FIGHT FEAR WITH THE POSITIVES

Speaking of fear, businesses will need to help consumers and clients overcome apprehension around AI and automated processes, embracing the fact that these technologies actually allow human workers to do more critical and creative thinking. It also streamlines our processes and allows us to be more efficient, while better understanding our consumers and what they’re looking for.

The biggest bonus: It’s all in real-time and in a secure environment. Think of it as balancing your checkbook, says Sedghi. “You don’t have to go to branches anymore, you do everything online. And the underpinning for that is automation, but it’s also access to reliable and secure data. A few years ago, even if people wanted to do more digital transactions, the technology wasn’t there, security wasn’t there.”

It is today. So it may just be that the fears of your team are carry-overs from five or even 10 years ago—and we’re already living in a different world. It’s new territory, to be sure, and most businesses will be feeling their way through it. But Sedghi, Gillis, Cole, and Hamlett all agree that if you’re aware of its limits and its powers, the future of AI and data will drive more strategic business decisions and stronger organizations. GB

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BY DAN MORRELL PORTRAIT BY STEPHEN VOSS