Are Learning Leaders Ready for the AI Transformation?
By Stacey Young Rivers, PhD., Senior Director of People Growth & Enterprise Skills Strategy, Warner Bros. Discovery and C2HR CON Committee Member
Based on where you are now, the next 12 months could be critical to the future of your learning strategy, and here’s why. Since OpenAI released ChatGPT to the world in November 2022, it has forced a conversation companies were not ready for, especially learning leaders. While it has been known for some time the proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) would cause a shift in the workforce, how many were preparing for this change on the heels of a pandemic? Although articles disseminating ideas for how people will be impacted because of AI is not new information, it is also not fake news. The reality of how AI will change the way we work will be an ongoing experiment and something we all should prepare for. If your organization needs to take steps to plan for the looming changes brought on by AI, then this article is for you.
The Next Five Years
Why are the next five years important to a company’s learning strategy? Although five years is a lifetime in the technology sector, developing a plan now to adopt practices and policies to incorporate AI is imperative to your company’s future success. Preparing for what is already here will be like “flying the plane while building it,” just at a faster pace. A company with the right expertise and culture will still have much work to do to sustain the rapid changes induced by AI.
While the average company will have to attract and develop talent to lead in an AI-driven world, new talent strategies will require a concerted effort from leaders to implement a talent philosophy supporting business goals. Companies that need to embrace AI may lag behind competitors who leverage AI technologies to streamline operations, enhance customer experiences, and gain insights from data. This issue can lead to a competitive disadvantage and loss of market share. Further, companies must also invest in their infrastructure to support AI capabilities and embrace a forward-thinking approach to attract and retain the right talent. AI skills are in high demand. Companies not investing in AI may struggle to attract and retain top talent. The lack of AI capabilities may deter potential employees who seek opportunities to work with cutting-edge technologies.
The Next Twelve Months
As a learning leader, the next 12 months are vital to the future of your learning strategy. One major reason is because of the work involved with assessing your organization, which will help you understand your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT). Knowing this information will aid in determining where you need to pivot to remain relevant. Additionally, these questions should help gauge your readiness and seed you with ideas for enhancing your plans:
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Does your company have a strategy to incorporate AI-based tools in the organization?
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How does your learning strategy compare with companies leaning into the technologies and skills imperative to developing future-ready talent?
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Does your team leverage industry articles and discuss how your company can begin preparing for the AI transformation?
Talent leaders have a responsibility to understand the changing landscape of skills. The future of learning will depend on how well current leaders collaborate and co-create for the best results.
As a learning leader, you must stay abreast of industry trends, emerging technologies, and shifts in the business landscape. Also, it would be best if you were proactive in developing your knowledge and skills to understand the changing landscape for L&D.
If these topics interest you, join us on August 7 and 8 for C2HR Con 2023. Gain more insights from talent development leaders on the frontlines preparing their organizations for the AI transformation.
Stacey Young Rivers, Ph.D. is a talent development leader at Warner Bros. Discovery with expertise in developing strategies to close skills gaps, build talent pipelines, and create internal career mobility models. Dr. Rivers is also a mom, author, and researcher who loves sharing learning insights with 17K+ subscribers in her LinkedIn newsletter “Level Up on Learning”.
