Yes, AI will displaces jobs. And it will provide opportunities for growth. Here’s a smart way to think about it.
25 years ago, when I had notably fewer gray hairs, I was part of a team that launched one of the pioneering e-commerce shops here in Switzerland for Otto Fischer, a distributor of electrical materials. This shift marked a significant change from the existing order-by-fax system that dominated the 1990s.
Back then, electricians had to submit their orders by 12 noon via fax to receive their materials by 7h00 the next morning. This process was not only time-consuming but fraught with potential errors due to the manual entry of faxed orders into the ERP system and difficulties in deciphering handwritten numbers—was that a smudged ‘3’ or an ‘8’?
Imagine an electrician who has spent the morning drilling into concrete walls writing a fax order. The drilling strain their handwriting, making the faxes difficult to read. Additionally, the technology of fax machines at the time was far from perfect, often adding another layer of confusion with noise and distortions in the transmission.
An entire floor of staff was dedicated to manually processing these orders, which involved verifying ambiguous entries by calling the wife of the electrician. These were the days when there were no mobile phones widely available. Edith would call Mary to find out what construction site John was on to figure whether it was a 3 or a 8. Inevitably the calls, quite a permanent feature, were used for updates on personal and family life, too. This personal touch built strong customer relationships.
The Digital Revolution: Introduction of the Webshop
With the introduction of the webshop, the ordering deadline was extended to 19h00, still ensuring a 7h00 delivery. This was a game-changer in terms of efficiency and convenience. However, it brought fear to the logistics team, who saw their roles—centered around manual order processing and customer verification—as becoming obsolete.
And we young guns nearly missed the point: Sure this is a family business, so people are not let go. Yet the manual order processing was not required anymore. What to do? Until – and we nearly missed it – we got some crucial insight: The logistics team due to their constant interactions over order confirmations had simply the best understanding of the product catalogue on offer on how the products mapped to construction requirements.
We shifted their role from simply confirming details to proactively advising on and upselling newer or improved products. Edith would still call Mary. Now she did not need to confirm 3 versus 8 but could talk about enhanced products and what solutions better met construction requirements. And sure, they still talked family.
In a at the time depressed real estate and construction market the company could significantly boost their sales. The secret to their success: The logistics team building a loyal customer base.
Lessons for Today’s AI Transformation
This transformation serves as a potent illustration for businesses today, especially in the context of the GPT revolution and other AI advancements. Yes the AI revolution will displace jobs. And yes, the simplest path for companies is to use technology strictly as a cost-cutting tool. However, the smarter, approach is to leverage technology to enhance human capabilities, not replace them.
Focus your colleagues on what humans do best: relationships building and decision making in situations of grey. Let computers to what they do best: faster compute. This strategy creates opportunities for growth and innovation in a changing technological landscape by combining human insight with digital efficiency.
I bet the most successful companies will be those that view innovations as tools to enhance, rather than replace, human capabilities.
