The question leaders skip

AS Watson Group CEO Malina Ngai put it to the Fortune Leaders Forum on Sept 8: the choice is not obvious, and most firms pick the cheap answer.

“Is it really that, with AI, we're going to cut out 30% of our workforce? Or… are we going to increase the quality of our people's intelligence?”

The industry went the other way

Tech firms have cut tens of thousands of roles this year while pivoting to AI. Oracle alone shed 21,000 jobs, about 13% of its workforce.

Bring the assistant to work

Ngai's alternative is a human-AI partnership: every employee works alongside an assistant that speeds up their thinking rather than takes their seat.

“You should bring the AI assistant with you to work. It helps you to think faster and smarter.”

Measured by customer love

Since launch last October, engagement scores jumped and a "customer love score" keeps rising as staff spend time with people instead of screens.

“This is not the usual way that people would measure AI.”

Robots changed who gets hired

A warehouse in Foshan is normally 80% men because of the lifting. With robots doing it, 62% of that site's workers are now women.

“That was something that really positively surprised me, how technology can also bring more diversity in the company.”

A version of yesterday

Ngai's warning: aim AI at existing processes and you automate the past. The gain comes from rethinking the model, which is why she expects retail to get more human.

“Basically, you get a version of yesterday.”