#AI@Work: Agile Doesn’t Mean No Planning
Agile can be described by a collection of practices. Practices like JIT (Just in Time), TQM (Total Quality Management), and people orientation are agile. Constant improvement, information sharing, transparency, and alliances are agile. Wide and deep skills training, motivation, and concurrent teams are agile. Worker support and openness are agile. Information is part of the agile operation. Integrating everyday practices like sharing information allows for new technologies to align with strategic objectives.
In many industries that rely on supply chain management, AI has already made its presence known. Old line manufacturing has integrated AI into the supply chain. This is in order to compete and survive. Intelligent agents manage the supply chain for one or more activities. Management coordinates these functions. Agile in these operation takes on the meaning of both flexibility and reconfigurability. Flexibility is an organization’s ability to adjust processes according to the market, staffing and customer needs. Reconfigurability is the ability to adjust to changing demand.
Intelligent agents, forms of AI (or at least data analysis and machine learning), have three characteristics: autonomy, adaption and cooperation. Autonomy means they have a goal. They focus on that goal. They have an agenda. They conduct themselves in a manner to meet that agenda. They exhibit goal directed behaviors. They don’t only react; they are proactive and can make decisions on their own when appropriate. Adaption means they take in information from the environment. They are constantly trying to improve. Cooperation means they share information with humans and other systems and agents. Multiagent systems (MAS) allow AI to work in an open and dynamic environment. Because machines can share information and perform coordinated functions much more quickly than humans, they are ideal for coordinating change.
Agile doesn’t mean no planning. Agile doesn’t mean organizations can use it as an excuse not to prepare for change. The term “agile” has spread far beyond manufacturing and software development. Agile made its way into budgeting, human resources and family life. It’s a powerful process but it is not an excuse to avoid planning and preparation. This is especially true with AI integration. It’s still important to keep in mind what problems the introduction of AI is trying to solve and what problems it might create and then measure and monitor.
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