Digital tech, including AI, is part of work’s cycle of transformation

There has been much talk about digital transformation in recent years. Transformation has become something of a buzzword, but how much of it is genuine and how much is just the natural evolution of organisations as they embrace new technologies?

Skillnet Ireland chief strategy officer Mark Jordan believes it’s a bit of both. “What’s happening is companies are evolving and reacting to available technology and changes in the market,” says Jordan.

“We are seeing constant evolution in terms of the adoption of technology. It is a constant cycle of transformation. Big multinationals are engaged in almost constant transformation initiatives. As soon as one ends it’s almost time for the next one. Constantly evolving demands and the changing market environment means they can never stand still. They need to ensure there is no big leap required to catch up. It can be as much about change management as it is about transformation initiatives.”

Transformation is a competitive necessity for many businesses, according to Deloitte director of AI and data Colin Melody.

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“Workforces are being transformed by technological advances due to the pace of change of these technologies and capabilities,” says Melody. “There is little time to evolve when competitors and new entrants to the market are leveraging the latest technologies to deliver the same services better and faster than ever before.”

The transformation is also driven by employees who expect to use the latest technologies to communicate and collaborate, AI to enhance their capabilities and automation to remove repetitive and routine, low-value activities, he adds. “This means reimagining existing processes by combining the myriad technologies available today to create new and innovative solutions that were previously unachievable even a few years ago.”

PwC People & Organisation director Laoise Mullane highlights the impact of Covid on workplace organisation.

“Covid accelerated changes to the way people are working, predominantly through the increase in hybrid working which was enabled through the availability of communications and collaborative technologies,” she says. “Traditionally workplaces were where people went to do their work, whereas today work is done in a variety of locations and workplaces have become something different. They are evolving to be a place used for collaboration, engagement and innovation. Companies are evolving their workplaces – for example, the layout or facilities available – in recognition of the changing purpose and function that the workplace needs to have.”

This type of innovation is always taking place. And guess what? Ireland is at full employment

—  Joe Peppard

People are also fearful of these new digital technologies and their potential to replace humans in the workplace. “I don’t think those fears are well founded,” says UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School academic director Joe Peppard. “If you go back to the 1970s when robots started coming into factories there were massive concerns about their impact on blue-collar jobs. PCs came into offices in the 1980s and there were similar concerns.

“This is not new if you look back through history. Most of today’s jobs hadn’t been invented in the 1940s. This type of innovation is always taking place. And guess what? Ireland is at full employment. Technology tends to simultaneously replace jobs and create new ones.”

Ibec HR strategy specialist Vicky O’Neill points to an OECD report that looked at the impact of AI on the workplace using 100 case studies. “The case studies show that, to date, job reorganisation appears more prevalent than job displacement, with automation prompting the reorientation of jobs towards tasks in which humans have a comparative advantage,” she notes. “At the same time, the case studies highlight certain challenges including the demand for higher skill requirements and the prevailing shortage of specialised AI skills.”

Mullane believes digital technologies including artificial intelligence will continue to create new jobs as well as enhance existing jobs including automating elements of certain jobs. “For example, new jobs are being created in cleantech and green technologies. Technology and AI can also complement the way we work, making jobs better, less mundane and more interesting, rather than taking jobs away.”

The benefits of digital technology tend to outweigh the drawbacks. In Deloitte’s State of AI in the Enterprise (fifth edition) report, released in October 2022, more than 94 per cent of the business leaders surveyed agreed that AI would be critical to their success over the next five years.

“This is unsurprising due to the wide-reaching capabilities and broad set of scenarios that AI-based technologies can be applied to,” Colin Melody observes. “Key benefits include lowering costs, driving insights, enabling new products and improving decision making, to name but a few.

“These benefits are recognised through Ireland’s own AI strategy, AI – Here for Good, where it recognises that AI offers ‘great opportunities to improve our socio-economic performance and productivity, as well as our environmental and social wellbeing’. Historically, technological advancements have led to the creation of new industries and occupations that were previously unimaginable.”

O’Neill believes AI, if used responsibly, has the potential to help all organisations. “The job quality improvements associated with AI, such as reductions in tedium, greater worker engagement and improved physical safety may be its strongest endorsement from a worker perspective,” she points out.

“From the HR perspective, AI has the potential to deliver effective talent-management strategies for all stages of the employment life cycle, from hiring, onboarding, learning and development to succession planning and performance management. However, we need to be mindful of the potential adverse impacts of technology where there can be a risk of deep bias in systems that can negatively influence an outcome for particular groups of workers.”

At a very practical level, Aramark is utilising digital technologies to improve the employee experience in the workplace. “We have been witnessing changing behaviours in workplace as a result of the emergence of flexible working,” says Tom Ford marketing and innovation director at Aramark Northern Europe.

“We have to fit around flexible schedules more and more. Younger demographics in workforce have led to changed expectations and demands for instant gratification through click-and-collect services and so on. At the same time, we have to recognise that workplaces are multi-generational spaces and we need to cater for everyone in them.”

The company has developed Aramark Connected, a suite of tools that unites and connects solutions to deliver the best service experience without friction, using artificial intelligence and cutting-edge technology as a foundation. From mobile payments to food robotics, from autonomous retail to recycling, the technology is designed to meet the needs and expectations of today’s consumer.

“People can use it to book rooms, order a meal to collect from a hot locker, which they can unlock with a smartphone or payment card, and a variety of other applications,” he says.

Those other applications include Oscar, an AI-powered waste-recognition technology which guides users to the correct bin in which to place their recycling waste. The company is also deploying cashier-less store technology to allow people to walk into an on-site outlet and purchase items and pay for them without having to go through a cash desk.

“When you have a traditional store environment, this allows for an out-of-hours offer as well,” says Ford.