AUTOMATION, AI AND
THE FUTURE OF WORKThe role of the CEO in shaping
tomorrow’s workplace in Asia

Regional sponsor

CONNECTING TALENT& ORGANISATIONSASIA-WIDE
Asia’s talent market is tighter than ever, as employers facechallenges recruiting the skilled talent they need. That’s
why many employers choose to partner with us. We are theexperts in recruiting qualified, professional and skilled people
worldwide, across permanent positions, contract roles andtemporary assignments.
If you are looking for talent to transform your organisation, you needto choose the right partner. We have the depth of expertise and themarket insight to help our clients and candidates make informed
decisions.
We are ISO accredited across Asia and have over 40 years ofexperience in the Asia Pacific region. Our deep expertise across a wide
spectrum of industries and professions makes us unparalleled recruiters
in Asia’s expanding world of work.
Request a copy of the 2017 Hays Global Skills Index
The annual Hays Global Skills Index provides
insight into global labour markets, mapping out
what is needed to attract the best talent both
now and in the future.

Contact us today to find out how
we can help power yourworld of work:shanghai@hays.cn
hongkong@hays.com.hk
info@hays.co.jp
kualalumpur@hays.com.mysingapore@hays.com.sg
hays.cn | hays.com.hk | hays.co.jp
hays.com.my | hays.com.sg

Automation, AI and the Future of WorkThe role of the CEO in shaping tomorrow’s workplace in Asia

Preface“Automation, AI and the Future of Work: The role of the CEO in shaping tomorrow’s workplace in Asia”
is an Economist Corporate Network (ECN) report. It is based on a survey of the primary members(Regional/Country CEO/President) of the 500+ ECN clients as well as CEOs/Presidents among theextended ECN network based in the Asia Pacific region. The report was sponsored by Hays and JLL. The
findings and views expressed in this report are those of the ECN alone and do not necessarily reflect theviews of the sponsors.
The report was written and edited by Florian Kohlbacher in Tokyo with assistance from Rehabya
Wijaya and editorial input from Rachel Morarjee in Beijing, Mary Boyd in Shanghai, Robert Koepp in
Hong Kong and Pamela Qiu and Andrew Staples in Singapore. Gaddi Tam in Hong Kong was responsiblefor design.
We would like to thank all the respondents and focus group participants for their time and input.

November 2017

© The Economist Corporate Network. All rights reserved. All information in this report is verified to the best of the authors’
and the publisher’s ability. However, the Economist Corporate Network does not accept responsibility for any loss arising fromreliance on it. Neither this publication, nor any part of it, may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted inany form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the
Economist Corporate Network.

© Economist Corporate Network 20171

Automation, AI and the Future of WorkThe role of the CEO in shaping tomorrow’s workplace in Asia

Contents

2

3

Key findings
A quick read of the brief and its findings

4

Introduction
Asia’s business leaders share their thoughts on automation, AI and the challenges and opportunities
they bring to companies’ future workplace strategy

5

Automation, AI and their impact
What are business leaders’ expectations on automation, AI and their impact?

8

Imagining the future of work
How will automation and AI change the way we work in the future?

12Preparing for tomorrow
What obstacles do businesses face in preparing for the workplace of the future, and what are theirstrategies in dealing with them?

19

The role of the CEO in shaping tomorrow’s workplace
How do business leaders position themselves in their companies’ future workplace strategy?

23

Appendix© Economist Corporate Network 2017

Automation, AI and the Future of WorkThe role of the CEO in shaping tomorrow’s workplace in Asia

Key findings
A quick read of the brief and its findings
We asked: What are business leaders’ expectations on automation, artificial intelligence (AI) and their impact?
 How will automation and AI change the way we work in the future?
 What obstacles do businesses face in preparing for the workplace of the future, and what are theirstrategies in dealing with them?
 How do business leaders position themselves in their companies’ future workplace strategy?

We learn that: Automation and AI are no longer the future. Businesses have already started to feel the impacts
and expect them to intensify within the next five years.
 The majority of CEOs understand that automation and AI will have different impacts on different
workplaces and different workers within the same workplace.
 CEOs do not think that automation and AI will only affect entire job categories. Most of thembelieve that specific tasks within certain jobs will be more significantly affected.
 CEOs find it difficult to clearly communicate their company’s automation and AI strategy to theiremployees. They also seem reluctant to involve external experts in devising and implementing thisstrategy, even when doing so would help.
 A large majority of those surveyed say their companies are active or proactive when it comesto dealing with the impacts of automation and AI on the workplace. Only 16.7% are passively
managing the risks.
 CEOs realise that they have a role to play in defining automation, identifying the opportunities,
and designing a plan to integrate it to the workplace. They also recognise that they must involve
younger, more digitally-fluent employees in this process. A staggering 81.1% of CEOs would lead byexample and automate parts of their job if AI was better at doing them than they are.
 CEOs understand the broader ramifications of automation and AI. To successfully transform theworkplace, business leaders must also proactively work with government and other actors to leadthe discussion about these broader issues.
© Economist Corporate Network 20173

Automation, AI and the Future of WorkThe role of the CEO in shaping tomorrow’s workplace in Asia

