In just a few short years, artificial intelligence has reshaped the world, Bryant University Provost and Chief Academic Officer Rupendra Paliwal, Ph.D., told the more than 100 c-suite professionals gathered for the AI & Business Transformation Executive Roundtable, presented by Bryant and ISG.
Yet those seismic changes only presage even greater transformations — and herald new questions about ethics, the nature of work, and the role of the human spirit in a time of technology once thought to be science fiction.
Organized in collaboration with Bryant’s Executive Education & Career Accelerator, the first AI Roundtable gathered industry leaders, academic experts, and technology innovators to examine how AI is reimagining business models, revolutionizing workforce dynamics, and profoundly changing operations around the world.
“The future of AI is not just about the technology; it's about people working together, collectively and collaboratively to work out what to do with that technology,” said Paliwal. “We look forward to fruitful partnerships where we are all part of the solution.”
That brand of partnership is a cornerstone of Bryant’s educational philosophy, stated Bryant University President Ross Gittell, Ph.D.
“The opportunities and risks of AI cannot be addressed effectively if we operate in silos. Rather they demand collaboration across sectors and across disciplines,” said Gittell. “Bryant University is ready to be that bridge.”
“This is a great opportunity for all of us to educate each other and to learn from one another,” agreed John Boccuzzi, Jr. ’91, ISG Research partner and president and Bryant alum, who moderated several panels throughout the day. “If you’re not involved with AI, you’re about to have a Kodak moment, and not in a good way,” he stated, referring to the one-time mega-corporation forced to shutter by an inability to adapt to changing times.
Matching innovation with purpose
AI has always been complicated, and contentious, noted keynote speaker David Menninger, ISG executive director and distinguished analyst. Even the name “artificial intelligence” was up for debate for a long time, vying against competitors such as “automata studies” and “neural cybernetics.”
AI is the second-largest institutional spend for companies and the fastest growing, he told the audience, and its adoption extends across every industry and aspect of life, from retail to entertainment and media, to manufacturing to life sciences.
To correctly incorporate AI into your business, he argued, means developing a clear plan from the start. “If you don’t have a focus on your business outcome, if you don’t focus on why you’re doing this, you won’t succeed,” he cautioned.
And setting a direction isn’t enough, either; successful implementation requires keeping a constant hand on the rudder. “There’s got to be some assembly required,” Menninger concluded. “You can’t just push a button and say that you’re done.”
Finding the balance
The roundtable’s breakout panels covered a range of areas from financial services to insurance to sales. A session on the intersection of AI and healthcare, moderated by Kirsten Hokeness, Ph.D., director of Bryant’s School of Health and Behavioral Sciences, brought together AI implementation experts and representatives from key healthcare providers to examine how we heal — and prevent harm — in the 21st century.
Healthcare, the panelists noted, faces very different AI-related challenges than other fields. An intensely human space, it is also an incredibly complicated one that requires myriad systems to work together.
Yet, AI is still finding a place in nearly every aspect of the field, from billing to patient care. “To be a doctor right now is about more than learning medicine,” said Shafqat Azim, Americas lead of digital transformation practice at ISG. “It is about learning medicine in the age of AI.”
That means ensuring that humans don’t give up their agency — or their ability — to AI helpmates and reassuring stakeholders at all levels — from patients to doctors to insurance providers — that nothing is being lost along the way, suggested Alex Kleinman, Genpact senior vice president, who led a talk that opened the panel.
The challenge going forward, the panel agreed, was integration — balancing the human touch and human ingenuity with AI assistance. “I haven’t replaced anyone with AI,” noted Karen Carlson, chief operations officer for NHPRI. “What I have done is create efficiencies that allow them to do a little more.”
State of the Disunion
Different industries will see AI adoption at different rates, said Thomas Dougherty, executive in residence for Bryant’s Information Systems and Analysis Department, in an afternoon “Enterprise Transformation Driven by AI – Rethinking Your Business Model” panel. “Part of the equation is: Is a specific industry ripe for revolution?” he asked. While some areas, like food retail and purchasing, will see quick adoption and change, others, such as healthcare, with its complications and regulations, will take longer.
“At this point, everything is a snowflake,” Todd Foley, chief digital officer and chief information security officer for Lydonia, observed. “Everyone is slightly different, and solutions are not one size fits all yet.”
But AI’s rollout also has a long tail, Matt Butler, director of AI for Brown University Health, shared. “For every major adoption of AI there are a whole bunch of smaller adoptions. Every employee is learning a little bit differently.”
In the end, the panelists agreed, more analysis, and more sharing of information, is needed. “We are really focused on: if you put AI in the water, what are the downstream effects?” concluded Butler.
Finding purchase in a changing landscape
The final panel of the day, “AI Impact on the Workforce,” explored the future of work. In a session moderated by Boccuzzi, Todd Alessandri, Ph.D., dean of Bryant’s College of Business, and Laurie White, president of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce looked at reskilling, ethical adoption of artificial intelligence, and designing effective models of human and AI collaboration.
Even as AI seems poised to sweep through industries, barriers to its adoption remain, suggested White — many internally created. “There seems to be a prevalent opinion that ‘the techies will fix it,’” White noted. “But this needs to be a top-down priority for companies.”
In addition, she noted, there is a deep-seated distrust of AI among employees, who think adopting it is a pretext to their own elimination.
Startups, however, see AI as a gamechanger and force multiplier, White suggested. “The entrepreneurial community sees this and cannot move quicker. They see this as a real opportunity to level the playing field.”
The advent of AI is changing things in other ways as well. A reduction in entry-level positions, where employees develop the basic abilities they’ll need throughout their careers, may lead to a skills gap that works its way up the food chain, Alessandri suggested.
Preparing for an AI-driven future means we’ll all have to continuously upskill as technology evolves, he noted, an area where higher education can play a key role. In addition to ensuring Bryant students are versed in AI, the university is helping them hone the mindset and critical thinking skills they’ll need to adapt with their industries.
As artificial intelligence evolves, White suggested, it is more important than ever that humans double-down on the skills that make them unique. “When you describe ‘prompt engineering,’ what you’re really describing is critical thinking,” she noted.