Telecom & Technology Consulting
As Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues to gain more traction, the technology is dramatically impacting the workforce. Like it or not, AI is replacing many job functions, especially among lower-level IT workers.
And we all know why: manual, respective tasks can be performed by AI quicker and cheaper. But we have to be aware that no role is immune to being made obsolete. Even CIOs.
This is not a scare tactic, or a fear-driven campaign created by AI companies. A report from the AI-Enabled ICT Workforce Consortium stated that over 90% of IT job functions will be modified by AI. That’s not surprising. What is surprising, however, according to the report, is that 100% of senior-level tech jobs will undergo at least moderate transformation due to AI. In another survey, over 50% of tech executives felt that leadership roles would be moderately or completely replaced by AI.
But CIOs aren’t powerless against the rising AI tide. AI will only replace the executives who won’t adapt to the latest innovations. When fully embraced, AI will actually instill more value into the CIO function and, in turn, create more job security.
For example, AI can foster more efficient decision-making via the use of data analytics. AI can also be a powerful consultant for budgeting, sourcing, and crafting mission statements. Even more, AI can help CIOs identify areas of inefficiency and opportunities for growth.
As much as AI can improve CIO performance, the human responsibility won’t disappear. In fact, as AI boosts productivity, the CIO role has a good chance of actually evolving. Freed from certain tasks, leaders will be able to spend more time using their expertise on strategic decisions.
Many tech leaders spend the majority of their days on managing teams and operations. As such, they don’t have enough time to focus on transformation and planning new initiatives. Yet with the help of AI, they can wear their visionary hat more often and truly impact company growth. Indeed, CIOs have to shift their thinking from AI being a threat to their jobs to how it can help the business.
To that end, some are exploring how AI can act as their digital twin. Employees, partners, and other company executives can “meet” with the digital twin to discuss a topic before sitting down with the real-life CIO. As such, CIOs save time while still allowing for the fundamental (and strategic) conversations they need to have. This is just one of many examples of how AI can improve a tech leader’s value.
That’s the key idea: value. CEOs and boards don’t want commodity leaders – they want those who constantly bring something special to the table. So when they witness how the CIO is always adding value, AI could never eliminate their job.
Even more, AI can never be held “responsible” for a decision gone wrong. The technology can be used for specific choices, but humans will always be accountable for the decisions. This is because AI only advises based on training data, something which is often lacking for certain types of strategic decisions. Here, the people must be the thinkers and deciders.
Besides, connecting a decision into the appropriate plan of action is a human job. That’s because we have emotional intelligence, whereas AI only decides based on data. Emotional intelligence allows us to adapt and modify our choices based not only on information, but also based on the context of the situation and the personalities of those around us.
In practice, emotional intelligence provides the ability to comprehend not only the language our colleagues use, but also the nuances, inferences, and intentions that might not be literally on the surface of the words. Emotional intelligence means interpreting a problem and providing a solution that a team or individual wasn’t even aware of.
Connection is formed, trust is created, respect is earned, all which lead to measurable gains in both productivity and successful project outcomes. And that’s a formula that’s not possible with AI alone.
New technology will always be a helpful partner for the CIO. Don’t worry about being replaced by AI. Instead, adapt the technology in the right way and you won’t only maintain your role, your career will soar.
