Tech Experts Push for AI, Robots to Boost Performance

By Omolabake Fasogbon

A tech expert and Group Managing Director of SystemSpecs Holdings, John Obaro has underscored the importance of new technology, specifically artificial Intelligence and robot to the field of Human Resource, HR

Obaro enlightened the audience who were gathered at the investiture ceremony of Olusegun Mojeed as the new president of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM),in Lagos recently.

According to him, AI is already a present reality in Nigeria and sets to further impact several human endeavours including HR.

Obaro further allayed the fears that AI and robotics would fuel job loss in the country in the face of high unemployment rate.

He clarified that with innovation, creativity as well as ability to adapt, AI will instead complement humans rather than replace them.

The tech tycoon thus advised HR professionals to prepare themselves to adapt to the mminent change by developing skills that will enable them to adopt automated systems to enhance their work.

“This requires learning and adopting the technology itself. If you ignore robots, they will ignore you. The HR technology landscape will continue to be disrupted. Therefore, HR practitioners need to start thinking of better ways to advance their skills and strategies.

The robots are here. Are you ready?”

Obaro further justified the presence of AI in the HR field, saying, “bots can automate the entire recruitment process by pulling information from several systems, including analysing a candidate’s previous experience and interests, and matching them with open roles best suitable, scheduling interviews, and providing ongoing feedback to candidates. AI also helps in training, onboarding, performance analysis,

“AI can monitor your employees better for productivity measurement, using objective metrics to access and predict performance,” Obaro said, adding that it also lets managers have real-time analytics to see the impact that absences, open shifts and unplanned schedule changes will have on key performance indicators”.

Obaro further charged charged the new leadership of the CIPM to maximise these benefits by fully embracing technology.