The future workplace

Work is evolving, but while businesses are investing in AI tools, they are not necessarily upskilling people to be the co-pilots of these tools.

"Business leaders need to prepare their teams for a shift from being executors to the innovators and problem solvers as we shift from routine tasks to roles requiring human input, empathy, and creativity," says Adriaans.

Business leaders vs tech enthusiasts

While there is optimism surrounding AI, Adriaans views this as largely driven by technology enthusiasts and business leaders.

“To some extent, business leaders are optimistic as they lead with shareholder value in mind, that is typically tied to specific use cases that would have financial outcomes, whereas tech enthusiasts lead through just sheer excitement and joy of being able to use shiny new tools available.”

But, she says, businesses overlook risks such as bias, regulation, and displacement.

For her, it is about finding the balance between the business context and the tech enthusiast narrative.

A culture embracing AI

From the beginning, BlueSky has embraced a culture of innovation.

“From a leadership and an HR perspective, we created a culture embracing AI that is embedded through the business from interns to senior principal consultants,” she explains.

This has allowed their developers to code without worry, leaving them to focus on design and creation. As a result, an employee value proposition has been unlocked, where employees are happy to come to work.

She adds, “What has emerged is creativity and leadership.”

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Our secret sauce

A question she is often asked is what the distinction is between work as we know it - old work - and new work that is emerging from technology.

“The main narrative is that AI doesn't replicate all of your job. It replicates tasks.

“Its role is a combination of repetitive routine tasks that also have some human qualities, like judgment and applying creativity or empathy.

“AI would chip away at those routine tasks, amplifying where a human is required to give input, so it's not just a plug-and-play solution.”

She adds that people think that AI will instantly know everything.

“In reality, AI needs context; it needs oversight and direction, so the human in the loop is essential.”

This, she believes, is the secret sauce.

“In a technology services business, it is not the technology that enables the process or allows for the outcome that is the product, but people."

“Our secret sauce is the human who has been hired through our recruitment process for a particular set of skills that adds value to the process.”

She believes that the value humans add is far more impactful.

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Co-pilots of AI tools

While businesses are investing in AI tools, the same investment is not necessarily going into upskilling people to be co-pilots of those tools.

“That investment may make the workforce look productive on paper, but it is actually running on autopilot with no one steering the ship.”

And that, she says, is the danger we face in the future workplace.

“We have been conditioned to work towards mastering a particular skill.

“I believe the future is not going to reward what you know, but how well you partner with AI and technology to turn that knowledge into value.”

Looking forward, the most valuable employees won't be the ones who know the most, she explains, but the ones who know how to ask AI the right questions and apply judgment.

“AI is good at repetitive tasks. AI will take over the mechanics of research and analysis, even creating the first draft of a script or a blog post or what you're posting on LinkedIn.

“But what will set us apart is the ability to guide and critique that and refine the AI outputs as well as spotting the nuances, bias and ethical gaps.

“I believe going forward, the human role will shift from doing the task to being more of a sense maker and a decision guardrail for AI."

Sustainability and technology

She has an optimistic perspective on sustainability and technology, providing greener and sustainable futures.

“Just like with work, we need to move beyond the false binaries of that it's either technology or humanity, or technology versus the planet."

She believes AI and technology can be for sustainability, not against sustainability.

“It's all about how we approach the perspectives in front of us.”

She adds that it is about looking from a broader perspective rather than just looking at pieces of the system.

“When you start to look at the full system, you start to see the full range of possibilities, not just efficiencies, but also sustainabilities.”

Adriaans' article, Our Future is More Human than We Think inspired much of the discussion.

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