What executives need to know about AI

By: James M. Tobin, Edited by: Rebecca Munday

Published: April 15, 2025

Artificial intelligence (AI) has already had a transformational impact on business. Organizations in both the public and private sectors continue to integrate AI technologies at robust rates.

If you're planning to import AI into your business operations or expand your use of this groundbreaking technology, it's important to understand how AI works and how your company can use it to solve business problems. Discover what you should consider before incorporating AI into your business.

Gain hands-on experience

Hands-on experience can help executives develop a more effective AI strategy. By gaining experience, you can build skills, knowledge, and firsthand insights on a deeper level than by studying theory.

Executive education in AI is a useful starting point, and you can also join professional organizations like the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. Also, follow and engage with established AI thought leaders on social media.

As you build experience, prioritize knowledge development in the following areas:

• Use cases
• Capabilities and limitations
• Ethics

Finally, acknowledge the need for continuous AI learning. AI technologies grow and change rapidly, and the cutting edge is constantly changing. To stay on that edge, you must remain engaged with the technology and its latest developments and capabilities.

Consider how to use AI to serve customers and employees

AI has strong data analytics applications, but its ability to serve customers and assist employees is arguably even more compelling. Businesses can use AI to serve their customers by:

• Personalizing the customer experience
• Predicting future customer needs and suggesting preemptive actions to meet them
• Providing on-demand, round-the-clock service and support channels
• Analyzing customer feedback to identify trends and areas for improvement

AI can help employees by:

• Automating repetitive, menial, and routine tasks
• Reducing or eliminating human error
• Optimizing workload management
• Enhancing productivity and efficiency

AI's scalability and widespread availability make it especially powerful in these domains. For more insights, consult our resource on how AI can help businesses.

Encourage AI use among employees

Experts advise executives to encourage employees to experiment with AI tools as they're integrated into organizational workflows. This can help employees discover unique ways to use AI in their daily duties. Meanwhile, a small group of stakeholders from across the organization should develop an ethical AI strategy.

You can stimulate employees' AI experimentation and use by:

• Providing AI training
• Segmenting employee duties to identify tasks that AI will either augment or automate
• Recognizing and rewarding employees who use AI in particularly productive or creative ways

These strategies can also develop employees' AI proficiencies and build a positive workplace culture surrounding its use.

Emphasize that should AI partner with employees rather than replace them

Many workforce members are wary of AI, viewing it as a potential threat to their jobs. Executives should address these concerns at the outset of the AI integration process. Stress that the organization views AI as an adjunct tool and productivity partner rather than a path to downsizing its human workforce.

This approach ultimately helps businesses extract more value from their AI investments by making employees more likely to develop their AI skills and view the technology as an aid rather than a competitor. It may also help your organization's team members stay more engaged, which has positive impacts on employee performance and retention.

Keep ethical considerations top of mind

AI remains fraught with potential ethical pitfalls, particularly as regulatory compliance surrounding its use remains in development. Some of the documented ethical issues with AI revolve around:

• Data protection and user privacy
• Algorithmic bias and inclusivity
• Accountability and transparency
• Cybersecurity

As an organizational leader, you should develop an AI governance policy that directly addresses these concerns along with any others you, your peers, or your supervisees may have. As regulatory frameworks emerge, take early action to ensure compliance.

Also, create a transparent feedback and review process that allows employees and other stakeholders to share emerging concerns and see them addressed.

To learn more, refer to this resource on AI implementations in business settings.