesses in the tech space. Generative AI tools like ChatGPT have already proven they can do a lot of hands-on tech work better and faster than human workers, including generating code, scripts, and configuration files.
Essentially, AI brings into the tech space a new worker who never gets sick, never gets tired, doesn’t take coffee breaks, doesn’t ask for a raise, doesn’t ask for a vacation, and works 24/7. Obviously, that has a lot of human tech workers nervous.
According to recent media reports, AI has the potential to replace up to 5% of all technology jobs during the next four to five years. That’s a total of 250,000 workers in the US alone who could find themselves obsolete in the near future.
For leaders, AI brings the power to achieve new levels of organizational efficiency and productivity. However, it also introduces new challenges when it comes to managing workers in the tech space and beyond.
How can AI be deployed to maximize the impact of human workers? What guidance must be given to workers whose jobs could be replaced by AI? These are questions tech leaders must begin to grapple with. The following may help provide some answers.
Using AI to enhance human performance
In some cases, optimizing performance will mean replacing workers with AI-driven tools — but not in all cases. Using AI to enhance human performance and deliver the best possible business solutions is another option leaders must consider.
The possibilities AI brings to the world of customer service show how the technology can both replace and enhance human performance. AI-driven chatbots have already been deployed in place of human customer service workers, and a wide variety of e-commerce sites use chatbots to provide information to potential customers.
Still, partnering human representatives with AI-driven tools can help them provide next-level customer service and sales assistance. AI can search through a virtually endless amount of data to guide human representatives on a customer’s past activity and the activity of similar customers, empowering more informed and more helpful responses that can be delivered with a human touch.
In the tech space, as in other industries, AI has the potential to make a good employee into a great employee. One average tech worker equipped with AI-driven tools can do the volume of work that previously required 10 people. In the hands of an elite programmer, AI could result in output being 20 times higher than it was in the past.
Leaders will play a key role in identifying the positions that would be best replaced by AI tools and those that should leverage AI to increase efficiency and effectiveness.
Helping workers become future-proof
While AI is being applied in some very impressive ways in the business world, there are some things it cannot do. AI cannot fill leadership roles, nor can it build relationships with coworkers or clients. When a CEO or a client needs to be convinced that resources are needed to enhance technology platforms, a human — and not a chatbot — is needed to make a solid case.
Leaders who want to help workers thrive in the AI era will encourage them to focus on developing the types of human skills AI cannot master, and shifting into jobs where those skills are essential. In the tech space, this will involve guiding employees to become experts in the ways in which technology can be leveraged to improve business performance. AI can master technology tools, but it cannot discern the ways in which those tools can be most effectively deployed in individual business settings.
For workers who want to become future-proof, business acumen is a critical skill to develop, as developing business solutions requires understanding business finances and operations. It requires a thorough understanding of business strategy and the ways in which competition impacts business success.
Technology solutions, for example, require a lot of back-end engineering work before they can be deployed, and AI can do the bulk of that work. It can write code, configure, and even optimize the technology by doing the work of computer engineers and other hands-on tech workers.
However, AI cannot do architectural work. It can’t design the solutions that solve the business problems, lead the teams that build them, or negotiate with the clients who will pay for them. Those with business acumen are equipped to do the work of the architect, which means they will not need to worry about being replaced by AI.
Executive presence is another skill that will set tech workers apart from AI. As tech companies seek to develop and sell business solutions, they need employees who can navigate a meeting with C-suite-level leaders.
AI may be able to analyze network traffic patterns to minimize congestion, but it can’t sit down to dinner with a CEO or CIO and explore the frustrations they have with their business performance. Executive presence empowers an employee to speak the language of leadership, understand executive-level issues, and present solutions in a meaningful way.
Emotional intelligence will also boost the value of employees in the AI era. In fact, some experts see EQ as the key skill that will set human workers apart from AI. By empowering employees to understand and manage emotions, EQ allows them to build valuable relationships with clients and coworkers.
Examples of jobs AI won’t disrupt
Cloud architects and enterprise architects leverage all of the skills listed above, as well as a few others AI can’t replicate. Their positions are focused exclusively on designing tech solutions that improve business performance.
Interviewing clients to assess and understand their business goals is central to the work of the architect. Business acumen, executive presence, and EQ all must be leveraged to conduct those interviews effectively.
Architects also must lead the teams that translate the customer’s needs into viable technology designs, which requires leadership skills. Once designs are prepared, they must be effectively presented, which requires presentation and sales skills. From beginning to end, the architect’s job is one AI can enhance, but not replace.
AI is a game changer businesses will need to leverage if they want to stay competitive, but it isn’t without its limitations. To achieve the maximum impact, leaders will need to orchestrate environments in which AI can be combined with human skills to amplify the effectiveness of the workforce.
About the Author: Michael Gibbs is the CEO of Go Cloud Careers, a global organization that provides training for elite cloud computing careers. He leverages his 25 years of experience in technology to help Go Cloud Careers students achieve their dream technology careers.