Leading teams come with a number of challenges, often shaped by a concoction of evolving workforce expectation, rapid technological advancements and meeting stakeholders' expectations whilst simultaneously generating turnover and a positive bottom line in favour of the company's shareholders. The use of AI in workplaces was one of the key themes explored during the London City Week conference held this week in Kensington, London, which was attended by PKF representatives. Amongst the various topics, the use of AI and digital innovation were discussed. One particular panel which raised interest in the room was the AI leaders' perspective and ways of realising the full potential of AI.

A number of key questions arise; what is the return on investment when adopting AI technologies? Will the workforce manage to change and shift its mindset, and still work effectively using innovative AI technologies? can leaders of today and tomorrow make use of AI to lead effectively? More importantly, the use of AI for the benefit of organisations is certainly not a trend that will fade away over time, but it is a rather essential shift that is reshaping the way organisations across the globe operate, especially in team settings, necessary for strategic decision-making. Leadership must consider the company's risk appetite for adopting new ways of streamlining workflows, assess the changes and impact on current and existing processes, and evaluate human capital needs.

Proactivity is key: leaders need to adequately understand the risks that AI brings about and seek avenues to mitigate (and accept) those risks through the deployment of innovative technologies. During the panel discussion involving a number of CEOs from reputable and distinguished software companies (including most notably; Microsoft UK and IBN), acknowledged that risks ahead of AI technologies would still persist. By means of example, risks concerning data privacy and GDPR would still prevail, and considerations must be factored in to mitigate those risks and ensure an ethical, legal and safe deployment of AI technologies. As AI systems may thrive on vast amounts of datasets including sensitive employee and customer information, there may be a critical risk of data leakages through unauthorised access leading to security breaches. The adoption of AI would also bring about an increasing need for regulation, surveillance of market conduct, and disclosure requirements.

That being said, using AI in the corporate world may become particularly useful for leadership positions for various goals and objectives. We all know that knowledge and information are sine qua none for decision-making. Using historical analyses and trends will allow for more accurate predictive data and analyses to be performed, which is key for effective decision-making. Having the right information at hand will allow decision makers to move beyond experiences, opinions and allows more rational, unbiased, accurate and lower-risk decisions. AI can assist in the process as specialised software can identify patterns, forecasting trends using the best models suited for the data at hand, and ultimately predict the likelihood of a number of potential outcomes. AI also has the power of gathering and processing competitor data, including industry reports and customer preferences that would allow companies to tailor their products and service offerings in line with the market needs. 

There are further uses of AI technologies by leaders; AI tools can allow managers to view real-time insights into their team's performance, making it possible to identify bottlenecks, improve areas and optimise workflows. This would bring in an element of added efficiency, eliminating process waste. In the meantime, streamlining processes also allows teams to eliminate repetitive tasks, as AI can also be configured to handle routine tasks such as administrative/logistical tasks, allow for more time by leaders to focus on matters that are essential to the business such as complex problem solving, strategic decisions, identifying new opportunities and other matters that are critical to thrive a business forward. However, whilst AI technologies may be instrumental for performance evaluations, such innovations may fail to provide a performance assessment of the human qualities and attributes such as emotional intelligence, leadership and delegation skills, teamwork, creating a high risk of undervaluing employees who excel in people-skills. This is a simple example showcasing how AI can never replace entirely human's added value.

AI and its role in the future should not be seen as a threat to our jobs, but rather leaders should embrace this profound transformation and augmentation of their leadership capabilities. Blindly trusting AI tools without an element of human monitoring and review can be perilous. A new era of using AI brings along a shift in demand for skills, and an increasing need for continuous learning, re-skilling and up scaling to allow employees to effectively work alongside AI tools, and more importantly use technology to the company's advantage.

Successful leaders may consider effectively integrating AI tools in their day-to-day management of the business; and view it as an indispensable partner to enhance the quantitative and analytical insights. From then onwards, leaders and managers may shift their time to enhance their teams, build connections and adopt a more human-centric approach to leading and motivating teams. It goes without saying that the use of AI requires technical literacy and resource investment and does not come cheap. It requires training and skills. Weighing the benefits against the costs is advisable  as time goes by, we learn to embrace change whilst reinforcing the irreplaceable value of human connections, team dynamics and wise judgement.