A growing body of research points to the\u00a0strategic and financial importance\u00a0of prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion across the organization. During a recent \u2018Diverse perspectives in AI\u2019 panel discussion, Joe Edwards (Director of Product Marketing at UiPath) asked a related question to senior AI and automation leaders: is representation as critical for progress within AI ecosystems as it is for an organization?<\/p>\n
With tenures at some of the most respected tech companies in the world, panelists\u00a0Jarel Hawkins\u00a0(IA & AI Executive \/ CxO Advisor),\u00a0Floyd Newsum III\u00a0(Managing Director at RPA (HK), Ltd.), and\u00a0Keena Byrd, PhD\u00a0(UX Research Leader at UiPath) shared their insights on why\u00a0inclusive<\/i>\u00a0AI at work will lead to better innovation and performance. They also shared what executives need to consider when designing, testing, and optimizing the generative AI that is revolutionizing the way we do business.<\/p>\n One of the most intriguing and highest-potential attributes of GenAI is that it is powered by natural language, making it accessible to more people, communities, and organizations.<\/p>\n However, to fully tap into that potential, AI developers, testers, and users must be as diverse as the communities the technology aims to advance. For one, it is paramount to hedge against human biases getting baked into the AI that learns from us. For another, variation in perspectives leads to stronger products and stronger organizations.<\/p>\n “Inclusion,” Newsum shared, \u201cis a lightning rod for innovation.\u201d<\/p>\n “Diversity is about everyone, and that\u2019s not an opinion, it’s math,\u201d concurred Hawkins. “Don’t take my word for it. Research the diversity prediction theory…low-ability solvers with greater variability can outperform high-ability problem solvers with less variance.\u201d<\/p>\n And the more innovative and higher-performing your people\u00a0and<\/i>\u00a0systems are, the better it is for your bottom line.<\/p>\n \u201cThere needs to be more honesty in the conversations around inclusive workplaces,\u201d said Newsum. \u201cWhen we talk about diversity and inclusion, often times it\u2019s framed as a charity act…but diversity is smart business strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n Smart, indeed. A\u00a02023 McKinsey study\u00a0found that top-quartile organizations with diversity in executive teams are, on average, 39 percent more likely to financially outperform their peers. Similarly, a survey conducted by\u00a0Boston Consulting Group\u00a0showed that companies with more diverse managerial teams reported 19 percent more innovation revenue than those with below-average diversity.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can debate back and forth about the social benefits,\u201d said Newsum, \u201cbut it\u2019s also about the money.\u201d<\/p>\n We tend to think of diversity mostly in the context of race, gender, ethnicity, sexual identity, and religion. But the panelists suggested that definition could be too narrow. It is also critical to give opportunities to people whose resumes may not fully align with job descriptions. In other words, seek out diversity in experience, too.<\/p>\n Hawkins, who crafted his career to develop deep but broad experience across the engineer-to-executive spectrum, spoke to his personal experience in this regard.<\/p>\n “Specifically in tech, there are these hidden and implicit personas for roles,\u201d he shared. \u201cI\u2019ve been told, \u2018Oh, you\u2019re too technical for a product tech role.\u2019 That doesn\u2019t compute. What do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n As business leaders consider how diversity affects their AI-powered enterprises, Hawkins encouraged leaders to look beyond typical role personas. Fresh perspectives from people with varied, cross-functional experience can spell the difference between stagnation and innovation.<\/p>\n No longer do you need to be a specialist or programmer to unlock AI’s transformative potential\u2014GenAI is accessible to all. And, if it is built by and learns from a diverse pool of people, it will become an empowering equalizer.<\/p>\n UiPath Autopilot\u2122, a set of new AI-powered experiences across the UiPath Business Automation Platform, was built with this democratization in mind. From interns to CEOs, it makes every user more productive.<\/p>\n \u201cAutopilot will allow people who are non-specialists to use systems to augment their skills,\u201d said Byrd. \u201cTake someone who hasn’t had access to a certain level of training and education…if they’re able use something like Autopilot to uplevel their skills, that will bridge a gap.\u201d<\/p>\n The human and business implications of these ‘bridged gaps’ are significant. New communities will become empowered to innovate, and they will bring their diverse experiences and expertise into GenAI\u2019s learning models.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I think about Autopilot and other GenAI tools like this, they are an enabler for all communities, but particularly underrepresented communities,\u201d said Newsum. \u201cIndividuals who might not have [been] involved in this industry can begin to see new opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n Ultimately, time is of the essence. One thing the panelists made overwhelmingly clear: organizations ignore diversity as a strategic business priority at their own risk. And, considering how rapidly AI technology is advancing, it\u2019s critical to implement best practices\u00a0now<\/b>.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople need to invest [in inclusivity] early,\u201d Byrd advised. \u201cAs your team grows bigger and bigger, it\u2019s harder to change the culture and the make-up of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Hawkins agreed, and he encouraged leaders to understand the \u201cwhy,\u201d connect it to the bottom line, and then allocate resources appropriately. Organizations powered by inclusive teams\u00a0and<\/i>\u00a0inclusive AI will win the market and speed up innovation.<\/p>\n “Diversity can benefit businesses operationally and financially,\u201d Newsum concluded. \u201cIt\u2019s the right thing to do, and it makes money. It\u2019s rare that you find things that align so well.\u201d<\/p>\n Interested in learning more about the importance of embedding diversity and inclusion in their organizations and AI ecosystems? The full recording of “Diverse perspectives on the future of AI” is available online.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A growing body of research points to the\u00a0strategic and financial importance\u00a0of prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion across the organization. During a recent \u2018Diverse perspectives in AI\u2019 panel discussion, Joe Edwards (Director of Product Marketing at UiPath) asked a related question to senior AI and automation leaders: is representation as critical for progress within AI ecosystems […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/karuncan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/karuncan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/karuncan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karuncan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karuncan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/karuncan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karuncan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/karuncan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karuncan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karuncan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Representation is key to a robust AI ecosystem<\/h2>\n
Broadening the definition of \u2018diversity\u2019<\/h2>\n
GenAI can be an empowering equalizer<\/h2>\n
Prioritize inclusive AI now for long-term benefits<\/h2>\n