Yes, this really is the AI Era and I was astonished to learn that, according to Element AI, an independent laboratory in Canada, only 22,000 people worldwide now have the skills needed to do serious artificial intelligence research — about twice as many as a year ago. I would have guessed the total number to be at least 10-15 times that many.

Be that as it may, in Human + Machine, Paul Daugherty and James Wilson share the revelations of their research that involved more than 1,500 organizations. These are the five critical skills needed to thrive in the AI Era:

Mindset: “Assuming a radically different approach toward buiness by reimagining work around the missing middle.” That is,  [when/where human and machine — in collaboration — help each other to perform at their best. “People improve AI and, in turn, smart machines give humans superpowers.”

Experimentation: “Actively observing for spots in processes to test AI and to learn and scale are imiag ined process from the perspectuve of the missing middle.”

Leadership: “Making a commitment to the responsible use of AI from the start.”

Data: “Building a data ‘supply chain’ to fuel intelligent systems.”

Skills: “Activdely developing the eight ‘fusion skills’ necessary for reimagining processes in the missing middle.”

I agree with Paul Daugherty and James Wilson: “The AI revolution is not coming; it is already here, and it is about reimagining your processes, across all functions of the company, to get the most benefits from this technology’s power to augment human capability.”

John Kotter once observed thast the greatest challenge when leading a change initiative is to change the way people think about change. If people do not understand what reimagining involves, they cannot reimagine processes, much less  reimagine how humans and machines can collaborate on improving those processes.