AI is the defining technology of our era. At one extreme, it fuels fears of job losses, robot wars and computers ruling over human beings. At the other, it holds out hope: curing diseases such as cancer, bolstering global food security and even freeing people from the need to work.
Old Mutual was the headline sponsor of this year’s Singularity Summit South Africa, held on 21-22 October at the Sandton Convention Centre, where these questions took centre stage.
In this episode of TCS+, Celiwe Ross, group chief human capital and corporate affairs officer at Old Mutual, looks back at the summit. She discusses how companies, their managers and employees should approach integrating the technology as AI becomes more deeply embedded in the workplace.
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In the interview, Ross discusses:
- Why a 181-year-old insurer sponsors a future-focused event like the Singularity Summit, and how Old Mutual’s founding story shapes its approach to disruption;
- How AI is changing the role of the chief human resources officer, from workforce planning to the design of work, reskilling and organisational change;
- Why leaders should look at AI through three lenses: the work, the worker and, only later, the workforce;
- How AI could eventually change a company’s operating model, and why that is still a distant reality, especially in South Africa;
- Why experimentation is essential to building an AI strategy;
- The usage trap: why some organisations have high adoption rates that do not translate into productivity gains or a return on investment;
- Emerging global trends in the use of AI agents, and what South Africa can learn from them;
- How Old Mutual is approaching AI training;
- Why judgment, empathy and vulnerability are becoming more important leadership skills, and how organisations can help people build them; and
- Where South Africa and Africa stand on AI adoption.
Ross also argues that, done properly, AI should create more opportunities and career paths, not fewer, and that leaders should approach the AI debate in terms of capacity rather than headcount.
Don’t miss the discussion.
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