Introduction
Asia’s business leaders share their thoughts on automation, AI
and the challenges and opportunities they bring to companies’
future workplace strategy
Since the Industrial Revolution began in the 18th century, technological advancements havecontinuously changed the way we work. Automation and artificial intelligence (AI) are unparalleled in
the speed and scale at which they are changing the workplace. Companies need to make sure that they
are prepared to tackle the challenges and embrace the opportunities that automation and AI bring to
the modern workplace.
Devising the appropriate strategy to leverage automation and AI in the workplace to their benefit
is becoming an important challenge for businesses. Do they focus on softening the expected negative
impacts of automation and AI, or do they leverage technology to proactively transform the workplace?
For businesses to succeed, their strategies in the face of automation and AI need to take into
consideration the driving forces behind each of the two impulses and be sensitive to the socio-cultural,
infrastructural, and institutional realities of different countries and industries across Asia. In theface of this diversity, CEOs must make sure that their businesses develop the organisational ability toleverage the technologies and resources available to them to embrace the workplace of tomorrow.
This new report from the Economist Corporate Network examines the CEO’s perception and
expectations of the challenges and opportunities that automation and AI could potentially bring to theworkplace, and takes a new perspective to investigate how CEOs in Asia exercise their leadership in thetransition to tomorrow’s workplace. We conducted a survey of our 500+ clients and contacts across Asia
Pacific in September and October 2017. Focus group meetings with a small number of invited CEOs and
HR executives were held in Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo to discuss the issues in
the local context. This paper is a summary of the survey and the focus group discussions.

4© Economist Corporate Network 2017

Automation, AI and the Future of WorkThe role of the CEO in shaping tomorrow’s workplace in Asia

Automation, AI and their impact
What are business leaders’ expectations on automation, AI andtheir impact?
Automation at the gates
Automation and AI are no longer the future. For businesses, they are here and now. In a recent study
conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), more than 40% of business leaders stated thatthey anticipate that AI will start displacing humans from some jobs in their industry within the next
five years. Slightly over 40% believe AI will affect their own job in the same time frame.1 This findingis also reflected in our survey, where 72.2% of respondents say that they expect their businesses tofeel the full impact of automation within the next five years. Furthermore, 51.5% of them say that
their business has already started to feel the impact from the new technologies that make automation
possible. Japan is an outlier here. A plurality of CEOs–37.5%–expect that the full impacts of automation
and AI will only be felt in the next five to ten years, compared with the 16.8% of CEOs overall who gavethe same answer.
Chart 1: When do you think the full impacts and scale of automation and AI will be felt by your business?
(% of respondents)
Now

5.9

Within a year from now

7.9

One to three years from now

38.6

Three to five years from now

25.7

Five to ten years from now

16.8

More than ten years from now

5.0

Source: The Economist Corporate Network.

High awarenessThe speed of these changes is increasing awareness among business leaders across Asia about
automation, AI and their impact. Of those surveyed, 58.4% believe that they have a clear
understanding of how automation and AI can or will affect their business. Almost 84% say they are
either moderately aware or highly aware of how automation and AI can disrupt and challenge theirbusiness, whereas 8.1% claim full awareness of these potentially negative impacts. Meanwhile,
81.4% are either moderately aware or highly aware of the opportunities that automation and AI bringto their business, with 9.3% claiming full awareness of these potentially positive impacts. The highlevel of awareness of the impacts of automation and AI is no coincidence. Many CEOs are familiarisingthemselves with the technologies associated with them. Over 59% of respondents claim to actively© Economist Corporate Network 2017

The Economist Intelligence
Unit (2016): Artificial
Intelligence in the real world.
The business case takes shape.

15Automation, AI and the Future of WorkThe role of the CEO in shaping tomorrow’s workplace in Asia

Chart 2: As a CEO, I am ……. of the disruptions andchallenges to my business that arise from automation
and AI.

Chart 3: As a CEO, I am …… of the opportunities to mybusiness that arise from automation and AI.
(% of respondents)(% of respondents)
Completely unaware

1.2

Completely unaware0

Somewhat aware

7.0

Somewhat aware

9.3

Moderately aware

36.0

Moderately aware

39.5

Highly aware

47.7

Highly aware

41.9

Fully aware

8.1

Fully aware

9.3

Source: The Economist Corporate Network.

Source: The Economist Corporate Network.

and regularly update themselves on the latest news and knowledge about automation and AI. 55.4%
educate themselves on IT issues and skills to be able to keep up with the latest developments.

How prepared are you?
The high level of awareness does not translate
to a high level of preparedness. Whether they
see automation and AI more as a disruption
or an opportunity for their business, only asmall number of CEOs surveyed (1.2%) are fully
prepared to face them. The majority think thatthey are only somewhat prepared or moderately
prepared. This is likely connected to the fact that,
although many businesses have already started
to feel the impacts of automation and AI, CEOs
believe they have two or three years to prepare
before these new technological realities fully hit
their companies.

Chart 4: To what extent are you ready to face thedisruptions, challenges and opportunities that arise
from automation and AI?
(% of respondents)
Completely unprepared

1.2

Somewhat prepared37.2

Moderately prepared

46.5

Highly prepared

14.0

Fully prepared

1.2

Source: The Economist Corporate Network.

Impactful technology
Almost two-thirds of those surveyed think that their businesses will be strongly or extremely affectedby automation and AI. They identify an array of different potential impacts from automation and AI totheir business (see Chart below). They agree that the biggest impacts include increasing the scale andspeed of their operations, and increasing worker productivity. In addition, CEOs also think automation
and AI will improve relations with their customers, reduce costs, create new types of jobs that do notcurrently exist, and help with optimising training and learning outcomes in the workplace. However,automation and AI do not always have a positive impact on business. Among the potentially negative
6© Economist Corporate Network 2017

Automation, AI and the Future of WorkThe role of the CEO in shaping tomorrow’s workplace in Asia

Chart 5: Please choose the top three impacts or potential impacts from automation and AI to your business.
(% of respondents)
Lower costs
Increase costs
Create more positions/increase headcount
Increase worker productivity
Create redundancies/reduce headcountCreate new jobs (ie types of jobs that do not yet exist)
Make some existing jobs obsolete
Change work habits (eg full-time, fixed-hours, etc)
Improve relations with customers
Optimise training and learning
Increase scale and speed of operations
Other

