Partner content
The adoption of AI agents into working practices could require wholesale business transformations in the near future, with companies needing to “redesign their workflows end to end” and “redefine their business model”.
That was one takeaway from a webinar held on Thursday and hosted by senior reporter Jack Benjamin, who was joined by a panel of AI experts to unpack the challenges workplaces faced in implementing generative AI into current workflows.
The panel comprised Salesforce senior vice-president, market strategy, Ed Thompson; Salesforce regional vice-president, communications, media, entertainment and sport, Lauren McGuire; Havas chief data and product officer Laura Kell; Amplifi & Impact founder Mark Breslin; and Jason Spencer, ITV business development director.
The full webinar is now available on demand. You can register here to watch.
Addressing skill gaps, use cases and risks
The group discussed best practices for upskilling team members in how to make use of generative AI and, increasingly, proactive AI agents that can be assigned specific duties.
They also debated the degree to which business leaders and their employees should be concerned about the risks AI poses to jobs, the environment and the creative industries.
Thompson suggested that clear roadblocks still exist for most businesses in making the most of AI, including skill gaps, unclear use cases, lack of access to high-quality data, weak adoption among the workforce and uncertainty around measuring efficiency gains made through AI integrations.
That said, after years of experimentation, he noted, business leaders are increasingly pushing for tangible business results, taking a “show me the money” approach.
The panellists shared advice and best practices on leading AI innovation groups and proving positive outcomes. Breslin, for example, suggested nominating an accountable leader to lead AI integration efforts, developing a business strategy and setting up a responsible AI framework.
For Thompson, it was key to ask business leaders “what would you do if you could hire an extra 100 employees for free?”, then treating AI agents in that capacity.
Acknowledging the risks AI poses to the environment and the labour market, Kell added: “The real scaremonger thing is: ‘What are we going to do, take everyone’s jobs away from them and then destroy the environment?'” She warned that the computational power needed to use generative AI and AI agents is “huge”.
Kell said: “I do wonder whether it’s properly being accounted for.”
