27 April 2018. Young talents are optimistic about their careers. They assume that new technologies will bring new industries and opportunities. Nine out of ten expect positive effects through automation and artificial intelligence (AI) - and almost all consider the use of intelligent systems for (selected) management tasks as beneficial. This is shown by the results of the latest "Global Perspectives Barometer 2018 - Voices of the Leaders of Tomorrow"; for which the GfK Verein and the St. Gallen Symposium interviewed over 1,400 top talents from more than 90 countries.

New technologies have positive effects - but not for everyone

Nine out of ten of the surveyed talents are optimistic about their future careers, see a world of new opportunities in the future, and believe that emerging technologies such as AI will be beneficial to them.

Overall, two-thirds of the Leaders of Tomorrow believe that new technologies can lead to new jobs and economic growth. But they also see the dark side of this development: Almost 70 percent think that inequality may increase in the countries in which they live.

Artificial intelligence advices - humans decide

98 percent of young top talents would use AI to assist with management tasks, at least as an assistant in the organization of workflows and processes. More than 80 percent consider the use of artificial intelligence for certain management activities as beneficial: For example, in the delegation of the right tasks to the right people or finding and selecting the right staff.

Even when it comes to strategic planning and goal setting, employee development and external contract negotiations, around three-quarters of the survey participants support the use of intelligent systems. The focus is on gathering information as well as on setting up and analyzing various options to prepare the final decision-making.

"Future leaders seem to consider AI as an opportunity to get rid of supporting and administrative work in order to focus on the main management task: the decision making", explains Fabian Buder, responsible for the study at the GfK Verein.

About three-quarters of the top talent surveyed agree that it is the human being who should make the final decision. 47 percent of these believe that only the human being should finally decide - the remaining 29 percent state that although a human manager finally takes the decision, the preparation is handled by AI.

"Companies need to keep up with the development of AI, otherwise it will be difficult to explain to young top talents why they need to take over routine tasks. In the eyes of digital natives, such work should be done by intelligent machines in the future", said Rolf Bachmann, Vice President St.Gallen Symposium.

About the "Global Perspectives Barometer 2017" study

For the “Global Perspectives Barometer 2018: Voices of the Leaders of Tomorrow” study, a total of 1,400 up-and-coming talents from 90 countries were surveyed in February 2018. The participants in the online survey were generated from the worldwide network of the St.Gallen Symposium (the selection is not representative). Most of the respondents are students. The rest include entrepreneurs and young people who are already in employment. The study is a collaboration of the GfK Verein and the St.Gallen Symposium. The GfK Verein is a non-profit organization founded in 1934 to promote market research.

48. St.Gallen Symposium: "Beyond the end of work"

The St.Gallen Symposium is a student-run global forum that has been creating healthy debates on relevant topics for nearly 50 years – between generations, disciplines and cultures.  For the 48th time, 600 international decision-makers from the worlds of business, politics and science will meet with 200 top talents from around the globe at the St.Gallen Symposium on the campus of the University of St.Gallen. This year’s 48th St.Gallen Symposium will be devoted to the theme "Beyond the end of work" and will take place from May 2 to 4, 2018.

Photo: Photocase/ kallejipp