Everyday Reflections

T A Pai Management Institute in collaboration with Southampton Business School, UK hosted a Global Leadership Conference 2023 on October 28th and 29th at Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Bangalore campus. The conference theme was centered around the theme  “AI Powered Leadership: Navigating the Future of Business and Society”.

The two-day conference featured panel discussions on:

●        Use cases for generative AI

●        How AI will transform the e-commerce business

●        Responsible leadership for a sustainable future

●        Start-ups in the AI business space

●        AI in fintech: Opportunities and challenges

●        Impact of ONDC

I was part of the panel discussion on “How AI will transform the e-commerce business” . This panel discussion was moderated by Professor Paurav Shukla , Professor of Marketing at University of South Hampton. The panel consisted of Saurabh Gupta , CTO FroGro . Amit Shrivastava , Head AI Fujitsu.

The panel discussion touched upon many topics and we all had an interesting take specifically on how AI , and especially Gen AI is going through hype cycle clouding our ability to think around it as opposed to about it. The whole notion to fight against pervasive nature AI , seems to be grounded with weak hypothesis instead we should look at possibilities it is spurring and how to create framework around making it more effective for our own use by making it secure , trust worthy and privacy first.

We touched upon many points brought by the group , for example Saurabh made a good point around he effectiveness of AI being directly linked to the data it processes. In the realm of online retail, the interconnected data holds a pivotal position in determining the success of AI applications. Whether it’s product recommendations, cataloging process, deals, or marketing, having hold on the data when it’s needed is indispensable. On the business side, predictive analytics helps with demand forecasting, managing replenishment schedules, and last mile planning.

Amit put forward his thoughts on Personalization and customer experience targeting retail sector.

We had many thought provoking interventions by Paurav which spurred great conversations around

• How can generative AI enhance the customer experience and engagement for e-businesses? Will these effects lead to greater equality across the businesses irrespective of size?
• New technologies are messy and to create a level-playing field in markets like India, what kind of regulatory frameworks would you suggest as businesses for policy makers so the dialogue can be collaborative rather than confrontational?
• Information is power and power corrupts. So, with the power of customer information coupled with the generative AI, it is easy to be carried away. How will we tackle the challenge of privacy, security, misuse, abuse, bias and accountability?
• Fraud is a big business globally. With malicious actors having access to these technologies, how would businesses safeguard themselves from the malicious actors?

From my point of view I see “AI” not to be a topic at all as that is a journey ingrained in technology and what is most important for us to understand is the “problem” we are trying to solve. AI as utilitarian geared towards productivity automation and contextual intent versus AI as a core driver to business , there is more to consider and make bets to avoid hype cycle but leverage technology where it matters most. Human in loop architecture is very necessary to see that we moderate and curate our outcomes in any use case application. As the appetite to take rick varies , it is of paramount importance that legal framework along side brand impact are kept in mind whilst leveraging technology that is not fully contextual and needs to depend alot on datasets we provide.

I also had opportunity to interact with the students and share my thoughts from their perspective and management lens. It is important like “current affairs” , to know what is happening in technology space and how it impacts businesses. How we will use and apply will be purely a function of how each one of us effectively or uniquely decode our problem solving abilities and apply AI where it matters most. It is bring about adjacent effects , so carrying a systems thinking approach whilst looking at the toolkit available , is important to become better managers tomorrow.