Venkata Kondepati, PMP, is Manager of Data Architecture & Engineering at Ascentt, specializing in Cloud, Data, AI, Customer IAM, and GIS.
There are new AI tools being introduced every day, and the challenge to keep up with the growing number of models is increasing. The changes are fast and frequent, and software professionals are required to learn and adapt rapidly.
Corporate firms now expect employees to learn and perform simultaneously, often leading to a work-life imbalance. The real question is how one balances the time spent in their role at work while integrating the new AI tools effectively. If you’re late to the game, as an individual, you have a higher risk of getting laid off, and as a company, you risk falling behind your competitors. Meanwhile, investing the time and energy to both learn and adapt to company expectations takes discipline and effective planning. Here, I cover five key actions for both individuals and companies to take to keep up with the “AI revolution” and dedicate energy to the most crucial developments.
Dedicate 10% Of Your Time Every Week
This strategy seems straightforward, but the impact is significant. In a week, the average employee works 40 hours, but by dedicating just 10%, or four hours a week, to developing AI skills, the effort can add up quickly. If we assume that an employee spends four hours every week for 45 weeks, it amounts to 180 hours in a year spent on keeping up with AI trends.
As a leader, I encourage my teams to allocate time in their calendars to sharpen their abilities. It’s often difficult to spend time outside of work on learning when there are competing priorities and obligations. However, by incorporating upskilling in employees’ daily tasks, it not only boosts long-term productivity but also reduces strain.
Personally, I use Microsoft’s To Do app to create a list of tasks that need to be done by EOD. I also push action items from Outlook, my calendar, project boards and other reports so that I can prioritize my time based on the tasks. The key to this strategy is not only allocating 10% of hours in a week but determining which tools and tasks should be prioritized during that time.
To easily prioritize tasks, you can separate them into the following four buckets: important and urgent, important but not urgent, not important but urgent and not important and not urgent. After sorting tasks, it’s imperative to focus on the most important and urgent tasks first, and then address the others in that order.
Join Group Learning Settings
Collaborating with other individuals or groups that are learning similar topics is also helpful in streamlining the learning process. Additionally, tech forums are another great way to interact with like-minded peers and learn from their experiences. Even non-technical groups can offer benefits. For instance, if I joined a book club, I’d have the opportunity to gain exposure to various perspectives. Similarly, AI tools have a wide range of functions that can be modified based on one’s technical background and interests.
Request Formal Training
First, it’s important to find any self-learning resources or instructor-led courses available within your company. Otherwise, professional learning websites such as LinkedIn Learning, Pluralsight and Simplilearn host a wide range of courses that you can request access to and track your progress.
Gaining an understanding and a general sense of direction for where you want to go with your professional development journey creates a more compelling argument for company sponsorship for further learning. The current corporate world is racing toward generative AI and agentic AI, so there’s a need for employees to improve their understanding.
Ethical Considerations
Always make sure to check what your company’s policies are regarding AI tools and technologies. Most companies restrict the sharing of certain data, such as PII and PHI, with AI tools and chatbots.
As leaders, another ethical consideration is to avoid biases when providing training opportunities. In this increasingly competitive job market, if an individual has proven their ability to effectively use learning resources and has the potential to be a valuable asset, training opportunities will only advance their knowledge.
Create Balance Between Existing Work And New Learning
Although all of these actions are important, the primary focus should be on being able to balance new knowledge with existing day-to-day tasks. Outside of technical competencies, it’s imperative to maintain and establish positive relationships with other employees and customers. If a company is looking to hire talent with AI skills, they often need to increase compensation and dedicate time to onboarding. But if they train existing employees, it positively impacts both the growth of the company and the employee.
Training not only includes independent learning but also investing time in prototypes, encouraging innovation and providing space for employees to experiment. Challenges arise when companies require team members to keep up with the latest software technologies but don’t provide effective means to do so. Often, investing in experienced employees who already have domain knowledge and are familiar with your systems and workflows can do wonders.
Conclusion
Adapting to the “AI revolution” requires dedicating time in a way that learning complements an employee’s existing responsibilities and maintains work-life balance. Following the actions above can streamline the process of professional development in the AI world. After all, there will always be newer AI technologies, and it’s our responsibility to keep up with the pace.
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