STELLAFAI EXPERT SERIES
We’ve been talking to agile and OKR experts about AI and coaching. This is a contentious topic, but what we know is AI is here to stay so figuring out how to live and work with it is an important debate… so what do the experts think? …
Yes
Wrong question. It’s guaranteed that we will use it. The real question is how do we use it properly. My hope is that organizations choose to AI to augment their staff rather than replace them. Having said that, not everyone is going to make it into the lifeboat. The people who don’t choose to keep up with the technology, who don’t choose to augment their WoW with AI-based tools, will fall behind and become targets to be let go. — Scott Ambler, Co-developed Disciplined Agile Delivery & Author
AI can be a very useful supplement to support coaching conversation
Generative AI has real potential to help with creating starting points to build upon. — Claire Donald, VP of Technology & Product at Moo
If it provides value or makes peoples lives easier it will be used. Whether we “should” or not.It’s not that “AI is taking our jobs”. But people who know how to use AI are taking our jobs. — Evan Leybourn, Founders of Business Agility Institute / Agile Expert & Author
Yes, but..
Along with a coach, sure. — Gerri Vereen, OKR Coach & Thought Leader
It should be used in conjunction with a persons knowledge of the business specific context they are in it’s going to speed up lower risk decisions and provide more time for people to focus on the higher risk decisions they need to make. — Max Bicknell, Agile Coach & OKR Evangelist
(It should be used) To a certain extent and for frequently asked questions, but it should not be forced or feel like a robot pretending to be a human. be delightful, not creepy. -Sue Lueder, Agile Thought Leader & OKR Evangelist
There will be certain areas where this can help, but humans will always be able to bring that to another quality level and be more specific and relevant. — Hannes Albrecht, Founder at how-to-okr.com / OKR Expert
No
Not until it’s better than humans who have relevant experience and context. The worst OKR coaching is when people review OKRs in isolation and try to improve them while knowing nothing of the strategy, team and processes they fit into. — Richard Russell, OKR & Leadership coach
It can be a good assistant, but we need a way to understand when a person need an emergency intervention of another human being. — Alexis Monville, Agility & Leadership Coach & Thought Leader
Bella, one of Stellafai’s Co-Founder’s, Take…
AI won’t replace humans — but humans who use AI, will replace those who do not.
I agree with our experts; AI can be extremely valuable in helping people achieve their outcomes. Artificial Intelligence research is not yet anywhere near achieving the Artificial General intelligence that the human brain possesses. AI currently lack the experience, instincts, senses, or rich context that real people bring. However, they can assist, augment and amplify coaches and teams to increase their impact. AI has the edge over human coaches in a few areas:
- Cheaper — Human coaches cost hundreds of pounds per hour, whereas AI can scale and costs only a few pennies.
- Faster — Humans require time to understand context and analyse information, whereas computers can do this in milliseconds.
- Available — Scheduling time with humans always involves delays, but AI is available 24x7
- Thorough — If you provide an AI with information, it will process it entirely. In contrast, humans tend to overlook certain details and apply their own filters.
- Neutrality — We all have our biases and prejudices that influence situations; it’s inherent to how our brains function, and we cannot avoid it. Computers are also affected but to a much lesser extent.
We must work out how to integrate AI into how we work and the technology products we use. Then we can leverage its strengths to create value for us humans, who are going to have the upper hand for many years to come!
Embrace AI as your trusty sidekick to help us as humans, really shine
