HUMANS MORE CENTRAL THAN EVER

The PWC survey revealed just how interwoven innovation, technology and people are for CEOs.

“Three-quarters are using technology to improve the well-being of their staff, underscoring how technology is helping workplaces to become more human-centric, not less. A further 47 percent are exploring the benefits of humans and machines working together, while 53 percent are considering how artificial intelligence could change their workforce.

“The result is that, for all the talk of workforces being replaced by machines, humans are more central than ever for CEOs. Rather than replacing staff, technology is a way to complement workers and help them focus on value-adding tasks that can’t be automated. Where New Zealand CEOs are lagging their global counterparts is in the emerging technology space. Artificial intelligence and blockchain were two examples of technologies that our CEOs didn’t see as a priority.

“Likewise, genetically modified crops and synthetic biology were some of the possible business risks that our CEOs saw as a lower priority, compared to more immediate areas like cyber security.”