For all the benefits expected to be unleashed by AI in business, there’s a lot standing in the way of widespread adoption and acceptance: a lack of understanding, a lack of excitement, fear about the tech itself and the efficacy of its use, and implications for staffing and job security. Not to mention a vast gap in the availability of AI skills and talent.
While 92% of companies plan to increase their AI investments over the next three years—as of yet, only 1% of leaders report that AI is fully integrated across the company and driving substantial business outcomes. To guide leaders through this new age of AI in the workplace, Heidrick Navigator—an AI-powered leadership talent intelligence solution from Heidrick & Struggles—recently hosted a webinar on Addressing the AI Talent Shortage: Actionable Strategies for HR Executives, featuring:
- Ryan Bulkoski, Global Head, Artificial Intelligence, Data & Analytics Practice
- Maria Konat, Global Managing Partner, Go-To-Market Integration
- Jennifer Wilson, Co-Head, Global Human Resources Officers Practice
Join us as we recap some of the key points.
Reframing AI in Business
Many leaders are sharing that they don’t know what they have relative to AI skills and expertise in their existing org. But as Bulkowski said, “AI isn’t just about technical expertise, it’s about connecting innovation to people,” noting the importance of simplifying complex tech capabilities to foster success. It’s not about coding courses so much as it is about AI awareness and education. Wilson shared that “The skill of harnessing the power of others is crucial for HR success in navigating the uncertainty around AI,” advising listeners to “lock arms” with the different parts of their organizations and tap into external networks of expertise.
There is likely not enough AI talent today for every company to have exactly what it needs, internally or externally, so it’s critical to figure out how to make the most of what’s available and accessible. Konat reminded listeners that “sometimes the best ideas come from somebody who has less tenure in the organization,” not a sitting C-suite or senior executive, because the grassroots professionals are often the ones going out and testing things, resulting in new ideas and different points of view.
Today’s tone has shifted to one of pragmatism when it comes to the intersection of AI and talent. Questions to consider include:
- How do all leaders learn to lead in the world of AI?
- How do we understand and harness AI in any function or business?
- How do we learn to understand how it affects external strategy?
- Where or how should we use it?
AI in Business, Today
Business leaders have the unique opportunity to tap into a broader set of skills across and outside the organization to expertly excel with AI. Today’s in-demand AI leader can serve as a “chief translator,” or storyteller—one who can show and tell how AI concepts turn into insights. They are the ones who understand that these topics need to be approached with empathy, since empathy is what fosters trust. This is especially important with the subject of integrating AI, as workers wonder whether—or even when—robots will take their jobs.
On that note, Bulkoski pointed out that “only humans can envision the extraordinary.” So even if AI systems play a more present role in today’s society and workforce, their value will never be realized without human innovation and ideation. Bulkoski shared that this “plays right into the need to adapt to change in an agile manner. AI advancement requires leaders to really embrace continuous learning and pivot around their strategies swiftly.” He explained that the most effective and agile leaders are quick to make decisions, demonstrate a willingness to experiment, and most importantly, remain open to embracing failure.
As for finding those AI leaders and experts, Konat later asked how the panel is looking at the marketplace; if there are shortages across the board; if there are different geographic complexities we should be thinking about as our talent landscape; and whether the capability demand we’re seeing internally match up with what’s in the market today. In short, Bulkoski confirmed that there is more demand than there is supply.
“The expectations are now outsized in terms of what you have to pay for talent,” he said. “That means you may have to get a little bit creative in terms of who you bring in, and then we go back to this human element. If you can’t afford the PhD in computer science who has built teams from zero to 300 and comes from a top five tech company, maybe you get creative and you look at somebody who has a master’s in anthropology or philosophy, or you know, they’ve done something where they’re creative in connecting disparate points of view. Maybe they started their career as a developer and then they went to strategic consulting,” explaining that sometimes, the most successful businesses are successful because they think outside the box in terms of what type of candidate should be considered suitable for a given role.
Wilson corroborated his point, “The gains from the experimentation and the productivity that you get from that as a leader hopefully frees you up to spend more actual time with your people,” explaining that “most managers right now are overburdened with work, so let’s figure out how to decrease that to be leaning into the more inspirational and human sides of leadership.” Konat agreed and said, “Let’s become more human in our work by using AI.”
Enabling the AI Talent Ecosystem
According to Wilson, the most successful organizations are first defining their strategic objective, then assessing whether their current structure—likely developed ad hoc—aligns with existing goals. That involves prioritizing AI use cases by both business value as well as practicality.
“Some buy, some rent, some build, some do a bit of each,” she continued. When it comes to “renting” talent, Wilson shared that “one of the interviewees from our research who leads HR at a large global consulting firm created a flexible talent ecosystem to bring in AI expertise. So how did they do that? They brought in freelancers, gig workers, part-time employees, and that allowed them to adapt to their changing client needs while also infusing that new AI expertise into their organization.” And on the “build” side, she said they’ve seen some HR leaders redesign roles to get their own teams exposed to AI, which can in turn be rolled out across the organization.
At the end of the day, confronting the opportunities and challenges requires a cross-functional, collaborative approach. Wilson encouraged listeners to “lead from the front and show the promise of flexible talent, ecosystems, human centric cultures, and importantly cross-functional governance.”
On-Demand Expertise for AI in Business
In one example of how companies are tackling AI talent shortages, Bulkoski shared a case in which he was working with a large, publicly traded fintech company. After the company had spent time working with a strategy consulting firm, leadership recognized they needed an AI strategy, as well as a new head of AI, data, and analytics to implement it. Once the new leader assessed their organization, however, they quickly realized that they didn’t have all the talent they needed to actually carry out the strategy. Bulkoski suggested that on-demand talent could be a perfect solution.
“Here is a bench of talent who would be able to step in as soon as you’re ready. You say the word,” he said. “That could be today, it could be three weeks from now, it could be three months from now. But if there are specific projects that you don’t want to wait to hire somebody for the long term, you’d be able to utilize that talent at any given moment.”
On-demand talent can even be helpful in the midst of an executive search, notes Bulkoski. “We have an AI and data project that we need to kick off in the next eight weeks, and we’re not sure we can finish an executive search in eight weeks. What do we do to bridge that gap? That’s where it’s been incredibly helpful to have our business called BTG.”
He continued, “Let’s say, an organization wanted to jumpstart an AI assessment or an AI project. We’d be able to procure within three days a number of on-demand executive leaders who would be able to step in and jumpstart that project.” At the same time, Heidrick & Struggles’ executive search team is conducting a search to bring in a full-time executive. Bulkoski said to think about it “not just in the lens of let’s do one executive search, but is there a bridge to be able to get there from an on-demand perspective?”
Get the AI Skills Your Business Needs with AI Consultants from BTG
Discover how HR can lead the charge in building adaptable, AI-savvy leadership and talent frameworks that drive scalable, sustainable success for your organization. to glean more insights about the AI talent opportunities and challenges we’re seeing today, HR best practices for building AI expertise and talent pipelines, and more.
If AI is a priority for your organization this year, you can’t afford to waste time when talent is so in demand. Don’t settle for keeping pace—accelerate your competitive advantage with top AI consultants and leaders from Business Talent Group. Get started today.
Get the Skills You Need
Thousands of independent consultants, subject matter experts, project managers, and interim executives are ready to help address your biggest business opportunities.
