The following article was produced by ChatGPT based on a transcript of a conversation between Jodie & Felicity about a recent conference in Helsinki exploring how AI is reshaping the future of work, leadership and consulting.
Felicity: The AI conference was truly inspiring. Connecting with our European SPACE partners and seeing how they’re using AI in their consulting businesses was eye-opening. (By the way, SPACE is looking for a Swedish partner if anyone is interested!). It was fascinating to see how AI can be used in so many different ways and to experiment first-hand with some of the tools in a really supportive, collaborative environment.
Jodie: The event spanned two-days and was jam-packed with activities. On the first day, we got hands-on with a number of AI tools. We converted text-to-image, which sometimes had unusual elements, like creating a biblical scene that included a car and a 5-legged horse! We also experimented with text-to-video, creating avatars to deliver presentations; music creation; and configuring custom chatbots that could provide more bespoke answers by incorporating specific tones and styles, such as writing LinkedIn posts in your own style rather than a generic version.
Prompt: “Create an image showing the story of the bible”
How to avoid ‘AI Overwhelm’
Jodie: Overall, I think many of us felt overwhelmed by the sheer quantity and capabilities of tools available. So my biggest takeaway was to pick one or two tools, practise with them, and integrate them into your habits rather than trying every single one and burning out.
Felicity: That makes sense. It’s better to start small and build up rather than trying to do everything at once.
Jodie: Exactly – it’s similar to how people set fitness goals but end up burning out if they overdo it. The same goes for adopting AI tools – gradual integration is key.
Felicity: One of my highlights of the first day was the Amazing Race game created by our Finnish partners – this game was designed to help us cement our learning and get to grips with AI. There were many key takeaways, but one of the most significant was the importance of having emotional and cognitive trust in the people implementing AI changes. It’s not just about having the technical skills and attention to detail to use AI effectively; leaders must also inspire trust and confidence in their teams. The leadership qualities that were important before, such as building trust and providing support, remain crucial in the context of AI.
Jodie: Another great part was the social aspect. We enjoyed a Finnish sauna and even took a dip in the Baltic Sea. The informal interactions added so much value to the whole experience, and created a perfect opportunity to bond and discuss our learnings in a relaxed setting. On the second day, we broke off into workshops to deep dive into specific topics – OE Cam’s workshop was on the topic of leadership in the age of AI. Felicity, do you want to share our thinking behind this and any insights you gleaned in the session?
What are the key leadership traits needed to harness AI?
Felicity: With our psychological background, we wanted to explore what leaders need in the face of AI.
We hypothesised that leaders don’t need entirely new competencies—viewing AI literacy more like computer literacy, a fundamental skill rather than a leadership competency. Instead leaders will need to enhance certain existing competencies in various situations. Through the workshop, we tested this hypothesis and found that the key leadership traits now and in the future weren’t significantly different. They mapped well to the competencies used in the Saville Wave profile (a psychometric OE Cam regularly uses to assess leadership qualities), such as being imaginative, impactful, flexible, resilient, supportive and striving. Therefore, our approach to recruiting leaders and thinking about the capabilities they need will remain largely consistent despite the influence of AI.
Jodie: That’s reassuring to know that the core qualities of effective leadership remain stable even as AI becomes more integrated into our work.
The popular view is that AI is a tool to enhance human capabilities but of course, there’s also debate around the extent to which AI could replace elements of human leadership. You highlighted the importance of leaders being supportive, which ties closely to emotional intelligence – a trait many consider a uniquely human. Could AI learn to mimic human behaviour in the same way a psychopath is able to fake emotions? Perhaps we are guilty of romanticising some of the human qualities and their irreplaceability?
Felicity: That’s an interesting question. Our workshop went beyond competencies to also explore the inherent human pitfalls that AI might help address. For example, human bias in decision-making; OE Cam has spent years training leaders on how to mitigate these. Or how making decisions based on emotions, like buying food when hungry, can lead to irrational choices. Now, AI has the potential to help us make more rational decisions by removing the emotional component. Another example is the ‘sunk cost fallacy’, where individuals continue to invest in an idea simply because they’ve already committed so much to it, making it difficult to abandon. Is it a bad thing if AI can remove bias and emotion from some leadership decisions?
Adaptability is key; change only gets faster from here!
Jodie: Your point about not being able to let go makes me think about adaptability. The ability to adjust to new circumstances is more important than ever; especially when change is happening so rapidly. People have been hoping for stability since COVID hit, but as AI continues to rapidly grow, change will happen even faster. Developing a change mindset and being adaptable is key to thriving in the modern world.
Felicity: For some, adapting to change is difficult because they prefer routine and structure, but that’s not the reality going forward. Leaders need to be more supportive of their teams as they navigate these changes, providing enough information to help everyone feel as secure as possible. We’ve been through massive changes before, like the industrial revolution and the introduction of electricity, which transformed the world of work. Like in Downton Abbey, where they were sceptical about why electricity would be needed in the kitchen…. now, it’s a fundamental part of almost everything we use in the kitchen. In the same way, AI is going to seep into everything we do.
Jodie: Exactly, AI has the potential to fundamentally alter the workplace by replacing certain tasks while augmenting others, requiring us to adapt once again to these advancements.
AI: The unintended consequences
Felicity: During the workshop, we examined a scenario where a client was considering the implementation of AI to manage basic legal tasks, potentially replacing entry-level law positions. However, they must also think about the long-term implications. Eliminating these roles would remove critical learning opportunities for junior staff, raising the question: how will they train people to progress to higher levels?
Jodie: That’s a crucial point. Succession planning and strategic organisational design must account for AI’s impact. Removing entry-level roles could disrupt the entire talent development pipeline. Every company will be impacted by AI, and every role will see some level of impact. Futureproofing the organisation by reviewing the impact of AI across the value chain is essential.
Felicity: Yes, and it’s not just about making rash decisions like removing a whole layer of staff because AI can do the job more efficiently. Organisations need to consider the knock-on effects. Many organisations have AI working groups, which is great, but it’s important to ensure these groups include representatives from various departments, not just IT.
Jodie: Absolutely. AI is a transformative change management project that requires a holistic approach. Unlike moving to cloud computing, which was primarily dealt with by the IT department, AI touches every part of an organisation, so it needs a comprehensive approach with input from a wider variety of stakeholders and careful planning and implementation.
In fact, the overriding conclusion from the SPACE partners was that leaders of organisations will often need an independent guide, supporter, challenger by their side to help them through this journey.
There are so many unknowns for everybody, even the AI technologists, as to what the full impact is going to be on businesses. Leaders will need to continually review where they are, where they’re going and engaging and creating a narrative for their organisation to keep them on the journey – and that’s the role of a consultancy like OE Cam. We’re not experts in the technology domain, but we are experts around people and the consequences of organisational change.
Felicity: Absolutely. This conference highlighted the importance of strategic thinking and collaborative learning. It was a fantastic experience, and we came back with so many insights, which I’m looking forward to applying with our clients.
Thank you everyone for tuning in to our discussion about the Helsinki AI conference!
The event was run by the SPACE Management Consulting Network, which is a strategic practice alliance of six management consultants across Europe (France, Spain, Germany, Italy, the UK, and Finland).
The overarching purpose of SPACE is to help organisations work more effectively to deliver their strategy by improving the behavioural, cultural, and structural dimensions. Each year, SPACE partners get together to really deep dive into a particular topic. In June 2024, the event was hosted by our Finnish partner, Muutostaito, in Helsinki on the topic of AI.