No 1
23.8

10.9

5

5

8.9

4

13.9 1

23.8

4

No 2
17.8

15.8

11

10.9

8.9

5.9

6.9

10.9

12.9

5

5

5

16.8

No 3
14.9

13.9

21

7.9

12.9

9.9

13.9

Source: The Economist Corporate Network.

impacts are creating redundancies, making certain job categories obsolete, and changing existing
work habits and patterns. Only a small number of CEOs think automation and AI will increase costs orcreate more job openings in their business.
Summary points
 Almost two-thirds of CEOs believe that their business will be strongly affected or extremely affectedby automation and AI.
 Although 51.5% of CEOs say their businesses have already started to feel the impacts fromautomation and AI, 72.2% think the full scale of the impacts will only be felt within the next five
years.
 A majority of CEOs actively follow the latest news on automation and AI and educate themselves
on IT issues and skills to keep up. This proactiveness translates to high awareness, with slightly
more than 90% saying they are moderately aware, highly aware or fully aware of the disruptions,challenges and opportunities that automation and AI bring.
 CEOs largely believe that the most important impacts from automation and AI will be positive:
improving efficiency, increasing worker productivity and lowering costs. Among the oft-mentioned
negative potential impacts are creating redundancies and making certain job categories obsolete.
 Only a small number of CEOs are confident that their company is fully prepared to tackle these
impacts.

© Economist Corporate Network 20177

Automation, AI and the Future of WorkThe role of the CEO in shaping tomorrow’s workplace in Asia

Imagining the future of work
How will automation and AI change the way we work in the
future?
Tomorrow’s workplace
A large majority of those surveyed believe that automation and AI will affect the way people in theircompanies work. Of those surveyed, 56.2% think that the biggest change automation and AI will haveon the workplace is bringing in more flexible working arrangements and less formal employment types.
Although this in itself is not necessarily a bad thing, a sizeable number of CEOs think that at least forsome workers automation and AI will mean less job security. If anything, however, CEOs understandthat automation and AI will make some existing tasks and work practices unnecessary. This also
partly explains why almost 15% of them cite shorter working hours as the top potential impact fromautomation and AI. Interestingly, a small number of CEOs think that automation and AI will bring in
longer working hours. This may be because they expect workers will need to spend extra time to learn
to work with the new technology.
Chart 6: Please rank the top three impacts or potential impacts from automation and AI to the way people workin your business.
(% of respondents)
Shorter working hours
Longer working hours
More flexible work arrangements (less formal employment types)
Less flexible work arrangements (more formal employment types)
More job security
Less job security
Higher wages
Lower wages
More non-wage compensation
Less non-wage compensation
Others1.1
1.1
56.2 2.2
14.6
2.2 1.1
6.7

No 1
14.6

No 2
10.1

2.2

24.7

1.1 3.4

31.5

10.1

1.1

9

6.7

No 3
9

2.2

6.7 1.1 4.5

12.4

12.4

14.6

18

1.1

18

Source: The Economist Corporate Network.

Mixed signals
Some of the results in Chart 6 appear to conflict with each other. For example, almost a quarter of
respondents rank higher wages as one of the top three potential impacts from automation and AI. Thisis almost matched by the roughly 17% who think lower wages will be among the top three potential
impacts. Just as there are CEOs who think that automation will shorten working hours and increase job
security, there are others who expect the opposite to happen. These inconsistences reflect the fact thatthe impact of automation and AI is not likely to be evenly spread across different industries, or evenacross different departments and workers within the same company.

8© Economist Corporate Network 2017

Automation, AI and the Future of WorkThe role of the CEO in shaping tomorrow’s workplace in Asia

Who will be affected?
Our survey found that CEOs expect some workers to be more affected by automation and AI than others.
For instance, they believe automation and AI are going to have more of an impact on older workers thanon younger workers. Of those surveyed, 64% think that older workers will either be strongly affected
or extremely affected, whereas only 33.7% think the same of younger workers. In terms of skills, CEOs
expect low-skilled workers to be most affected, with an overwhelming 74.2% expecting them to bestrongly affected or extremely affected. Meanwhile, middle-skilled workers are the only group that CEOsconsistently expect to be affected. There was no respondent who said that he/she does not expect
them to be affected at all by automation and AI; i.e. all respondents felt that workers will be affected byautomation and AI in some way at least. In terms of gender, CEOs appear to believe that the extent towhich female workers and male workers will be affected is similar.
Chart 7: To what extent do you think workers within your business be affected by automation and AI?
(% of respondents)

Not affected at all

Somewhat affected

Moderately affected

Stronglyaffected

Extremelyaffected

Low-skilled workers
4.5

5.6

15.7

41.6

32.6

Middle-skilled workers
9

41.6

41.6

7.9

High-skilled workers
6.7

43.8

30.3

18

1.1

24.7

1.1

28.1

1.1

31.5

2.2

Female workers
13.5

19.1

41.6

Male workers
12.4

16.9

41.6

Younger workers
6.7

29.2

30.3

Older workers
2.2

13.5

20.2

40.4

23.6

Source: The Economist Corporate Network.

Despite the variation in the expected extent of impact across different worker demographics, morethan half of those surveyed expect that all but one category of workers will at least be moderately
affected. Only 49.4% of CEOs think that high-skilled workers will be moderately affected or more. 43.8%
think they will be somewhat affected, whereas 6.7% think they will not be affected at all.

Future skills
The fact that respondents do not expect high-skilled workers to be affected to the same extent as otherworkers is likely related to the fact that automation and AI will have different impacts on different
kinds of skills. A large majority of CEOs surveyed think that on the one hand, hard skills and technicalskills will be less important due to automation and AI, whereas on the other hand soft skills and people
skills will be more important.

