3 questions to Cyril de Sousa Cardoso

Cyril de Sousa Cardoso is an entrepreneur in the world of consulting and start-ups. He is an author and speaker specializing in Creativity, Innovation and Collective Intelligence. After a career in the world of information systems, IT project management and startups, in 2015 he became Associate Director of Audalom, specialized in Collective Intelligence and in supporting Innovation and the transformation of organizations and territories. He is co-founder and Chairman of the Innovation Commando movement, which aims to spread the keys to creativity and innovation to as many people as possible. Involved in the development of several technology companies, since 2019 he has headed the start-up Les Petits Bots, which develops conversational agent and artificial intelligence solutions for public and private organizations. He is the author of several books on innovation and an expert in technology project management.

PRELIGENS: It's often said that the jobs of 2030 don't yet exist. Could you give us an example of an AI-related job?

Cyril de Sousa Cardoso: While debates and contradictory studies are multiplying around the subject of jobs that could disappear following the rise of Artificial Intelligence technologies, and more recently conversational and generative AI in the spotlight, it's worth pointing out that history has shown us that every technological revolution also generates the creation of new jobs. Current debates are always subject to the bias of making it easier to identify, when a new technology emerges, the jobs that are going to disappear than those that are going to appear.

Going back to the Industrial Revolution, it would have been difficult to foresee the emergence of the railway engineer. Similarly, the invention of the Internet in the 50s gave rise to a totally new professional ecosystem, from cloud architect to UX/UI designer, the presentation of which would have seemed quite strange to any economist in the middle of the last century. It's therefore difficult to predict the jobs of 2030 with any accuracy, but one thing is certain: jobs in fields such as technology ethics, algorithmic auditing and AI usage training will be created and developed. As more and more decisions are delegated to algorithms, new professions will emerge to guarantee the transparency, fairness and equity of AI systems, as well as their dissemination.

At the same time, a thriving "Made without AI" industry (just as there is today a "Handmade" market) or "Digital Detox" industry could emerge, as a reaction to technological omnipresence.

PRELIGENS: Can you give an example of how AI will be used in tomorrow's management?

Cyril de Sousa Cardoso: Management isn't just about numbers and graphs, and fortunately it's also about the art of human interaction. In this respect, however, AI, properly used, can play the role of a discreet and effective assistant to the manager. Advanced algorithms can already today facilitate the management of calendars, sort out priority e-mails and even assist and take minutes at meetings, thus optimizing the time of employees and managers alike. But beyond these day-to-day tasks, AI is also set to revolutionize recruitment, the induction and integration of new employees, and the assessment and anticipation of risks such as turnover, burn-out or boredom. Generative AI systems will design tailor-made training programs, based on the skills and aspirations of each individual employee, supporting talent management and job and skills forecasting. The panorama is vast, and numerous use cases are already emerging, pointing to a multitude of other applications yet to be invented.

PRELIGENS: Are companies ready to adopt AI as a management tool?

Cyril de Sousa Cardoso: AI will not supplant managers, but rather assist them. Many companies have already begun to adopt these technologies, each at their own pace. There are the pioneers, the followers, the hesitant, the skeptical, even the resistant. However, the popularization of AI-based tools will be strongly influenced by their effectiveness in improving overall performance and employee well-being. Companies that engage in continuous experimentation and learning will be the ones to reap the greatest benefits from this revolution. Ignoring AI today would be like rejecting the computer or the Internet in the 80s, it would irrevocably destine the company - or the manager - to obsolescence.