Tom Sterling said something that is simple and deep at the same time.
I guess that makes it profound.
AI plus HI is the only equation that matters!
To my mind, this confirms the emergence of a more balanced perspective on AI, that has been a little absent these past 3-4 years at the “peak of inflated expectations” (thank you Gartner 😉).
AI is a capability, or more accurately a set of capabilities including Analytical AI and Generative AI.
Human Intelligence (HI) is what guides our priorities, our stakeholder engagement, what business problems we choose to solve, where we apply AI (and other technologies) and what makes it all mean something and deliver genuine business outcomes (as opposed to silo KPI theatre!).
Human Intelligence, of course, combines IQ and EQ, providing the ability to understand complex environments, form and understand relationships, to influence, to navigate ethics and ideology to make decisions, in addition to reasoning.
In GBS and Shared Services, where the work is high volume, process-intensive, serving cross functional stakeholders and deeply connected to the humans it serves, HI (IQ plus EQ) is the critical component.
This week saw nearly 1,000 GBS leaders and experts gather for the 26th European Shared Services & Outsourcing Week (SSOW) in Estoril, Portugal. An annual pilgrimage to share experiences, debate the thorny topics of the year and learn from the experiences of others.
It was a refreshing to return to earth 😉 as GBS leaders and practitioners discussed the realities of driving genuine business value, and how to accelerate delivery of P&L, Working Capital and Cash Flow benefits for the enterprise, rather than myopically focussing on the latest “how”.
I had the privilege and good fortune to chair an afternoon with leaders in the “Global Process Owner (GPO) Excellence Lab for Source to Pay and Procure to Pay”. Thank you Andreas Amrein, Sara Cattaneo, Adam Mroczkowski, Piotr Zych, Dana Frape, Vasco Monteiro, Gabriela Stanakova, Mike Asberg and Radu Bailau for some great insights, experiences, successes and challenges.
The focus was clearly on business outcomes, with a renewed confidence on the WHY, WHAT, WHO, WHERE and HOW, very much in that priority order.
We had another business focused discussion in the workshop that we led with Tom Bangemann, “Accelerating Digital and AI Enabled Transformation”. A healthy debate with 65 GBS leaders and experts with thought-provoking discussions including;
- What are the Transformation Demands of your business leaders?
- What are the Barriers to Transformation Success?
- What does “Business Value” actually mean?
- What does “End-to-End” mean in the context of transformation?
- How do we identify and engage “Stakeholders”?
In my view, it shows we are on a positive path when the focus is on the economic value we can deliver to our enterprises, rather than just the “silver bullets” that may help us on the way.
More revenue for less cost is what most business leaders are driving for.
HI (IQ & EQ) supported by probabilistic AI and deterministic automation, focussed on the right business problems and business cycles, with the hearts and minds of colleagues, customers, partners and suppliers is what will get us there.
You can read Tom Sterling’s article “AI + HI = The Only Equation That Matters” here . . .
AI plus HI
Thanks for reading . . . .