© Economist Corporate Network 20179

Automation, AI and the Future of WorkThe role of the CEO in shaping tomorrow’s workplace in Asia

Chart 8: These are the types of skills that will most
likely be less important due to automation and AI.

Chart 9: These are the types of skills that will most
likely be more important due to automation and AI.

(% of respondents)(% of respondents)
Soft skills

13.5Soft skills

Hard skills

44.9

Hard skills

5.6

People skills

3.4

People skills

36.0

Technical skills

31.5

Technical skills

9.0

Business skills

2.2

Business skills

14.6

Other

4.5

Other

2.2

Source: The Economist Corporate Network.

32.6

Source: The Economist Corporate Network.

Jobs vs tasks
Our survey also found that only a small number of CEOs (11.2%) think automation and AI will only
affect entire jobs. Of those surveyed, 41.6% think only specific tasks within jobs will be affected,
whereas 47.2% expect automation and AI to affect certain jobs entirely and specific tasks within otherjobs. What this means is that business leaders understand that the impacts of automation and AI
are complex. A recent study found that only less than 5% of jobs can be entirely automated, whereas
around 60% of all jobs have more than 30% of tasks that can be automated with currently available
technologies.2
Chart 10: In my business, automation and AI will:(% of respondents)
Mostly affect entire jobs

11.2

Mostly affect specific works/tasks

41.6

Affect certain jobs entirely and specific works/tasks within other jobs

47.2

Source: The Economist Corporate Network.

Summary points
 Just over half (56.2%) of CEOs think that the biggest change automation and AI will trigger in theworkplace is bringing in more flexible working arrangements and less formal employment types.

McKinsey Global Institute(2017). Technology, jobs, andthe future of work.

210 CEOs expect older workers and low-skilled workers to be most affected by automation and AI. A high
64% of CEOs think that older workers will be strongly affected or extremely affected. A staggering
74.2% believe low-skilled workers will be similarly affected.
© Economist Corporate Network 2017

Automation, AI and the Future of WorkThe role of the CEO in shaping tomorrow’s workplace in Asia

 A small majority of CEOs believe that the impact from automation and AI to high-skilled workers will
be limited. This is likely explained by the kinds of skills that automation and AI will make more orless relevant.
 Only a small number of CEOs expect automation and AI to only affect entire jobs. Meanwhile, 41.6%
think they will only affect specific tasks within jobs will be affected.

© Economist Corporate Network 201711

Automation, AI and the Future of WorkThe role of the CEO in shaping tomorrow’s workplace in Asia

Preparing for tomorrow
What obstacles do businesses face in preparing for the
workplace of the future, and what are their strategies indealing with them?
Passive or active?
How do companies approach automation and AI? Roughly 41% of CEOs say their companies proactively
leverage technology in order to shape tomorrow’s workplace. Slightly more than 42% prefer to actively
pre-empt the risks and pursue the opportunities that automation and AI bring. Passively dealing withthe risks as they come is the strategy of only 16.7% of CEOs. In Japan and Hong Kong, this figure wasas high as 37.5% and 33.3% respectively, suggesting that many executives in these places may havesome serious thinking to do if they want to ensure that their companies stay ahead of the game. They
could perhaps look to China, where none of those surveyed said they are passively dealing with therisks, or Indonesia, Singapore and South Korea, where the majority say they are proactively leveraging
technology. In fact, with over 71.4% of respondents answering that their companies proactively
leverage technology, Indonesia-based respondents are the most proactive in our survey.
Top-level management is seen to have an important role, with 62.8% of those surveyed saying that
top-level managers are often or regularly involved in their company’s automation and AI strategy.
Respondents also cite IT professionals and management consultants as other actors that theircompanies often or regularly involve in their automation and AI strategy. Meanwhile, HR specialists,
whether internal or external, are less likely to be part of the mix. Given that CEOs seem to prefer theactive or proactive approaches to dealing with automation and AI and that many of them expect thesetechnological advancements to affect the way people work in their companies, it is surprising that HR
specialists are not more often involved in their strategies. If they want to successfully pre-empt risks,pursue opportunities and leverage technology to shape tomorrow’s workplace, companies may needto involve HR specialists more closely in their automation and AI strategies.
Chart 11: In our automation and AI strategy, we make use of:(% of respondents)

Never

RarelySometimes

Often

Regularly

Internal HR specialists
10.3

35.9

30.8

19.2

3.8

5.1

3.8

External HR specialists
16.7

42.3

32.1

Management/business consultants
7.7

15.4

44.9

26.9

5.1

Top-level management
2.6

10.3

24.4

20.5

42.3

IT consultants/technicians
2.6

9

34.6

44.9

9

Source: The Economist Corporate Network.

12© Economist Corporate Network 2017

Automation, AI and the Future of WorkThe role of the CEO in shaping tomorrow’s workplace in Asia

Getting the message throughIn general, CEOs are not confident that their automation and AI strategy is consistent throughout
their organisation. Of those surveyed, 30.7% confess that they have difficulty in articulating theircompany’s automation and AI strategy, whereas only 2.6% believe they have absolutely no difficulty indoing so. It is therefore not surprising that a large number of CEOs do not think their automation and
AI strategy is clearly communicated to their employees. Only 19.2% of those surveyed think it is. This
result is consistent across the different countries surveyed. Most companies seem to have some kind of
automation and AI strategy. The challenge, it appears, is clearly communicating it to all of their workers.
If they want to successfully shape the future of work in their companies, CEOs need to find better ways ofmaking sure people further down the hierarchy get the message.
Chart 12: As CEO, I have no difficulty articulating our
automation and AI strategy.

