Blog|24 April 2024

You don’t have to be an IT expert to lead on AI

Debra D’Agostino
Debra D’Agostino
Chief Capability Officer; Managing Director, Thought Leadership
You don’t have to be an IT expert to lead on AI

The following excerpt was originally published as one of six perspectives by female leaders as part of the IBM report, ‘Forging the future of AI: Women can take the lead.’ Oxford Economics is proud to have contributed to the research that was used to inform the report and its findings.

The adoption curve for AI will vary across companies but, according to our data, it’s probably already in use in customer service and marketing—areas where women are more likely to hold leadership roles.

Women aren’t idling when it comes to piloting AI tools. They are more likely than men to have used AI to generate, edit, and summarise content, and nearly 40% have used it for graphic design, and image and video generation. What’s more, 40% of women say using generative AI has resulted in a greater than 10% increase in productivity.

Are any of these women IT experts? Maybe—but they don’t need to be. Understanding and anticipating how AI can best augment the unique needs and capabilities of your team is more important; then you can work with the right people in IT to make it happen. In fact, all of our research to date shows that the most important quality that leads to AI success is one that’s uniquely human—creativity.

For example, at Oxford Economics I am part of a global working group to help our economists, analysts, and researchers identify specific generative AI tools to amp up their productivity—from automating literature reviews and desk research to quickly querying large data sets and identifying trends drawn from qualitative insights. We are also testing ways generative AI can help our clients get deeper insight from our economic briefings and forecasts.

Author

Debra D’Agostino
Debra D’Agostino

Chief Capability Officer; Managing Director, Thought Leadership

  • Share:

You may be interested in

Asia Policy & Government Advisory Whitepaper: Policy in the driving seat

Asia Policy & Government Advisory Whitepaper: Policy in the driving seat

Asia remains one of the world’s most dynamic growth regions—but the forces shaping business outcomes are changing.
Powering Growth: How Data Centres Are Reshaping APAC Economies

Powering Growth: How Data Centres Are Reshaping APAC Economies

At Oxford Economics, we help you surface and quantify those contributions, turning anecdotes into evidence. Our Economic Impact Consulting team builds defensible models that capture direct, indirect, and induced impacts, plus catalytic effects that are often missed, such as supplier development, skills formation, productivity gains, and infrastructure upgrades. We translate your operational data into board and regulator ready insights on jobs, GVA, incomes, and tax across construction and operations, at city, provincial, and national levels. We also run forward looking scenarios, including AI driven load growth, power and carbon forecast, and policy shifts, so you can credibly articulate both today’s impact and tomorrow’s trajectory. The result is a clear country level value story that strengthens stakeholder trust, supports siting and incentives, and helps you scale with confidence.
AI Geopolitics 2030

AI Geopolitics 2030

The first KPMG Strategic AI Capability Index (SACI) provides a comparative, evidence-based assessment of how the world’s leading regions in the race for AI leadership (the United States, Europe, and China) are positioned to develop, scale, and govern artificial intelligence. The analysis is complemented by a detailed view of Europe’s internal sub-regions.