Workers and businesses risk being left behind unless they move swiftly to adopt artificial intelligence and modern change management practices, the Barbados National Standards Institution (BNSI) has said, its director declaring the country “cannot afford not to” act now.
Haydn Rhynd told Barbados TODAY at the Barbados Association of Administrative Professionals conference on Wednesday that with the emergence of AI, there is growing concern in the workplace about its capabilities, as he encouraged a more open-minded approach.
He said: “People often see change as something scary. There is a very focused approach to change management, many people think, ‘Well, I am not so digitally inclined. Do I have to retool myself completely? Is it going to be difficult to keep up? I’m too old to follow this new technology’, you know, so there is an element of fear.”
With the introduction of AI, roles in the workplace are evolving rather than disappearing, he said.
“Those who embrace the change will build their skills. We learn to leverage the tools of AI and not just keep up, but those people who embrace it will lead, they will really take charge and be far more productive, far more efficient, have far more time to do the things that are more human and less mundane,” he explained, describing this era as a “fantastic opportunity” in a rapidly changing environment.
BNSI has a suite of recommended standards for change management which businesses can adopt to make the transition to AI easier, he added.
Rhynd further revealed that in addition to standards, the institution also provides training support.
“We are offering training sessions on the AI tools themselves in terms of how do we embrace, which tool do we use, which one is better for my organization depending on type or size. We find that more and more people who were reluctant to embrace the notion of AI or recognizing ‘Hey, we can’t afford not to’. We are really in a time where we need to act and we need to act now where AI becomes our friend and we get comfortable with navigating through AI.”
But he cautioned that as organisations adopt AI, attention must also be paid to cybersecurity and data protection systems.
“A lot of questions on confidentiality has also been raised. ‘Do I just throw my entire work life information at AI tools?’ The notion of cybersecurity, ‘Are we surrounding and ring-fencing our businesses with the right processes to share information?’ ‘What information do we share with who?’ We also have standards to guide companies and businesses through that whole cybersecurity conversation.”
Rhynd noted that given the rapid pace of AI development, the technology can be integrated across virtually every area.
“AI has hit the floor running, and we’ve been mindful that no sectors are to be left open whether it is the health sector, whether it’s food, whether it’s manufacturing, whether it’s agriculture or just business, financial management, you name it, there’s room, there’s room and there’s space for AI to be incorporated.”
(LG)
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