Implementing AI into a workforce is one of the most pressing business topics today. But one Cognizant executive says AI is changing its culture in unexpected, positive ways.
“Ultimately we are going to have a structure where it is not hierarchical, so that the culture also permeates faster in the organization,” Ganesh Ayyar, president of Cognizant’s intuitive operations and automation, said onstage at the Fortune COO Summit this Tuesday. “It’s a journey ahead. Are we there? No. But we intend to be there.”
The executive leading automation for Cognizant, which has around 360,000 total employees, says the business has shifted from “human-led and human-powered,” to “human-led and AI-powered.” Ayyar has seen the resistance, fear, and uncertainty around the tech—experiencing some of the worries himself. But in order for AI to come into the fold, everyone has to be trying their hand with the tools.
“We really need to build a culture of experimentation, and we need to have a tolerance for failure,” Ayyar continues. “Not failing our customers, but failing early internally, because we are going to try things, and there are things which will not work. We really need to celebrate responsible failures as well.”
Overcoming the fear of AI and encouraging exploration
Half the battle in implementing AI organization-wide is getting people on board, before the strategizing even fully takes shape. But persuading employees to see the upside of a majorly disruptive technology can be hard.
“Even I’m scared,” Ayyar said at the conference. “There is fear—fear of uncertainty, fear of [the] unknown, fear of ambiguity.”
The Cognizant leader went on to explain that being exposed to great perspectives has helped him overcome those anxieties. Executives are instrumental in drumming up AI strategies and rolling out the technology throughout their organizations, but Ayyar noted they shouldn’t be the only ones with a seat at the table.
“I believe senior leadership does not have a monopoly on good ideas,” he said, adding that employees and customers also need to put their two cents in. “The methodology which I adopt is co-opting them, rather than telling them what to do.”
