Abstract:

Agentic AI promises to take business processes to the next level of automation driving efficiency and enabling autonomous operations. But in a world of human-AI interactions, what are the key competencies that leaders and operational managers need to develop in the domain of Artificial Intelligence so that they can drive successful transformations of their organizations? Regardless of managerial level, seniority or functional area of expertise leaders and managers alike need to understand the driving forces behind this disruptive change of their entire business ecosystem, driven by AI. They have to become "AI literate" rather sooner than later or else they will miss the opportunity to ride this wave for the benefit of their stakeholders and the society at large. Leaders need to understand what are the main AI trends, tools and technologies, but also be capable to critically assess their maturity levels and make key technological bets. They also need to take sound build-or-buy decisions, being able to understand what are the key players in the AI industry, and when is more cost-effective to develop AI-enabled capabilities internally or better partner with innovative technological players.

In this paper, we propose a framework of fundamental AI competencies for managers and present the statistical validation of this model based on a quantitative research. We provide evidence for the construct and content validity of the proposed capabilities framework based on a number of +50 responses to a research questionnaire collected from experienced business managers in various industries. The work is part of a wider doctoral research in the field of using AI technologies for the development of intelligent tutoring systems targeted at business leaders and managers. Several considerations related to the use of the proposed AI capabilities framework are thus discussed in the corresponding section of the paper.

While similar works are referenced in the paper, the topic is both extremely actual and original, being relevant to a diverse audience, mainly stakeholders in the global business universe regardless of industry and/or functional area of expertise.

Keywords:

Artificial Intelligence (AI) competencies, leadership development, intelligent tutoring systems (ITS).