<\/p>\n
You can also listen to this podcast on iono.fm here.<\/p>\n
JEREMY MAGGS: Artificial intelligence [AI] is changing not only how businesses operate, but what leaders are expected to know. As AI and automation take over more technical work, business schools are being forced to rethink whether the traditional MBA [Master of Business Administration] still prepares executives for the world they are entering now.<\/p>\n
Gibs, the Gordon Institute of Business Science, says the modern MBA needs to put greater emphasis on judgment, on ethics, adaptability and decision making in complexity, alongside technological fluency.<\/p>\n
In this conversation, I\u2019m joined now by Professor Manoj Chiba, who is MBA director at Gibs. Manoj, welcome to you. What\u2019s the thesis of the argument here? Is AI making the traditional MBA outdated?<\/p>\n
MANOJ CHIBA: Jeremy, thanks. I think this is a very interesting question that\u2019s being debated locally, regionally, continentally and globally. The reality is the answer is no. Let me start there.<\/p>\n
When we think about the MBA, we think about emerging technologies. We think about what does the future of the world look like? Technology has always been at the underpinning of it. The reality of what it has changed is the shape of work.<\/p>\n
When I say shape, Jeremy, what type of work do senior managers, executives, future businesses need to look at? What does the future of countries look like in an AI automated world?<\/p>\n
The reality is we\u2019ve still got a lot to navigate.<\/p>\n
I think a key piece of this is how do we need it, number one. Number two, how do we put the guardrails around it? Number three, what does that shape and change really look like when we think about jobs, when we think about business models and so on.<\/p>\n
Gibs technology has always been underpinning this even before AI. That\u2019s the reality. All of our MBA courses have always had an underpinning of technology.<\/p>\n
We recognised very early on that a CIO [chief information officer] coming out with an MBA and taking up the position of a CIO, needed a depth of understanding of what role does technology play in a business, and what does it mean to lead in a technologically-driven world. Over the last decade, that has changed.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m a huge AI fan, Jeremy, let me put that out there, and I\u2019ve got a depth of experience in it. Is it going to replace humans? The unfortunate answer is no.<\/p>\n
Why do I say unfortunate? I think there\u2019s been a narrative around it. How do you govern this thing, Jeremy? A few years ago, when we were doing the elections, I was asked to sit on a panel and I said, how do you govern technology? Well, you don\u2019t govern the technology. You govern the developers of the technology. What does that mean? How do we still take ethics into consideration?<\/p>\n
The reality of the matter is we\u2019re always going to be behind the curve. Regulation is going to be behind the curve. Let\u2019s not forget about South Africa\u2019s own AI policy that was generated by AI.<\/p>\n
But we must understand what it can do and what he can\u2019t do. I think the key takeaway here for me, Jeremy, is very simple. How do we make sure that the future shape of the way our jobs will look like, our organisations, is relevant.<\/p>\n
So that\u2019s what we\u2019re doing. We are equipping leaders to understand it, not technically; the technology will change.<\/p>\n
What we\u2019re doing is how do you govern something that you don\u2019t fully understand yet, and very few people fully understand it, and that\u2019s the reality, Jeremy.<\/p>\n
JEREMY MAGGS: You use the word govern, I guess, judgment, and that obviously becomes more important as the technology improves. But here\u2019s my question, can judgment actually be taught in a classroom?<\/p>\n
MANOJ CHIBA: One hundred percent, I think it can be. If you spend time just reading these outputs, they sound extremely elegant. They sound extremely well put together, they sound knowledgeable and so on.<\/p>\n
But the critical thinking and problem-solving skills \u2013 and let\u2019s just think about the critical thinking skills here: the moment you read anything generated by an AI, you know it sounds good, but actually, Jeremy, at the core of it, no matter how good the models become, is hogwash.<\/p>\n
I think what we\u2019ve got to be careful about here is that it can fool a lot of people, but we\u2019ve got to teach the ability to say, how do you know when something has been generated [by AI] or not?<\/p>\n
Gibs, let\u2019s be clear, Jeremy, we\u2019ve decided to work with the technology, not against the technology.<\/p>\n
