Redefining Productivity

ChapmanCG organised a roundtable, in partnership with Center for Creative Leadership, in Mumbai, where we were joined by HR and business leaders from the financial services sector to discuss the topic of Redefining Productivity: The reality of AI Integration, resulting in a very enriching discussion.

AI, over the past two years, has shifted from being merely a hot topic that people are curious about to becoming an essential aspect that businesses cannot ignore. Reflecting on this, the common themes that emerged when leaders were asked about the current state of AI in their organisations focused on process democratisation, re-engineering of processes, and the fact that it was a unifying theme that everyone in the organisation was receptive to. All agreed that AI was enabling individuals to become more efficient and have more time available to perform activities that are more central to their roles and to the business.

While personal productivity has certainly improved across all levels from entry to leadership – from using it to write better emails, respond more effectively to clients, provide more structured feedback, analyse data more thoroughly by connecting the dots, to speeding up processes – one leader was quick to question whether it genuinely boosts productivity or just encourages laziness. Are we truly rewiring our processes and redesigning the organisation, or are we merely making things more efficient?

Undoubtedly, we have yet to see a significant impact of AI at an enterprise level, aside from the anecdotes mentioned above. One possible reason for this could be that many organisations have not yet established an AI goal or a broader organisational goal that could be achieved through AI, and are instead approaching it more tactically. Another reason might be that the target for AI continues to evolve, shifting from being merely an intervention led by specific initiatives to being an integrated way of working. There are no recognised AI experts with extensive relevant past experience, so each individual and leader must learn as they go. That said, we have observed that most organisations have successfully integrated AI to enhance customer and employee experiences. The financial services sector, being heavily regulated, also finds itself at a crossroads due to this dichotomy of fully utilising the benefits of AI versus addressing the ethical concerns of AI and data protection.

While each organisation appeared to be at a different stage in the AI journey—Discovery, Adoption, Transformation, and Differentiation—what will truly determine impact is how the leadership and culture of the organisation align with it. With a show of hands, and according to a CCL study, we identified a clear misalignment. Most leaders felt that the urgency and importance of AI adoption in their organisations was a 4 out of 5, whereas their readiness in terms of AI usage was only a 2 out of 5. Therefore, having a strong commitment and clarity from leadership, which trickles down to the lowest levels, was essential, reminding us of the importance of having a clear “Why?” for doing this, rather than just a fear of missing out. Compared to the tech sector, where the race to produce the best AI products can make or break organisations, the financial services sector has not yet reached that point and would benefit from recognising this fact.

Overall, the group agreed that, more or less, everyone in the industry was in the same boat. The best way to be most productive in the era of AI would be to have a learning orientation, agility, and transparency within the organisation. These, coupled with the right value systems and leadership, would form a solid foundation for integrating AI within the organisation.