Research findings by Dell Technologies and the Institute for the Future on the next era of human-machine partnership signalled exciting times over the next decade, with opportunities to shape the future in myriad ways and in a meaningful manner. Speaking to BusinessLine , Alok Ohrie, President and Managing Director, Dell Technologies, India, said: “Strengthening human-machine partnerships will bolster opportunities for economic empowerment as well as decent work for all.” Excerpts from the interaction:

We are depending on technology for everything. Will this over-dependence be a concern for the industry?

Technology dependence and advancement is an opportunity rather than a concern. This is because, with digitalisation gaining momentum across industries, businesses have started adopting technology to make their infrastructure future-ready.

Emerging technologies like the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain are not merely creating new possibilities but enabling new ways of working together.

The key to successfully utilising this opportunity is to follow a more collaborative approach, where humans and machines work in tandem with each other.

How do you foresee the workforce coping with the transformation?

Advanced capabilities of today’s technologies are driving enterprises, start-ups and institutions to envision a future where their impact on society will be nothing short of transformation.

Studies show that 91 per cent of Indian business leaders believe that digital transformation should be more widespread, compared to 78 per cent globally.

This advocates the proposition that the impact of technology will extend over the next decade.

Enabling the workforce will be crucial to ensuring they cope with this pace of transformation. Emerging technologies are set to revolutionise work and create new ways of preparing and connecting people to more rewarding careers.

Organisations will need to retrain and upskill existing workforce so as to enable them stay relevant in a changing work environment.

How do you think the skill gap could be bridged while preparing for the future of work?

Today, organisations are realising the need to invest in emerging technologies and create new ways to prepare people for their careers. With new evaluation practices, organisations will need to re-skill experienced workers while simultaneously empowering a new generation of workers.

Over 60 per cent of business leaders are already developing their in-house digital skills and talent, and 57 per cent predict that the next generation of workers will disrupt their workforce with their ingrained digital skills and mindset.

Where do we stand in terms of technology and workforce landscape?

India presents a promising opportunity as it is rapidly progressing towards becoming a digital economy.

In order to create a work environment where machines are viewed as colleagues, human strengths will need to be programmed and integrated into machine intelligence.

Can you share details about the forecast on hiring process in 2030 as compared to the present?

The hiring process has witnessed an evolution over the years.

In the next decade, we will see machine-learning systems collaborate with humans to support the challenging work of hiring and retaining talent.

Here, AI will play a prominent role in the hiring process and will be used to evaluate an individual’s ability and assess his/her potential.

The next generation workers must also have the capability to understand how their profiles are being interpreted by the machine-learning tools that employers will use to make informed hiring decisions.

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