The primary concern for CXOs is whether their company can maintain its current trajectory. The biggest challenges they face are determining how to sustain this trajectory and identifying steps to accelerate reinvention ahead of competitors. So what is the remedy?

As part of People Matters TechHR Singapore, we offer you a sneak peek with a rapid-fire interview with one of our speakers & startup mentors, Dr CJ Meadows, Director, i2e – The Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center at SP Jain School of Global Management on workforce challenges, the impact of GenAI adoption and leadership capabilities in the modern world of work.

Read excerpts from the interview.

In your experience, what are the biggest challenges and opportunities that the workforce is facing today? 

In the new world of work, jobs are being reimagined on a massive scale. I believe that the biggest challenge would be the changing requirements of skill-set.  New tech will either disrupt or augment jobs and industries and is being adopted at an ever-increasing rate. The biggest opportunity would also be about how to map out this new kind of talent as everyone would want to work with them.

Looking ahead, what key areas do you see driving change and growth in the corporate world over the next 3-5 years?

Now, the corporate world has new technological capabilities but it still requires the human touch.  It's important to know that technology doesn’t create change, the human touch does and you have to get a handle on human serving needs. Especially, those you aren’t serving right now but will be serving them tomorrow. 

How do you see GenAI impacting the industry in the next few years? What specific initiatives can companies take to leverage generative AI and stay ahead of the curve?

Gen AI gives us an amazing leg up in terms of capability and speed of work. But word of caution  - it doesn't generate anything new. It doesn’t go into unstructured situations and it doesn't create novel solutions. It is important to understand GenAI in terms of what they do well. Then develop human skills more profoundly to create the human-GenAI synergy. 

Looking back, what has been the most surprising session you’ve learned about taking action on ideas?

When people feel pressured and anxious now, they tend to think technology drives the change. In reality, it’s the people. People have to learn to do learning business i.e. the experimenting business. It’s good to have a plan but it’s prudent to experiment with the data you collect, learn from your mistakes and repeat it. 

What key advice would you give to aspiring leaders who want to be better at turning ideas into action?

One key advice to aspiring leaders would be to stop planning and thinking about everything from your head and start thinking from your hands, feet and heart. Let your team know that if you fail to experiment with new things, it's alright. Create those learning loops and let people get comfortable with experimenting with something new.     

Did that get you excited! You can learn more insights from Dr. J Meadows, as she will be in: People Matters TechHR Startup Program Panel: In The Fast Lane: How To Grow Your Business At Speed session, on 18th July 2024, at Marina Bay Sands. Don’t you miss it!