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A Plan for Living and Leading with Artificial Intelligence and Increased Technology Innovation

ExecutiveDevelopment

18 October 2024

Leadership Development

The Executive Leadership Programme (ELP) 2024 continues with an AI and Increased Technology Innovation session. Jointly run by FWB and the University of Edinburgh Business School (UEBS), the programme is designed to enable the next generation of leaders across multiple ownership classes or organisations with a broad range of private, public, and non-profit sectors.

This session addressed ‘A Plan for Living and Leading with Artificial Intelligence and Increased Technology Innovation’. We were delighted to have two experienced speakers on this important topic: Catriona Campbell MBE, Chief Technology and Innovation Officer at EY UK & Ireland, and Prof. Michael Rovatsos from the School of Informatics at the University of Edinburgh.

Leadership is changing due to the ever-advancing use of data, technology, AI, and automation. With the increasing amount of data available, leaders must be skilled at using data to make informed decisions.

Michael started the session with an overview and history of AI, dating as far back as Aristotle, and assessed its capabilities and limitations and how they have evolved over the years to the current GenAI (or Generative artificial intelligence), capable of generating text, images, videos, or other data using generative models,[2] such as ChatGPT or Copilot.

Catriona commented that it is hard for businesses to ‘see through’ the hype and understand what AI can do for them, especially if they are not ‘tech-centric’. Many AI vendors are still unable to provide guarantees on solution quality or reassurances regarding risks.

She advised that the important questions to ask concerning AI Adoption included:

What is the purpose?
Technology – how was it developed?
Use – who will use the system?
Impact – who benefits from the system?
Governance – How can compliance with the laws and regulations be ensured?

Prof. Michael Rovatsos and Catriona Campbell MBE speaking at the Executive Leadership Programme session. — Left to right: Prof. Michael Rovatsos, Catriona Campbell MBE

Having assessed this, organisations looking to move forward and adopt AI will need to consider the following strategies:

Focus on understanding business value, feasibility, risk and cost – few businesses realised the value of their investment in AI by scaling it – and are stuck in POC’s.

The basics (data availability, business transformation, monetisation strategy) are essential considerations.

Adopting an innovation mindset where experimentation, agility, and incrementality are key – many businesses do not have an R&D culture.

Prioritising low-risk, high-impact use cases and working across parts of the organisation to co-design value propositions.

Building new tech is easy, but embedding it in core business is hard (often 80% of the effort or more).

For AI adoption to succeed, organisations must ensure that all stakeholders have the competence and confidence to make decisions about using AI. Challenges arise around the diversity of backgrounds, skills, and needs, together with the fast-moving technology landscape, so organisations should start by capturing training needs and developing materials as a foundation for future learning.

The session was, as usual, very interactive, and delegates were encouraged to consider challenges/opportunities within their own organisations that AI could address, either in relation to the functional cost of the issue or commercial growth.

The next session of ELP 2024 will cover ‘Driving Sustainability Effectively for Business and Environment Benefit‘ and be led by Dr Sarah Ivory, Senior Lecturer in Executive Education, Climate Change and Sustainability, and Dominic Fry, Chair, Zero Waste Scotland and Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.

For more information on ELP 2025, please contact Laura at elp@fwbltd.com.