Chart 13: Our automation and AI strategy is clearlycommunicated to our employees.

(% of respondents)(% of respondents)
3.8

Strongly disagree

10.3

Disagree

26.9

Disagree

38.5

Neutral

34.6

Neutral

32.1

Agree

32.1

Agree

17.9

Strongly agree

2.6Strongly agree

1.3Strongly disagree

Source: The Economist Corporate Network.

Source: The Economist Corporate Network.

How do companies build tomorrow’s workforce?
According to our survey, preparing workers for the realities of tomorrow’s workplace occurs mostly
through internal and on-the-job training. IT tools and software are invariably used in this process,presumably to equip workers with the skills that will become more relevant thanks to automation
and AI. Once again, top-level management have an important role to play, with 56.4% of CEOs saying
their companies often or regularly involve them in preparing their workforce for automation and AI.
Companies tend to be reluctant to involve external specialists in the process. Only 29.5% often or
regularly use external training. Outsourcing firms and recruitment specialists are even less commonly
utilised, with only 20.5% and 16.6% of respondents respectively saying they often or regularly involvethese external specialists. Moreover, even though companies commonly use IT tools and software inpreparing their workers for tomorrow’s workplace, these are not always managed by IT consultants or
technicians, who are only often or regularly made use of by 39.7% of respondents.

© Economist Corporate Network 201713

Automation, AI and the Future of WorkThe role of the CEO in shaping tomorrow’s workplace in Asia

Chart 14: When preparing our workforce for automation and AI, we make use of:(% of respondents)

Never

RarelySometimes

Often

Regularly

Internal training
5.1

20.5

24.4

34.6

15.4

External training
7.7

21.8

41

24.4

5.1

On-the-job training
6.4

12.8

25.6

34.6

20.5

Recruitment specialists
14.1

34.6

34.6

12.8

3.8

IT tools/software
3.8

9

28.2

41

17.9

Top-level management
3.8

10.3

29.5

35.9

20.5

IT consultants/technicians
5.1

19.2

35.9

34.6

5.1

Outsourcing firms
12.8

23.1

43.6

17.9 2.6

Source: The Economist Corporate Network.

Leveraging technology
A large majority of CEOs are aware of how technologies such as AI, Internet of Things (IoT) and Big
Data can be leveraged to help them shape the future of work. However, they are not as familiar withcryptocurrencies and blockchain, two technologies that have the potential to automate a range ofbusiness tasks and make high-skilled jobs such as brokers and bankers obsolete.3 CEOs themselves are
not fully prepared to leverage technology to shape the future of work. Only 5.8% say they are, whereas
51.2% say they are moderately prepared. There is room for improvement here. CEOs should more actively
enlist the help of management consultants and IT professionals to help them–and other people intheir company–better understand the technologies that are available to them and how they can beleveraged to their benefit.
Chart 15: As CEO, I am aware about these technologies and how my business can leverage them to shape thefuture of work.
(% of respondents)

Strongly disagree

Disagree

NeutralAgree

Strongly agree

AI
10.5

22.1

59.3

8.1

IoT
9.3

25.6

51.2

14

Cryptocurrencies
11.6

16.3

46.5

24.4

1.2

23.5

5.9

Blockchain
10.6

11.8

48.2

Big Data
4.7

20

40

35.3

Source: The Economist Corporate Network.

Iansiti, Marco; Lakhani,
Karim R (2017): “The Truth
About Blockchain”, Harvard
Business Review.

3

14© Economist Corporate Network 2017

Automation, AI and the Future of WorkThe role of the CEO in shaping tomorrow’s workplace in Asia

Our survey shows that CEOs understand the importance of having a holistic approach to leveraging
technology to shape the future of work. A large majority of them think that it is highly importantor extremely important to hire new workers with the right skills, re-train existing workers, educate
executives, review HR practices and update IT infrastructure. However, there are two inconsistencies
worth noting here. First, CEOs seem to assign the least importance to reviewing HR practices despite
most of them expecting the most important impact from automation and AI to be on working
arrangements and employment types. Second, although they assign the most importance to hiring
new workers, only sparingly do they involve recruitment specialists in their automation and AI
strategy.
Chart 16: How important are the following measures in helping your business leverage technology to shape thefuture of work?
(% of respondents)

Not important at all

Somewhat important

Moderately important

Highly important

Extremely important

Hiring new workers with the right skills
7

16.3

51.2

25.6

Re-training existing workers on the right skills
2.3

24.4

57

16.3

Educating/traiing executives to work alongside AI
5.8

58.1

22.1

14

Redefining HR standards and reviewing HR practices
2.3

11.6

26.7

47.7

11.6

Updating our IT infrastructure
1.2 4.7

14

40.7

39.5

Source: The Economist Corporate Network.

Diverse circumstances
CEOs think that a key to successfully leveraging technology is understanding the socio-cultural,
infrastructural and institutional environment of different countries and industries. In our focus
group interviews in China, participants highlighted China’s comparatively advanced adoption of
automation and AI technologies, both in business and government. As a result, they felt that the social
implications of redundancies and the extinction of job categories were already being experienced.
Meanwhile, participants at the Hong Kong and Tokyo focus group interviews cited risk-aversion and theunwillingness to learn and try new things, out-of-date educational system and rigid work practices as
barriers to proactively precipitating disruption in the workplace.
Differences also exist across different sectors and industries. Some of the conflicting answers CEOs
gave to the question of how automation and AI will affect the workplace may be attributed to crossindustrial diversity. For example, whereas none of respondents in the energy or technology hardwareand equipment sectors picked lower wages as one of the top three impacts, 37.5% of respondents inthe commercial and professional services sector did so. To succeed, CEOs must not only localise theirautomation and AI strategies to address the unique challenges and opportunities that different arepresent in different countries, but also take into consideration the circumstances in their industry.

