Are business leaders next in line to lose out to AI?
The business news that matters.
Hello and welcome to the latest edition of Off to Lunch…
Did you know that almost two-thirds (64 per cent) of workers trust a robot more than their manager? The statistic, from a survey of more than 8,500 workers conducted by Oracle, also found that just over half have turned to AI for advice.
With a handful of companies already instating an AI CEO, the impact of the technology may be turning away from workers and onto leadership. Oh, and that survey I mentioned was from five years ago – before the boom of ChatGPT and the permeation of AI into the zeitgeist.
Alibaba founder Jack Ma made headlines in 2017 when he predicted that a robot would be on the cover of Time magazine as the best CEO in 30 years. Why did he think so? Ma argued it was because AI is faster and more rational than humans, and isn’t blinded by emotions, such as getting angry at a competitor.
China-based gaming company NetDragon Websoft, which has a market cap of HK$6.33bn (£634.7m), named the AI program Tang Yu as its CEO in August 2022. The company’s founder Dr Liu Dejian said at the time: “We believe AI is the future of corporate management and our appointment of Tang Yu represents our commitment to truly embrace the use of AI to transform the way we operate our business and ultimately drive our future strategic growth.”
Yu won the title of China's Best Virtual Employee of the Year at the China Digital Human Industry Forum last month. While many are sceptical that this is anything other than a PR stunt for a company committed to a strategy of transforming into a “metaverse-based working community”, it has fuelled debate around the subject of AI leadership.
As with the rest of the workforce, we may end up optimising a function rather than replacing it. Accelerated decision-making, strategic recommendations and talent development are ways that tech giants are already improving company leadership using AI. Google uses the technology to personalise leadership development programmes, while Amazon leverages machine learning to match employees to individual projects based on expertise.
Do you think AI could ever replace business leaders? Let us know by emailing josh.dornbrack@businessleader.co.uk.
Your views
Feedback from our call for views about 120 business leaders backing the Labour Party in yesterday’s newsletter:
“We want to work hand-in-hand with business,” Labour says, and its priority is “to grow the economy”, but at the same time it wants to stifle our flexible labour market and force more costs on to businesses. The two are not compatible and they should urgently re-think.
Given two years of back-to-back 10% price hikes, the last thing our clients will want next year is a further significant price increase due these proposed changes. But I fear it’s coming regardless.
Dominic Ponniah, co-founder and CEO, Cleanology
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Other stories that matter…
1. Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský is on the verge of completing a deal to buy International Distribution Services, the owner of Royal Mail, for £3.6bn. The bid from Křetínský’s EP Group has gone to shareholders to vote. Deal terms include not breaking up the business, keeping Royal Mail HQ in the UK and maintaining its name and brand for five years. You can read more here.
2. The London Stock Exchange is embracing cryptocurrency with the launch of cryptocurrency exchange-traded notes. These are similar to exchange-traded funds but rely on unsecured debt securities issued by a bank, meaning that they do not directly hold the assets they track. You can read more here.
3. RAC data reveals that drivers in the UK are paying more for diesel than any other European country. The average cost of 155p is 5p more expensive than second-placed Belgium. The country sits in 11th place for petrol, with Denmark top with prices of 175p. You can read more here.
4. US canned water brand Liquid Death has launched in the UK after becoming a smash hit with generation Z across the pond. The Guardian has looked into how the company has managed to go from start-up to a valuation of more than $1bn in seven years. You can read the full piece here.
5. The LSE is looking “less“ attractive than international exchanges, according to the boss of digital bank OakNorth. CEO Rishi Khosla says: “The key challenge is that you don’t have a significant number of growth companies on the LSE and, because of that, you don’t have a significant number of growth investors who invest in the London market.” You can read the interview with City AM here.
And finally…
The end of any sporting season is bittersweet for the coaching staff. Uprooting family, finding new schools and not knowing where you will be in three months is a difficult way to go through life.
While they wipe their tears with pound notes, the Premier League has earned a reputation as a brutal stomping ground for managers. The Times’s Martin Samuel has written about why Italian coaches are the best: because they are allowed to fail.
You can read the full piece here.
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