Corporate leaders are feeling immense pressure to integrate new technology like AI into their businesses, and to roll out strategies now that position their organizations for long-term success.
But they’re struggling to figure out how to pull that off with the employees they have, according to a new report. More than 70% of executives believe advancements in technology are happening faster than their workforce can incorporate them, according to a report from India-based technology consulting company Infosys.
“It can be very daunting,” Sunil Senan, Infosys global head of data, analytics, and AI, tells Fortune. “You have to manage the journey with the adoption of gen AI so that you don’t try to boil the ocean.”
Executives realize that AI is no passing fad. Roughly 83% of more than 1,000 senior executives surveyed by Infosys say they expect emerging technologies will have an impact on their organization’s long-term strategy, and 66% expect the impact to be significant. While AI has dominated most conversations around talent management, that wasn’t the only area in which executives say workers need training. They also highlighted advanced statistical analysis, cloud computing, and data visualization as the areas with the biggest discrepancies between current employee skill level and how important the skill is to their organization’s future.
But managers are up against a dearth of necessary skills among their current talent pools required to effectively use that technology. In order to shrink the gap, organizations are investing more in upskilling and training for employees. Roughly 66% of executives say they’re increasing their spending across needed skill areas, according to the report, and 75% say they recognize the importance and efficacy of boot camps and online certifications as alternatives to traditional academic degrees.
Workers, for their part, are desperate for the training and upskilling needed to keep them on the front foot in terms of technology advancements. But often feel that they’re not getting the guidance development they need from their employers.
Senan notes it’s not just about training employees in tech—they also need soft skills like ethics and judgment to ensure they’re using new tech in a way that’s in line with the organization’s values and brand.
“It’s important that we talk about how to pivot this in ways that can amplify productivity, creativity, and the empathy that humans bring to the work and their customers,” Senan says. “The day you set your vision as that, you will start to identify opportunities that help people amplify the impact they can make.”
Setting up an organization to navigate the current and future state of tech disruption is a challenge, Senan adds, and they have to create a culture where adoption of new technologies is ingrained in the business.
“We always recommend doing this purposefully, which means that you do this in small iterations,” he says. “And while you’re doing it, you’re continuously building your playbook.”