© Economist Corporate Network 201715

Automation, AI and the Future of WorkThe role of the CEO in shaping tomorrow’s workplace in Asia

Summary points
 Most CEOs say their company takes an active or proactive approach to automation and AI. Only
16.7% say they take a passive approach.
 Top-level management is highly involved in companies’ automation and AI strategies. Of thosesurveyed, 62.8% say that top-level managers are often or regularly involved.
 Overall, companies have problems making sure that their automation and AI strategy is clearly
understood by their employees.
 Companies prefer to prepare their workforce for tomorrow’s workplace through internal and onthe-job training. They are in general reluctant to enlist the help of external consultants.
 Although CEOs understand the importance of leveraging technology, many of them are notprepared to do so. Their preparedness in some areas is hindered by their overlooking of theimportance of reviewing HR practices and enlisting the help of external HR and recruitment
specialists.

16© Economist Corporate Network 2017

Automation, AI and the Future of WorkThe role of the CEO in shaping tomorrow’s workplace in Asia

The picture in China and South-east Asia
Automated Asia
It is clear that automation and AI are having a dramatic andwide-ranging impact on the economy and society in Asia.
Nowhere in Asia is this transformation more apparent thanin China and South-east Asia.
CEOs at the South-east Asia focus group discussion in
Singapore all agreed that AI is being used in the region forboth replacing human labour and enabling humans to dotheir jobs more effectively. AI-enabled software has resulted
in significant efficiencies in companies’ responses tohealth and safety crises, as well as to changes in regulatory
requirements. AI-enabled software has also proved to be
extremely cost-effective in managing retail inventories, andcalculating profit margins and other business intelligence
using variable data points. In the field of human resource
management, AI-enabled software is already screening job
applications, and chatbots are responding to HR “hotlines”
for employees.
Many participants at the Shanghai focus group discussion
noted that China is now pioneering AI applications, andis in fact far in front of mainstream global practices inseveral respects. China has made significant advances in
the adoption of mobile-based “omni channel” applications,notably for mobile payments and online commerce.
Such applications yield massive troves of data, which inturn support the development of new AI applications.
Government agencies in China have been enthusiastic
adopters of AI, acknowledging the value of data analytics
and new technologies, such as facial recognition, for avariety of government applications.
Who’s working and who’s buying?
As robots and machines become more and more intelligent,business leaders acknowledge that we might have a large
segment of people who may not have jobs. During thediscussion with CEOs in Singapore, Shanghai and Beijing, it
was clear that this is an issue that companies think seriously
about too, and not just governments.
“Think about home loans, which often have a loan period of
up to 30 years. Banks make these loans on the expectationthat the borrower will continue to draw an income for the
rest of his or her working-age life, and be able to pay off
the loan in due course. This may increasingly not be thecase,” highlights a senior regional director from a global© Economist Corporate Network 2017financial services firm. “What is the implication for thebanks and their products? Banks are starting to have theseconversations internally.”
Amazon Go, the brainchild of the online retailer Amazon,
is a store concept that utilises smart technology to track
its customers and what they take out of the store, so thatshoppers can enjoy a “Just Walk Out” shopping experience
without needing to line up to checkout their items. On
the one hand, this is an extreme example of how retailers
can dramatically reduce the number of employees while
improving customers’ experience at the same time. On theother hand, it also illustrates how jobs are being eliminated,and how fast the trend is accelerating. “In the future, withno one working, where will the money come from? What
will the profile of the consumer market look like?” one CEO
pondered.
Smart expectations
Although the above question (on the future profile of theconsumer market) went unanswered, one aspect about
consumers that was frequently expressed by the Singapore
group was how expectations are rising. As the CEO of a
global architectural firm shared: “Clients are expecting muchmore, right from the beginning of our engagement withthem. For example, they not only want precise drawings,
they are demanding to experience the space through newsmart technology such, as virtual reality headsets.”
Technology, in this sense, has created more work, not less.
(This may be an explanation to why, as discussed earlier,some CEOs in the survey expect automation and AI to resultin longer working hours.) “Technology has certainly madeus more efficient, speeding up our process. But customers
today expect more and faster turnaround times anyway.
As such, employing technology hasn’t meant that we need
fewer people now, but rather to be able to achieve more, anddeliver more quickly,” pointed out this CEO.
Embracing smart technology in rapidly developing
economies
Smart technologies have the potential to create lowcost solutions, thereby making a wide variety of services
accessible to people who may not have been able to affordthem before. At the same time, however, this is puttingpressure on certain jobs. For example, online accountants,
lawyers and doctors are reaching consumers that are17

Automation, AI and the Future of WorkThe role of the CEO in shaping tomorrow’s workplace in Asia

geographically remote, such as in rural villages, who
cannot afford to engage a more personalised service. Thismeans that the demand for “real-life” professionals could
potentially be reduced. Participants felt that as AI-enabledwork processes become more sophisticated and widespread,the extinction of job categories and professions—alreadytangible at the low-skilled level—would continue to risethrough professional employment categories, leaving few
untouched.
The impact on society of large swathes of unemployedworkers presents an enormous challenge to governments,
particularly for emerging economies where “premature
de-industrialisation” will choke development efforts.
Participants felt that innovations in public policy, such as18

a “tax on robots” and a universal wage are likely to gain in
popularity, even if the likelihood of implementation seems
remote at the present.
For governments in rapidly developing economies that do
not have large public budgets, however, technology is also
allowing them to do more with their tight purse strings.
For example, a US-based architectural firm automates
its processes by using data and software programmes to
produce design prototypes of utilitarian spaces (such as
hospitals) at much lower costs than a regular architecturalfirm can. CEOs in China and South-east Asia believe thatgovernments and businesses need each other in the face of
the uncertainty that automation and AI bring.

