CHROs must lead the AI transformation, AI CEO says

With organisations failing to reap the benefits of their AI plan and losing money in the process, one expert has said HR leaders must recognise their responsibility in implementing AI training across the workforce.

The founder and chief executive of consulting firm ADAPTOVATE and founder of Enterprise AI Group, Paul McNamara (pictured), told HR Leader that chief human resources officers (CHROs) must be at the forefront of the AI transformation.

“There is no such thing as one AI,” McNamara said in an interview with the masthead. For the executive, AI exists in three “buckets” or stages: personal productivity, workflow automation, and “moonshots”.

These descriptions mirror the three-bucket framework described by LinkedIn chief economic opportunity officer Aneesh Raman, co-author of Open to Work, and the “three horizons of AI” as explained by Gartner director Jonathan Tabah on an HR Leader podcast episode.

“AI is not going to take jobs, but people [who] know AI will take people’s jobs, so if you’re not using it, you won’t be competitive in the market,” McNamara said.

However, he argued that some companies are not disciplined in their AI spend, and they throw money at AI without embedding a strategy to achieve business outcomes. McNamara emphasised that organisations need to ensure maintenance and governance are in place before large-scale AI implementation can occur.

As the leaders in the AI transformation, CHROs need to embed AI training that resembles social media, McNamara said.

“It needs to be YouTube-style learning ... I need to consume it like I do my social media right on the bus, as I listen to a podcast on the bus. I need my six-minute training, which gives me a quick update on what I need to know in AI,” he said.

McNamara noted that, compared to Australia, the US market has begun to expect organisations to make a return on investment from their AI spend, and the European market has legislated AI training across the workforce, enforced under the EU AI Act by 2 August.

Thus, he emphasised the need for Australian organisations to be disciplined in their approach to the AI-transformation. Instead of organisations emptying their coffers to simply “do AI”, McNamara stressed CHROs must control the rollout of the technology – tap into senior employees and upskill them in AI so they can retain their expertise, while facilitating the AI transformation.

“You’ve got some amazing experts ... that you’re going to need for the [AI rollout],” he said.

“You have to step up as an HR leader and say … ‘I’m going to lead this, and my people need to learn how to do it first’ [and] we’re going to help drive this across the organisation.“