EDITORIAL: AI WILL DISRUPT LEGACY BUSINESSES AND BRING ABOUT A NEW ERA OF INNOVATION

According to the Future of Jobs Report 2025, published by the World Economic Forum (WEF), ‘40 per cent of employers are planning to use AI to automate tasks and reduce their workforce.’

To many board members, this may seem like a conservative figure. The potential benefits, impact and risks of AI have increasingly dominated the conversation in recent years, across every industry and every culture. 

The latest report from Egon Zehnder highlights just how crucial it is for boards to not only engage with this conversation, but actively integrate it into future strategic planning. Used right, AI has the potential to streamline processes, and ‘achieve significant advantages in terms of efficiency, innovation and growth.’ 

While many companies focus on the practical elements of AI’s potential, such as skills training and investment in new technologies, the report also shines a light on another important conversation: risk assessment. AI’s true scope and potential remains unknown. There are ethical questions to be considered, alongside issues of intellectual property and data security. When it comes to future planning, truly forward thinking companies will not only be looking towards what AI can build, but also trying to predict what it could destroy - and mitigating those risks before it’s too late.