© Economist Corporate Network 2017

Automation, AI and the Future of WorkThe role of the CEO in shaping tomorrow’s workplace in Asia

The role of the CEO in shaping tomorrow’s
workplace
How do business leaders position themselves in theircompanies’ future workplace strategy?
CEO involvement
In general, CEOs understand the importance of their involvement in order to make sure that theircompany continues to leverage technology to shape tomorrow’s workplace. Of those surveyed, 54%
claim they are closely involved with identifying the impacts of automation and AI to their business.
52.7% are closely involved with making sure their company has the right approach. Meanwhile, only
8.2% leave strategic decisions about automation, AI and the future of work entirely to HR. Despite
this, there is room for improvement and more CEO involvement. A sizeable share of CEOs, around 30%,
responded that they are neither closely involved or otherwise.
Chart 17: I am closely involved with identifying theimpacts of and opportunities from automation and AI
to our business.

Chart 18: I am closely involved with making sure ourcompany has the right approach to automation and AI.
(% of respondents)(% of respondents)
Strongly disagree

2.7

4.1

Disagree

13.5

Disagree

12.2

Neutral31.1

Neutral

29.7

Agree

43.2

Agree

45.9

Strongly agree

9.5

Strongly agree

8.1

Strongly disagree

Source: The Economist Corporate Network.
Source: The Economist Corporate Network.

Chart 19: I leave strategic decisions about automation,
AI and the future of work entirely to HR.

Having the right perspective(% of respondents)

Being involved is desirable, but it needs tobe complemented with the right attitude
and approach to automation, AI and thetransformation of work. Of those surveyed,
58.1% say that their approach is to soften theimpacts on work from automation and AI. Only
40.5% say that they prefer to accelerate thearrival of automation and AI to the workplace,whereas 1.5% say that they choose to delay
this arrival. This trend is replicated across the

Source: The Economist Corporate Network.

© Economist Corporate Network 2017

Strongly disagree

44.6

Disagree

40.5

Neutral

6.8

Agree

6.8

Strongly agree

1.4

19

Automation, AI and the Future of WorkThe role of the CEO in shaping tomorrow’s workplace in Asia

Chart 20: My approach to automation and AI is closest to:(% of respondents)
Accelerating their arrival

40.5

Softening their impacts

58.1

Delaying their arrival

1.4

countries surveyed, except in South Korea wherea majority (55.6%) replied that their approachis to accelerate the arrival of automation an AI,
compared with one-third who prefer to soften theimpacts.

Given the potentially negative effects
automation and AI can bring to jobs, wages
and people’s livelihoods in the future, it is not
surprising that many CEOs would like to soften
Source: The Economist Corporate Network.
their impacts. Nevertheless, to successfully
leverage technology to transform the workplace,more CEOs have to personally embrace automation and AI. They cannot cling on to old behavioural
patterns and be reactive. Instead, they must move beyond simply tackling and softening the impacts
to actually accelerating the transformation process so that they get to lead the transformation, if not
broadly, at least in their companies.

Leading others
In our survey, an overwhelming 81.1% of CEOsclaim that they would lead by example and gladly
automate parts of their job if AI was better atdoing them than they are. This is positive, as
leading by example is one of the most effective
ways in which CEOs can affect change in theircompany.4 To encourage their employees toembrace automation and AI as realities oftomorrow’s workplace, CEOs must also lead byexample and, as many are already doing, equipthemselves with up-to-date knowledge and skills
that will enable them to work side by side withmachines.

Chart 21: As CEO, I would lead by example and gladly
automate parts of my job if AI was better at doing
them than I am.
(% of respondents)
1.4

Strongly disagree
Disagree

4.1

Neutral

13.5

Agree

51.4

Strongly agree

29.7

Source: The Economist Corporate Network.

Leading the company

Carucci, Ron (2016):“Organisations Can’t Change
If Leaders Can’t Change withThem”. Harvard Business
Review.

4

20

In their business, CEOs need to create a strategic plan to integrate automation, AI and other related
technology into the workplace. This requires CEOs to, first of all, define automation and AI for theirbusiness and explore the opportunities. As discussed earlier, automation and AI affect different
workers, jobs and tasks differently. As leaders, CEOs have to identify areas and activities with highautomation potential in their multiple business lines. Second, they need to explore how automation
and AI can enable them and their business to create new values through new processes.
© Economist Corporate Network 2017

Automation, AI and the Future of WorkThe role of the CEO in shaping tomorrow’s workplace in Asia

Doing this requires imagination as well as dynamic and interactive leadership. Participants at thefocus group interviews discussed the importance of listening to others in the process. They recognisethat leaders cannot assume that their knowledge or the knowledge of their management team, which
may have worked in the past, will be any sort of template for the era of automation and AI. CEOs needto especially involve young employees in the process. They need to nurture them from below and help
young digital natives bring business plans to fruition.

Leading society
According to our focus group interviews, CEOs should also move beyond leading within the company.
Automation and AI have far-reaching impacts not just to business, but also to the broader society,whether it is to employment, wages, social security or education. Participants discussed how inmost places we do not currently have the right legal, regulatory and institutional framework aroundautomation and AI. Business leaders need to step out of the company and take the driver’s seat indiscussions with government and civil society about these broader issues.
Summary points
 Slightly more than half of CEOs are closely involved with identifying the impacts of automation and
AI to their business, and making sure their company has the right approach to dealing with them.
 Only 8.2% leave strategic decisions on automation, AI and the future of work entirely to HR.
 In their approach to automation and AI, most CEOs still prefer to focus on softening the impacts,
except in South Korea where 55.6% of those surveyed say their preference is to accelerate thearrival of automation and AI.
 A staggering 81.1% say they would lead by example and automate parts of their job if AI was more
efficient at them.
 Business leaders must think strategically about the opportunities from automation. They needto create a plan to integrate the technologies into the workplace, and involve younger and moredigitally-fluent employees in the designing and realisation of such plan.
 CEOs must also proactively work with government and other actors to look at the impacts ofautomation and AI in the broader society.

