In partnership with Dell Technologies, we explore the impact of digital transformation on businesses, particularly focusing on rapid innovation and the role of generative AI (gen AI). Generative AI is currently leading the tech race, and businesses are quickly adapting to this change, though there is still room for improvement. A recent Salesforce survey revealed that 28% of 14,000 workers are using gen AI at work, with another 32% expecting to use it soon.
As an IT leader, the speed at which your company adopts new solutions will vary. Despite the promise of gen AI, there still exists a significant gap between the available technology tools and employees’ ability to utilize them effectively. It’s crucial to bridge this gap to fully harness gen AI’s potential.
Experts anticipate that gen AI will transform how knowledge workers operate, creating highly skilled and well-paid roles. IT leaders have the opportunity to educate employees on using gen AI services effectively. Training staff to generate content and leverage it to enhance their work processes is essential.
Employees, on their part, must engage in training and apply what they learn to significantly enhance their roles. Specific companies are hiring gen AI prompt engineers, content curators, and storytellers to create content for marketing, sales, and other business lines. However, the expertise required to perform these roles full-time is rare, as it involves a deep understanding of both the domain content and the context in which the gen AI system is being used.
More likely, gen AI will augment existing roles rather than create entirely new ones. Prompt engineering will become a preferred or required skill that employees will need to develop. According to a Dell survey, 76% of IT decision-makers believe that gen AI will significantly transform their organizations, leading to productivity gains, streamlined processes, and cost savings.
Currently, employees are using gen AI for various tasks, including automating administrative work, generating marketing content, crafting job descriptions, organizing sales efforts, and developing product specifications. Researchers use it to sort and synthesize data, while teachers utilize it for grading and lesson planning. Lawyers spend less time on case research, and writers use it for creating content plans.
Despite these advancements, human workers are still essential for fact-checking, editing, revising, and performing critical thinking to ensure the quality of gen AI outputs. McKinsey estimates that by 2030, up to 30% of hours worked could be automated, necessitating significant occupational shifts and reskilling.
Training and reskilling are vital in integrating gen AI technologies into workflows. Positioning gen AI as a collaborative tool rather than a replacement is crucial. This requires understanding how gen AI can be integrated into employee workflows and establishing feedback loops to refine the process continuously.
Supporting and celebrating early adopters of gen AI can facilitate peer training and hands-on experimentation. These efforts, although potentially requiring role reconfiguration, will be worthwhile in the long run. They will enable business leaders and employees to boost productivity, optimize processes, reduce costs, drive innovation, and create new revenue streams.
However, challenges remain. Even with training, hiring enough technical talent to manage large language models (LLMs) can be difficult. Partnering with specialized organizations can provide access to the necessary LLMs, professional services, and hardware. These partners can also help design flexible architectures and provide validated reference designs and blueprints.
Ultimately, it’s crucial for companies to train their employees to use gen AI software and services. Delaying action could result in falling behind in the competitive landscape.