MIT Sloan CIO Conference Addresses Future of Work
MIT Sloan recently discussed last month’s MIT Sloan CIO Symposium, which addressed strategies to mitigate the digital transformation that AI, machine learning, self-driving cars, and the Internet of Things are expected to have on the future of work. TL;DR: everybody needs to step up their game.
One major question in the ether is whether machine learning will complement or render human workers obsolete. George Westerman, Principal Research Scientist for the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy, believes that those roles that “require supervision, initiative and working with complex equipment will be augmented by AI.”
The article points to Cogito’s emotional intelligence software, which analyzes call center conversations. However, Cogito CTO Ali Azarbayejani says, “Bots can handle simple customer interactions, but they aren’t yet set up to pull data from disconnected systems. Personal agents are needed to mitigate those types of problems.”
General Electric VP and CIO Jim Fowler explains how he sees the future of work: “When AI and other technologies drive process, workers have little choice but to take on different roles. Instead of processing transactions, workers must get used to forming and disbanding teams that use the data presented to them to solve problems.”
OTTO Motors Co-Founder and CTO Ryan Gariepy is a rising star in the self-driving vehicle cabal. With regard to widespread automation, Gariepy says, “Robot drivers won’t be all over the road tomorrow, but it’s not unreasonable to predict that 90 percent of truck driving jobs will be eliminated within a generation.”
OTTO is leading the charge, along with Health Management Systems, to build employee training into their business models. HMS Executive VP and CSO Cynthia Nustad says two-thirds of employees are pursuing internal training opportunities.
Salesforce Executive VP and CIO Ross Meyercord says that organizations need to adopt a “citizen development model” in order to embrace agility. He poses the question: “How do you encourage and standardize grassroots innovation?”
About the Author
Jonathan Pfeffer
Jonathan Pfeffer joined the Clear Admit and MetroMBA teams in 2015 after spending several years as an arts/culture writer, editor, and radio producer. In addition to his role as contributing writer at MetroMBA and contributing editor at Clear Admit, he is co-founder and lead producer of the Clear Admit MBA Admissions Podcast. He holds a BA in Film/Video, Ethnomusicology, and Media Studies from Oberlin College.