© Economist Corporate Network 201721

Automation, AI and the Future of WorkThe role of the CEO in shaping tomorrow’s workplace in Asia

Finding disrupters in Asia
Automation and AI is shifting the relationshipbetween the employee and the employer.
Increasingly, workers depend less on theemployer for employment. They need to be intune with their own skills and figure out theirown careers. A common theme that repeatedly
came up in the focus group discussions was
the difficulty in getting Asian workplaces toembrace this disruption. Business leaders in
the focus group discussions pointed out thatthe success of workplace disruption depends
not only on having the right strategy at thetop, but also on having people with the rightskills and mindset at the bottom. CEOs in Hong
Kong cite as one of their biggest problems theunwillingness to learn and lack of curiosity
among younger workers. In Japan, CEOs notedthat workers do not go outside their comfort
zone and are reluctant to take risks for fear of
failing. Business leaders in Asia are looking forresiliency–the ability to accept failure, get up,
learn and try again.
The question is, then, how can we foster thesequalities in Asian talents? The obvious answer

22

is education. Companies should continuously
train and retrain their employees, as today’s
rapidly advancing technology requires us toconstantly learn to keep up. Businesses andespecially business leaders need to have more
say in what are being taught in schools anduniversities. To do this, they must proactively
approach government and society. There is,however, a less obvious answer. Companies
must create an environment that encourages
workers to not only embrace disruption but
also to disrupt. They need to signal to theiremployees that it is okay to fail sometimes.
Creating some sort of safety net mechanism
could be a good way of encouraging them totake more risks. In addition, certain rigid
employment practices, such as job rotationin Japan, are discouraging employees fromtaking ownership of their own careers. CEOs
have an important role in making sure that
their companies provide the best environment
for their employees to learn to not only survive
disruption, but to create disruption.

© Economist Corporate Network 2017

Automation, AI and the Future of WorkThe role of the CEO in shaping tomorrow’s workplace in Asia

Appendix
Participant data

How would you describe the industry of your company? Please choose the most appropriate one that describes
your primary business (ie the largest part of the business).
(% of respondents)
Consumer products manufacturing

8.7

Industrial products manufacturing

23.2

Consumer service

24.6

Industrial service

14.5

Other

29.0

Asia

27.5

Source: The Economist Corporate Network.

Where is your firm’s global HQ?
(% of respondents)

Australasia

2.9

Europe40.6

North America

27.5

South America

0Middle East/Africa

1.4

China

13.0

Source: The Economist Corporate Network.

Where is the location of the entity that you manage?
(% of respondents)

Hong Kong

8.7

Indonesia

10.1

Japan

11.6

Malaysia

5.8

Singapore

14.5

South Korea

13.0

Other

23.2

Source: The Economist Corporate Network.

© Economist Corporate Network 201723

Automation, AI and the Future of WorkThe role of the CEO in shaping tomorrow’s workplace in Asia

What were your firm’s global revenues for its latest financial year?
(% of respondents)
Less than US$10m

5.9

US$10m to US$50m

2.9

US$50m to US$100m

5.9

US$100m to US$500m

7.4

US$500m to US$1bn

8.8

US$1bn to US$5bn

20.6

US$5bn to US$10bn

8.8

US$10bn or more

41.2

Source: The Economist Corporate Network.

What were the revenues for the entity that you manage (regional/country) for latest financial year?
Less than US$10m

10.1

US$10m to US$50m

18.8

US$50m to US$100m

24.6

US$100m to US$500m

14.5

US$500m to US$1bn

13.0

US$1bn to US$5bn

17.4

US$5bn to US$10bn

1.4

US$10bn or more

0

Source: The Economist Corporate Network.

What is the geographic scope of your responsibilities?
(% of respondents)
Global CEO/President

13.0

Regional CEO/President

34.8

Country CEO/President

52.2

Source: The Economist Corporate Network.

For how many years have you been an executive (C-suite)?
(% of respondents)
Up to one year0

One to three years

10.1

Three years to five years

14.5

Five years or more

75.4

Source: The Economist Corporate Network.

24© Economist Corporate Network 2017

Real Estate Services

AMBITIONJLL_China

Understanding what it takes to create
inspiring places, to bring out the best in
your people.
It’s time to explore the Future of Work.
futureofwork.jll

joneslanglasalle.com.cn© 2017 Jones Lang LaSalle IP, Inc.
All rights reserved.

About Economist Corporate Network
Economist Corporate Network is The Economist Group’s advisory service for senior
executives seeking insight into economic and business trends in their key growthmarkets.
Independent and thought-provoking, Economist Corporate Network provides
clients with the information, insight and interaction they need to succeed. It is led byexperts who share a profound knowledge and understanding of business issues. It hasregional business groups across Asia Pacific, Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle
East and Africa.
Through its tailored blend of interactive meetings, high-calibre research, andprivate client briefings, Economist Corporate Network delivers country-by-country,
regional, global and industry-focused analysis on both current and forecast
conditions.

Follow us on Twitter @ecn_asia
Economist Corporate Network Asia
Beijing, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo
For enquiries, please contact us at ecn_asia@economist.com