On all our programmes, depending on the type of module, we\u2019d rather focus on the core skills that make us human. How do you lead properly? When we say use it, how do you use it ethically? What are the boundaries of using it? As the technology improves, obviously we\u2019ll change that as well.<\/p>\n
I think, Jeremy, what we often forget to say out there in the public is Gibs \u2013 I\u2019ll never forget in 2022, when ChatGPT launched, the dean phoned me and said to me, Chiba, what do we do?<\/p>\n
And I said to him, boss, the most important thing we can do is actually embrace it, otherwise it just goes underground.<\/p>\n
In January 2023, we had a policy and a policy that we keep updating. I think this year alone we\u2019ve updated our AI usage policy. I think we should be able to be clear \u2013 how do we use it?<\/p>\n
Let me ask you this, Jeremy, which is an important piece, the value of AI is what? The fact that we can get become more productive, more efficient. That\u2019s great, but that\u2019s not value.<\/p>\n
Value is what do you do with the additional time that you\u2019ve managed to save because you\u2019ve got an assistant called artificial intelligence that helps you. So what are you actually doing with that additional time?<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what we\u2019re unlocking; is what does that actually allow you to do as a knowledge worker, in a premium position in leadership, executive leadership and so on, around that?<\/p>\n
And then how do you bring your people along with you?<\/p>\n
Jeremy, we\u2019re forgetting one thing, I think, is AI literacy still has to become a core component, like digital literacy.<\/p>\n
I think sometimes we have this fallacy that it\u2019s an endpoint. This is a continuous journey with no endpoint. So how do we build that resilience into our individuals from a technological perspective is critical. And how do we embrace it? Jeremy, we have to embrace it. If we are going to catch up to the world, we have to embrace it.<\/p>\n
My personal view, because I\u2019ve been very fortunate, Jeremy, I\u2019ve been to Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Europe this year, and in South Africa, the way we\u2019re using it, our executives seem to be at least, I\u2019m going to call it 100 metres ahead, Jeremy.<\/p>\n
This is an honest view, which I think is interesting.<\/p>\n
JEREMY MAGGS: Let me ask you this then. South Africa, I don\u2019t need to tell you or anyone else, offers an unusually volatile business environment. Do you think, given what you\u2019ve just built on, that\u2019s an advantage when training leaders, rather than an obstacle to doing business?<\/p>\n
MANOJ CHIBA: Jeremy, show me stability in the world right now.<\/p>\n
JEREMY MAGGS: Yeah, good point.<\/p>\n
MANOJ CHIBA: That\u2019s the reality. I do quite a bit of work in the Middle East, and we can see what\u2019s happened and it doesn\u2019t seem to be stopping. So I think it\u2019s an advantage.<\/p>\n
How do you deal with volatility? I was actually reflecting on this a few times this year. We often talk about the \u2018Vuca\u2019 [volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity] world, and Jeremy, you and I, as South Africans, as Africans, we are used to it.<\/p>\n
It takes me back to the load shedding days. Do you remember those days, Jeremy? If it\u2019s load shedding, we know how to make a plan. So I think we\u2019ve built an inherent resilience.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not saying it\u2019s the right thing, let\u2019s just be clear. But I think we\u2019ve built an inherent resilience which allows us to operate in hyper complex, hyper uncertain worlds.<\/p>\n
Will the world become stable? I\u2019m sure there will be some sort of stability, but I think the instability will remain in some shape or form, whether it\u2019s driven by wars, whether it\u2019s driven by technological disruptions.<\/p>\n
So I think actually, as Africans, we\u2019ve got a huge advantage, to be honest with you.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not the thesis that business operates on, let\u2019s just be clear. But here our advantage is that if you put a leader from the African continent into any of the other countries where there is hyper volatility, they know how to navigate it. It\u2019s part of our DNA. I want to use the Rassie [Erasmus] word, but it\u2019s our DNA.<\/p>\n
JEREMY MAGGS: And that\u2019s where I am going to leave it. What a fascinating conversation. Professor Manoj Chiba, MBA director at the Gordon Institute of Business Science.<\/p>\n
Brought to you by the Gordon Institute of Business Science (Gibs).<\/p>\n
Moneyweb does not endorse any product or service being advertised in sponsored articles on our platform.<\/p>\n
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