AI will only displace jobs of those who don’t learn to use it, says Aon admin chief Stevens

By James Thaler

June 24 - (The Insurer) - Aon’s Lisa Stevens says AI is a “competitive advantage” for companies like hers that have committed to “digital fluency” among staff, while the only job displacement from AI will be among those who do not learn how to use the technology.

Stevens currently serves as chief administrative officer at Aon, overseeing both the talent and marketing functions, after initially serving as chief people officer and overseeing the company’s human solutions business.

“When you think about AI and generative AI, I think a competitive advantage for a company like ours is digital fluency, and so we're committed to having all of our colleagues, all 65,000 of them, be digitally fluent, and understand the impacts of AI,” Stevens said.

Stevens said that Aon’s plans to leverage AI go beyond client engagement, but also encompass how colleagues go about their work on a daily basis, pointing to the roll-out of an internal chatbot, AonGPT.

“It's a lot like what you would think of ChatGPT, but it's our own system,” Stevens noted, adding that greater use of co-pilot technology internally provides “an opportunity for our colleagues to spend more time with clients”.

Stevens also said the efficiency that AI technology can bring has the potential to help mitigate burnout among staff.

“There is an opportunity for companies, from a cultural perspective, to say, ‘We want you to be able to use AI so that you have the opportunity to spend more time with clients, spend more time being balanced,’” she said. “Is there an opportunity to free yourself from some of the things that we've done, some of our sins of the past, so that we can have a healthier workforce? And so I do think there's a wellness component to AI.”

She also sought to downplay fears among workers that AI technology will result in substantial job displacement.

“We've done a survey (that shows) one in three people believe that they're afraid to do AI. And we say the people that should be afraid – the people that are going to be replaced – are the people that don't understand how to use AI,” Stevens said.

“The education and the learning piece is so critical, and it's a big part of what we've been doing this year, and really started last year,” she added.