Forget the hype, embrace the revolution! In this episode of TCS+, TechCentral speaks with Workday South Africa country manager Kiv Moodley and manager of solutions consulting Jannie Malan to dissect the critical intersection of artificial intelligence and human potential.

Malan oversees the solution consulting team, engaging with prospects and clients to understand their challenges and demonstrate how Workday’s technology can enable them to achieve their vision.

Both Moodley and Malan, who coincidentally joined Workday on the very day its South African office launched in 2018, brought seven years of frontline experience to the discussion, proving that AI isn’t just a buzzword – it’s already shaping our world.

TCS+ host Jaydev Chiba sat down with the two men to discuss the topic of “Human by design: real-world AI, real human impact”.

Experts note that AI, like other technologies, might be overestimated in the short term but underestimated in the long term. Overcoming initial apprehension requires understanding what AI is, and understanding helps reveal its potential to allow humans to be more productive and efficient. AI is not a silver bullet; its value is realised when it’s embedded, understood and utilised effectively.

The conversation highlighted several use cases, both personal and within business. Examples ranged from leveraging tools like Grok, ChatGPT and Gemini for productivity, and even a 10-year-old programming Alexa to tell a puppy it’s mealtime. Another use case included using AI for creating a training curriculum and visuals. Moodley and Malan noted that AI is already embedded in daily life through GPS, search and recommendations.

For businesses, a key trend is using AI to improve employee productivity by automating repetitive and mundane tasks, giving people more time for higher-value work. Industries show different levels of adoption, from logistics using AI for warehouse safety, to healthcare for diagnosis and treatment development, and insurance for fraud detection and client profiling. This shift shows value emerging as industries figure out where AI provides maximum benefit.

Listen to this episode of TCS+

A significant portion of the discussion focused on the critical need for ethical and responsible AI use. With organisations facing pressure to adopt AI, establishing AI governance is foundational.

This involves potentially creating AI governance roles, executive sponsorship, governance committees and risk matrices to manage data privacy, bias and transparency. The Workday executives stressed the importance of AI functioning within a larger technology framework, requiring organisations to address data quality, security and accessibility.

Critically, the concept of keeping the human in the loop was emphasised, ensuring humans make final decisions based on AI-surfaced insights. Workday itself champions transparency, providing fact sheets or model cards to explain its AI models and how data is leveraged and bias mitigated.