Future Impact of AI on Culture By Jerome Parisse-Brassens, Executive Chair, Walking the Talk, a ZRG Company The purpose of AI is to analyze vast amounts of data to extract patterns. By analyzing behavioral data sets, organizations will develop a good picture of the current culture. We can picture a world where data is fed from many sources such as HR data, exit interviews, induction processes, performance management, business processes, leadership forums and discussion threads to extract real-time behavior patterns to build an almost daily picture of the culture. Unilever, is already doing this with what it calls “Cultural Listening,” a rough yet effective way of collecting information about how people feel. Unilever applies the marketing concept of consumer listening to obtain culture feedback from employees faster in order to discern better insight from their comments. This has more to do with engagement than with culture, but the transition may not take long to happen. Analysis of any behavioral data gives a good picture of what the culture is like, but there is nothing to suggest that when the intelligence of the machines increases, it will not be able to extract information about why people behave the way they do. AI may be able to predict the best target culture based on hundreds of thousands of external and internal information sources. To do this, it could simulate various scenarios of behavior change and measure the resulting business outcomes. Beyond behaviors, AI will be able to identify systemic issues and their consequences, avoiding many of the current risks and facilitating the development of a culture plan. It will help focus on the right culture change levers, better predict impact on culture and on the bottom line. AI will also help identify culture influencers in the business as well as those resisting new sets of behavioral and management standards. AI will facilitate culture audits of systems and processes in place in the organization. Regulators and boards who are currently putting pressure on executives to ensure that cultural risks are addressed will welcome the use of AI. Finally, developing the culture plan will also be made easier by the testing of initiatives, which could be modelled in the system to test their effectiveness. Whether it is to measure business outcomes or behavioral shifts, AI will play a significant role. AI’s power and intelligence comes from the data at its disposal to analyze patterns, so having tools to collect behavioral shifts will still be necessary. ZRG has identified six culture archetypes present in any organization and how they will be impacted by AI. Behind each archetype sit a hierarchy of values and behaviors. Innovation Innovation is the cultural archetype that will be the most impacted by AI. The mindset that sits behind innovation is curiosity. Asking questions, challenging, testing, trialing things and failing fast are all behaviors underpinning innovation, and they are the essence of AI and cognitive technologies. To make the most of AI, organizations will need to shift more towards a mindset of innovation, bringing a real sense of curiosity to look beyond what they are now able to see and interpret. They will need to ask the right questions of the machines; they will need to be ready to test the solutions provided and move quickly. AI will innovate, see patterns that the human brain can’t detect, and offer new ways forward. Consequently, the type of people organizations need to recruit will change, moving away from highly technical roles to jobs that place more importance on cultural fit and adaptability. People who are adaptable, responsive and agile will be favored. This will impact the culture of the organization towards one of innovation. One-Team The One-Team archetype, underpinned by collaboration, will become more important than ever. The integration of early AI tools is making organizations become more collaborative and multi-disciplinary as opposed to top-down and hierarchical. Internal technical expert teams implementing AI will need to work very closely with the frontline that is delivering the services, facilitating increased learning and setting the scene for further digital disruption. Beyond teamwork, employees will also need to learn to collaborate with the machines themselves, especially as those machines become more human-like, while retaining their reliability. Intelligent machines and systems will actually become part of the team, and people will need to learn how to make the best of this machine-human-machine complex interaction system. Customer-Centric One of the current goals of AI is to analyze large amounts of customer data. It provides input into decision making and customer handling processes focused on customer needs, desires and experiences. Organizations now have at their disposal the information they need to put the customer at the center of everything they do. AI is already helping to streamline customer experience, with chatbots that are improving relationships with customers. Chatbots are freeing time of employees who can focus on value-adding activities for customers. Machines are now extracting real-time data from customers, bringing suppliers and consumers to a completely new level of interaction, co-creation and high-speed, high-quality service provision. Achievement AI will be able to measure accountability as businesses were never able to before. It will keep humans on track when they are distracted or lose motivation. In fact, many currently see this as a real threat, the potential control of machines over their time, their results, and their productivity. The data will be at hand if leaders want to make use of it. People-First In order to build the next generation of technology and AI tools, we need as many diverse points of view in the room as possible. We need the ability to think differently about data, tools and uses of technology. We need people whose logic is different. We need different ways of thinking. This means that contrary to what many of us think, robotization and AI will not remove diversity but enhance it. Organizations will be able to target their communications to the individual, reinforcing meaning that employees are looking for. Whether communication is about customers, perks or business results, it will be on the money. This has positive implications for building the tipping point for change in a culture program, which is the point where it is more embarrassing to remain sitting than to join in. Bringing as many individuals as possible on board with the culture change will be made a lot easier when the machines can analyze what makes everyone tick. AI will provide the means to analyze whether people are role models of the target culture and whether they can be used in the change process. AI tools will also help to identify the organization’s key influencers, who can be used to bring about change. Other AI impacts will be on processes such as talent management, where it will help to maximize the value of the workforce, but also fully engage them, use their strengths and increase their commitment and engagement. Greater-Good One of the most heated debates on AI is whether machines have the potential to use their intelligence to make ethical decisions or not. And the majority of people tend to think that they can. Taking emotion out of the equation, AI could show a clear path and rational decision-making without the pressure that sometimes leads to the wrong actions. Having clear values and sticking to those values, even in times of crisis or uncertainty, is the difference between strong and weak cultures. AI therefore has the potential to help create principled leaders and cultures. There is still a long road in front of us to realize the full cultural impact of artificial intelligence. But the journey has started, and we predict that the changes will be significant. And as it is so often with culture, it becomes a leadership issue. Will leaders adapt to a new workforce, new ways of thinking and acting? Will leaders make the most of a new technology that will help them to empower the workforce? Will they use AI to create the culture they need to effectively implement their strategy, being able to manage their business's transition to an AI environment? This challenge requires major cross-functional attention, effort and collaboration. About ZRG We are a global talent partner who delivers personalized attention and solutions that empower organizational leaders to make confident, information-driven decisions. Together, we can move your organization forward. Visit www.zrgpartners.com. RELATED RESOURCES C2HR CON will feature a session on AI led by an expert from ZRG. To register, visit www.c2hrcon.org. The HR Knowledge Center has a curated collection of articles and resources on artificial intelligence.     SHARE THIS ARTICLE