It's no secret that senior executives at Fortune 500 companies today are very focused on adapting their businesses to AI. Paul Daugherty, the CTO of consulting giant Accenture, has one important piece of advice: “Invest more in the people than in the technology."
Speaking at Fortune's Brainstorm AI conference in San Francisco on Tuesday, Daugherty explained why he believes it's critical for businesses to focus on helping their employees adapt to the changes that artificial intelligence will bring to the workplace.
“There is no AI-ready workforce you can hire a year from now, or two years from now, or three years from now,” Daugherty said in an onstage interview with Fortune CEO Alan Murray. “You need to bring your workforce with you and develop them.”
It's a theme that has come up repeatedly at the conference. In a panel on Monday, several speakers flagged critical thinking, reasoning, and problem-solving as key skills for workers in the AI age, as repetitive tasks are increasingly automated.
According to Daugherty, effective use of AI technology calls for smart prompts and keeping humans involved in the AI process. Prompt engineering, how people talk to the AI, and having humans in the loop, adds a bit of human wisdom to handle the technology.
But he said that that the adoption of AI by businesses will lead to some job "consolidation": The productivity gains of AI mean fewer people will be needed to perform the same tasks.
"The biggest worry is the jobs for the people who won’t be using generative AI," Daugherty said.
Read more from the Fortune Brainstorm AI conference:
Box CEO Aaron Levie’s top takeaway from OpenAI meltdown: ‘Don’t have weird corporate structures’
Most companies using AI are ‘lighting money on fire,’ says Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince
Khan Academy’s founder says AI ‘coaches’ will soon submit essays to teachers instead of students
