The world is going through the 4th Industrial Revolution, a technological evolution that is transforming how people live, work, communicate and interact with each other. This fourth wave points towards total automation of factories, the adoption machines capable of making decisions, cooperating and indicating paths to more assertive results.
One of the assets we currently have to support and drive these changes is Artificial Intelligence, which could lead companies to reimagine their initiatives and processes, always with productivity in mind.
Are companies prepared to stay ahead of the competition and measure the real impact of innovation?
Companies face more pressure to adapt and deliver results fast than ever before. However, not all organizations are agile enough to bring forth the needed transformations in a timely manner, and many human resources departments are still focused on bureaucratic tasks. This leads to a more reactive and less strategic stance.
However, this could change with the adoption of new technologies. While Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been around for decades, it’s only in the last few years that it has brought deep changes to business and management practices. The resources AI provides allow companies to process large volumes of data in order to make faster and more assertive decisions, optimizing results and reducing operational costs.
According to the IDC(International Data Corporation), AI is one of the top technologies in 2021, with worldwide revenues for the artificial intelligence market, including software, hardware, and services, forecast to grow 16.4% year over year in 2021 to $327.5 billion. Meanwhile, Mckinsey Global Institute estimates that by 2030, companies that implement AI in their operations will double their cash flow, while those who fail to adopt this technology will see a reduction of around 20% in the same metric.
How can Human Resources prepare to bring significant changes and gains to the company?
The Covid-19 crisis has deeply impacted the job market, changing priorities, challenges and lifestyles of workers worldwide. Given this scenario, Human Resources should take a proactive stance and actively contribute to company strategies. In order to do this, companies must use technology that optimize or automate repetitive tasks, freeing up employees’ time to work on more strategic issues.
It’s crucial to communicate these structural changes properly: any technology, including AI, is a tool to make work more efficient, and it does not automatically replace human labor. Rather, implementing these technologies is a way to ensure that employees can focus on more meaningful work, and leave menial tasks to the machines.
Furthermore, AI can help in a myriad of different HR processes, spanning the entire employee lifecycle, from ranking the best candidates for a role and mitigating discriminatory biases in management decisions to identifying turnover risks.
By creating specific algorithms based on company data, organizations can make better decisions, relying on accurate facts and numbers instead of subjective opinions or “feelings”. Machine Learning also ensures that AI is continuously improving with each iteration, which means the more you use it, the better it gets. This is why the time to invest in this technology is now, as those who wait are likely to be left behind.