Navigating AI will take center stage at the 2024 International Graduate Symposium

As artificial intelligence changes all aspects of our work and lives, this year’s graduate symposium touched on the topic AI journey navigation without return, examining the threats and opportunities associated with the rapid development of technology.

Ralph Haupter, president of Microsoft’s EMEA region, outlined the $4 trillion economic opportunity created by artificial intelligence and challenged leaders to determine how implementing the tool can generate ROI in their specific business context.

“This unique moment is coming when we get our hands on technology that we will never have again in our professional lives,” he told about 250 graduates gathered in Lausanne. “Only we can decide how to use them in the right way to get the effect we all dream of.”

IMD’s chief innovation officer, Sarah Toms, noted similarities between the current resistance to AI and the past rejection of other disruptive technologies such as the wheel, the printing press and even the number zero.

To get started on IMD’s AI journey, she shared how the business school asked two simple questions: Where is limited education today? What potential can we unlock with artificial intelligence?

Is it time to join the circus?

On the second day of the symposium, Professor of Strategy and Leadership Michael Yaziji took the baton, exploring what AI capabilities will evolve over the next five years and, most importantly, what impact this will have on the value of human skills.

In the past, technological progress primarily affected manual and repetitive work. But this time, Yaziji predicts that high-cost knowledge workers may have targets on their backs.

Conversely, roles requiring coordination, relationship building, contextual knowledge and the ability to motivate others will continue to be in demand. “I think the safest places are circus performers, ballerinas and teachers, so that’s where I take my kids,” Yaziji joked.

The evolving risk landscape

With fake scams on the rise and AI models vulnerable to adversarial attacks, Öykü Işık, professor of digital strategy and cybersecurity, delved deeper into how organizations can manage the risks associated with using generative AI. She focused on ensuring ethical use of solutions, avoiding the perpetuation of bias, protecting data and promoting the sustainability of artificial intelligence practices.

She urged business leaders to understand where their data comes from and how much energy their AI consumes, to proactively assess risks, and to provide transparency to consumers and governments about their organization’s use of AI. “These are very reasonable, logical, responsible and behavioral questions that every organization should be able to apply,” she said.

The largest unused production factor

Despite all the threats and opportunities, José Parra-Moyano, professor of digital strategy, highlighted the untapped potential of data as a critical factor of production.

Less than 5% of data is actively used, which creates significant economic opportunities, especially if companies and even individuals work together to connect their data. “We need to engage in a better understanding of this new way of creating value in the economy,” Parra-Moyano insisted.

While data offers enormous value, it is crucial to balance its use with privacy protection. One way to solve this dilemma is through innovative business models such as data cooperatives, where insights from data rather than raw data can be shared, he said.

Insights from the real world

During an insightful panel moderated by Tomoko Yokoi, Artificial Intelligence and Digital Transformation researcher at TONOMUS Global Center for Digital and AI Transformation, IMD graduates shared their experiences implementing AI in their organizations, from implementing AI-based chatbots in customer service units to developing enterprise solutions broad AI strategies for multinational corporations.

Corinne Avelines (MBA 2009), strategy consultant at Kinetic Consulting, emphasized the importance of identifying clear business problems and AI use cases to ensure success.

Benjamin Torben-Nielsen (EMBA 2023), partner and co-founder at Claritys.AI and former Roche executive, emphasized the need to gain buy-in from top management for AI initiatives, noting: “Make sure your board is on board. If you, as a company, haven’t made clear what you want from AI, you can’t communicate that to any of the leaders under you.”

Thomas Moons (MBA 2005), co-founder of OrangeCoat and former Shell executive, cautioned against over-reliance on a single AI vendor, while Vahid Marc Khamsi (MBA 2009), senior vice president at SAP, stressed the importance of reskilling the workforce to prioritize empathy and understanding business as technical skills become less important.

Artificial intelligence and the problem of sustainable development

In the coming years, artificial intelligence will power our economies in more and more ways and will be applied in robotics, medicine, autonomous vehicles, space exploration and energy management, said Fabio Fontana, chief growth officer at TONOMUS and CEO of ZeroPoint DC, in his closing remarks.

However, as the pace of AI adoption increases, our need for data centers will increase. These facilities currently consume 80 GW of electricity, which is approximately 2% of total global energy consumption. That capacity could skyrocket to 230 GW by 2030, Fontana said, making the need for more sustainable data centers a particularly pressing issue.

Fontana proposed four solutions: a more energy-efficient chip design, advanced cooling mechanisms, using excess heat from the data center to heat households, and using renewable energy to power this infrastructure.

Since a single Google search uses 60 watts and a ChatGPT query uses 600 watts, Fontana noted that we need to be more mindful of how we use energy. “Google Search or ChatGPT are not free,” he said.

IMD President David Bach concluded the event by encouraging graduates to continue to ask difficult questions and not settle for easy answers. “At IMD, we strive to be part of the important conversations that need to take place to expose and mitigate these threats, reduce the death toll, and ensure that this transformation happens in an inclusive and sustainable way.”