How I upskilled in GenAI fast

The AI landscape is moving fast and directors must educate themselves around the risks and opportunities of this transformational technology.

Sonia Petering FAICD, experienced non-executive director and chair of ASX-listed life sciences firm Vitrafy, took part in the pilot AI Fluency for Directors Sprint, presented in partnership with the AICD and Deloitte through the University of Sydney Business School. The intensive course, delivered online, is designed to strengthen directors’ literacy around AI. She shares a snapshot of what she learned.

Why did you do the course?

“AI governance is becoming a critical board competency and I was curious to learn about this new wave of innovation from a director-focused perspective. We’re hearing that AI is transforming everything and I wanted to distinguish between what’s genuinely actionable, versus what’s aspirational hype. The course helped me understand the limitations and a really practical takeaway was a matrix for boards to evaluate a business case for an AI initiative.” 

What were other key takeaways?

“We talked a lot about AI and technology layers and the capabilities stack, and about the opportunities, challenges, strategy and capabilities. I don’t have all the answers, but I have greater confidence in what questions to ask, as well as considerations when discussions around AI use cases come up in the boardroom. It really reinforced the operational realities of implementing AI. It’s not a matter of, ‘That sounds great, we’ll just push a button and AI will launch’. Pre-work, including preparation of data, is key. The course reinforced that successful AI implementation is not just technology. It’s about clean, well-governed data, the right capability in people and fundamentally rethinking processes.”

What are the most critical aspects for directors to understand?

“Companies have to start architecting for trust, including the platforms we use and how we interact with our customers. The most critical aspect for directors is accountability. AI requires governance. We need oversight, clear accountability, disclosure when AI makes decisions and robust risk management. We must have humans there so that when models drift, when data is poisoned, when automatic dependency impacts decisions and brings reputational risk, there is an incident response protocol. These models will start making decisions for you, for me, for our customers. We need to monitor those decisions so we can intervene where required.”

How has your perspective about AI use changed?

“There’s been a lot of talk about AI augmenting human decision-making, but more recently I’ve heard people referring to it as amplification, which has led me to think we should be calling it ‘amplification intelligence’. The reason is that AI should be used to amplify human capability and thinking, not to replace it. We don’t want to be using AI to replace our critical thinking and we absolutely need humans in the loop to use the power of AI to amplify our opportunities. Amplification is a nuanced but fundamental premise to think about.”

What does AI amplification look like in terms of boardroom decisions?

“Directors need to ask ourselves how we create value as we implement our AI strategy. Judgement and accountability must remain human, but AI can amplify our decision-making with better analysis, insights and scenario modelling. AI can help with risk assessment – identifying patterns we might miss. Strategic decisions, ethical considerations and stakeholder impacts require human judgement. AI tools can be used to amplify our analysis. AI can also amplify risks.”

What excites you the most about AI?

“Whole industries will be created out of AI. There are three horizons directors look at. The first is using AI to tinker with current operations. The second is about new business models. The third is creating new industries – ones we haven’t thought of yet. The power of AI on a smartphone gives everyone, not just specialists, the power to undertake high-level analysis across every industry.” 

What troubles you the most?

“Misinformation and disinformation can also be amplified by AI. That shadow side of AI is incredibly troubling. AI needs guardrails to ensure fairness, adaptability, explainability and reliability.”

What do you urge directors to think about?

“AI is the biggest technology revolution we’ve ever seen and it’s evolving exponentially. The most important skills are educating ourselves and training our people. We must build capacity — we need AI literacy for all, expertise for some. Understand the implications and risks, but don’t be frightened. We have to keep learning — and learning how to use it safely.”