Generative AI will supercharge productivity and enable new ways of working
Brian Solis, Workflow contributor
I think generative AI is like that bicycle—only exponentially more promising. Generative AI (GenAI) will power a major surge of business innovation in the coming years. While artificial intelligence (AI) is not new, GenAI tools such as ChatGPT and DALL-E have made AI far more approachable and human, while introducing a new toolkit that empowers people to perform at potentially heroic levels. Today, GenAI engagement is powered by large language models (LLMs) that help users mine data, recognize patterns, derive insights, create incredible art, and even generate computer code. This technology can already augment human capacity—exponentially and in real time.
The business world is taking notice. Gartner analyst Peter Krensky estimates that about a quarter of Fortune 2000 companies already have dedicated AI leadership at the VP level or above. Krensky expects that figure to reach 80% a year from now. Meanwhile, a recent Vox article touted “head of AI” as the world’s hottest new job while noting that nobody is really sure what an AI head does.
Back to the bicycle, a tool that enabled humans to move from point A to point B more efficiently. This is where GenAI diverges. AI-powered digital transformation isn’t just about making work more efficient or simply automating processes and workflows. It’s about building enterprises that create dramatically more value by orchestrating human and machine intelligence. Because GenAI enables people to do things they have never done before, it will force organizations to reimagine the very nature of work.
This special report examines various GenAI use cases through the lenses of
business ROI, risk management, and social impact. We feature contributions
from some of the world’s leading AI researchers and practitioners, including
Yoshua Bengio, the world’s most cited computer scientist and a senior
advisor to ServiceNow. Bengio won the 2018 Turing Award for his
groundbreaking research on neural networks, the core enabling technology
behind GenAI. In an exclusive interview, Bengio explains how companiescan implement GenAI in a way that is transparent, responsible, and
auditable.
Elsewhere in the report, we showcase smart, human-first applications of GenAI across industries and enterprise function. We also report on the European Union’s forthcoming Artificial Intelligence Act, the first AI governance law proposed by a major regulator. Through interviews with leading AI governance experts, we explain how the new law came to be, what it seeks to achieve, and whether it can truly mitigate the risks posed by irresponsible applications of GenAI.
Ultimately, when we discuss GenAI, we’re not just talking about technology. The AI-powered future of work is a balance of workflow automation and operational augmentation. It’s also a balance of iteration and innovation.
Jobs described the PC as “a 21st-century bicycle, which can amplify inherent intellectual ability that man has and take care of drudgery.” Similarly, when people partner with GenAI, they can do things they couldn’t do, or even dream of doing, before. And that takes the enterprise from linear to exponential evolution.
GenAI is more than a bicycle. It’s a rocket ship. I hope our report helps leaders seize this unique opportunity to automate and augment, to iterate and innovate, to do more with less while driving growth. Doing so will change the trajectory of your business. By looking at your organization from a higher level, taking this moment to look beyond automation, and dreaming bigger with AI, you can create a truly exponential enterprise.
