Organisations encouraged to empower employees with AI fluency

While Artificial Intelligence (AI) is enveloping many industries, AI fluency is about understanding when, where and how to use AI tools safely and responsibly.

However, it may be a challenge for organisations to ensure employees grasp these concepts in their work.

As AI – including Generative AI (GenAI) – rapidly influences how organisations operate, it’s crucial that companies help their employee gain the skills needed in this fast-paced and increasingly digital world.

GenAI will radically transform how people work

McKinsey research shows that GenAI could enable automation of up to 70% of business activities across almost all occupations between now and 2030. And while GenAI may be in the nascent stages of development and usage, it will only get more intelligent and pervasive.

Doug Woolley, Vice President Sales Southern Africa and Director Dell Technologies South Africa emphasizes the importance of AI fluency, especially with the rise of Generative AI (GenAI), which is poised to transform how organisations operate.

Right now, GenAI is embedded in numerous everyday tools like email, word processing applications and meeting software. GenAI will continue to expand into additional tools and workflows, further transforming our work habits and supercharging productivity.

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Understanding AI

Woolley said  91% of South African respondents to the company’s recent Innovation Catalysts study agree that AI and GenAI will significantly transform their industry.

“We believe organisations that harness the ingenuity and creativity of their people – powered by the right AI and data – will be better positioned for success. While there may not be a single answer on how to successfully introduce GenAI in an organization.”

Woolley advises companies to understand and communicate how AI and GenAI are linked to their organisation’s strategic objectives.

“Encourage experimentation. The agility and desire to learn is one of the most important ways to drive innovation in the next five years. AI and GenAI can certainly provide some assistance here; however, a culture of experimentation is foundational to implementing these and other new technologies to their fullest potential.”

Skill employees on AI

Woolley also advised organization to empower their workforce with skills and guidelines.

“You need to not only educate your team on the technology itself, but also offer clear guidelines on how to use it responsibly. It’s imperative that you keep communication consistent and offer ongoing training as the tools and use cases for them evolve.

“If rolled out successfully, GenAI offers the potential to augment the employee work experience. And 78% of South African decision makers agreed in the Innovation Catalysts study that machines will augment our capabilities, taking human productivity to new heights,” Woolley said.

Woolley added that outsourcing the more mundane, repetitive tasks to AI, GenAI or other tools provides opportunities for employees to augment their capabilities and do more strategic work.

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