How will AI transform your company and its workforce?

(BPT) - The promise of AI has raised many questions about how it will impact the workforce. Should the speed of AI development be considered a threat to workers, or a source of opportunity to them in this rapidly changing environment?

Fundamentally, generative AI will help workers, according to Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar S. His optimism is fueled by a deep understanding of the best ways this technology can be used. How and where AI is adopted is what Cognizant focuses on — advising companies on the best deployment of these tools, tailored to the needs of each enterprise.

"One of the main effects of generative AI is that it will change how we assess expertise in various disciplines," said Kumar. "It will also transform how different disciplines can communicate and collaborate, such as a software engineer and medical specialist using AI to translate their professional vocabularies into language the other can understand."

Kumar answers commonly asked questions about AI, drawing on research Cognizant has conducted to better understand how it will impact the workforce today and into the future.

Why won't AI replace humans in the workforce?

AI can automate many tasks, from generating emails to coding and more, potentially freeing up workers to spend more time creating and innovating. But most jobs at a variety of levels still need a human.

AI will never create a like-for-like replacement for a human position. For example, AI is never going to replace surgeons, but generative AI can perform administrative tasks that help doctors have more time to see and care for patients. Generative AI can also aid diagnostics, since there is too much data for any one doctor to know. AI opens access to more data and can identify patterns in that data most humans wouldn't have the capacity to see.

Can you assess the potential impact of AI industry-by-industry or job-by-job?

We quantify the impact of AI through what we call an "exposure score" and a "friction score." The exposure score estimates how likely a task is to be taken over by AI, while the friction score refers to how easily that employee can be retrained.

Consider a developer versus a fisherman. There are 21 million developers worldwide, but programming work can largely be taken over by AI — a high exposure score. However, developers are highly retrainable, giving them a low friction score. On the other hand, fishermen are unlikely to be replaced with AI, but if robots were created that could fish, what transferable skills do they have? That's an example of a low exposure score and high friction score.

Cognizant and Oxford Economics partnered to develop what we’ve called our "New Work, New World" study, which analyzes how AI will affect the workforce. The study applied these scores to 18,000 tasks in 1,000 jobs, discovering that 90% of jobs could experience some degree of disruption by AI over the next 10 years.

Cognizant currently works with companies to assess exposure and friction scores of all their positions, among other crucial information, to help companies better understand how and when to retrain employees. Understanding what each company and their employees need now and into the future is key to helping them optimize AI for growth and development.

How will AI impact business profitability?

We're now in an era of hyper-productivity as enterprises fundamentally rewire their businesses for new levels of agility, productivity and innovation. In a recent analysis we did as part of our "New Work, New World" study, we found that more than three-fourths of businesses (76%) are looking to use generative AI to create new revenue streams. Companies also plan to invest an average of $47.5 million in generative AI this year.

With our data showing generative AI tools potentially injecting nearly $1 trillion into the U.S. economy and even more globally over the next 10 years, it's not surprising the survey identified generative AI as a core source of potential productivity and growth for most companies.

But to fully harness this hyper-productivity, we must expand the pace of training and upskilling around the world so that workers are prepared to participate in the digital economy. This is why we launched our Synapse initiative last year, which is aimed at training one million individuals and creating employment opportunities in the future digital economy.

What do companies need to help them optimize AI?

Rolling out any new technology enterprise-wide is complex and challenging. So far, only 26% of the companies surveyed have been able to implement AI company-wide, and many express concern these delays could give competitors an advantage.

Our data also points to a need for outside expertise to help them with AI adoption, with 43% of companies planning to work with external consultants to strategize using AI.

To provide this much-needed support, we're finding more and more companies are tapping us to help them traverse the AI productivity-to-growth journey. We're working with enterprises across industries to modernize their technology, reimagine processes and transform experiences so they can stay ahead, including maximizing AI to their advantage.

I'm optimistic about the future and how companies can use generative AI for critical tasks while developing a future-ready workforce through reskilling. Used thoughtfully, we can ensure generative AI is a positive force not just for economic productivity, but also for workers and society.

Learn what generative AI can do for your business at Cognizant.com.