Tech leaders discuss the future of work, AI at Women in Industry event
A high-level panel of women leaders in tech dove into the topic of How AI is Transforming Our World of Work at Virginia Tech’s Women in Industry event on Aug. 13 in Alexandria. Leaders from Google, The Boeing Company, and YGC Wealth shared experiences and advice with an audience of more than 150 Hokies and friends.
“This work, being here, being part of our community is invaluable. You show up, you change lives. This topic of how we show up for the next generation of Hokies is really important,” Brandy Salmon, associate vice president for innovation and partnerships at Virginia Tech, said in the welcoming address.
The Women in Industry series is a partnership between The Boeing Company and Virginia Tech. Each event showcases inspiring experiences designed to create and strengthen connections as well as promote informative discussion about ways to improve the future of our work.
Saonee Sarker, dean of the Virginia Tech Pamplin College of Business, served as moderator of the panel.
Looking at the two distinct paths that this artificial intellingence (AI) revolution could take — one being a path of automation, the other where AI augments human capabilities — Sarker asked the panelists to address the role of AI in the workplace and how to prepare workers of the future.
“I don’t believe AI is scary and I don’t believe that it will replace humans,” said Leigh Palmer ’91, vice president of Google Public Sector, where she is responsible for connecting Google to government agencies. “If you are savvy and using good tools — AI tools are grounded in data. We need to educate the user in what the technology is, what is it good for, and how to use it. I don’t think it’s any different than social media in that way.
“I think AI is going to redefine what our jobs are, not take jobs,” Palmer said. “It can take the mundane out so we can focus on the connections.”
“The best way to look at the future is to look at the past. When you look at the industrial revolutions and other technologies that have come, they have not taken away jobs. The technology actually created jobs, it's just different work,” said Susan Doniz, chief information and data analytics officer at The Boeing Company. “Part of this is how do we pivot into new jobs. That’s why I’m delighted about what Virginia Tech and other schools are looking at — how do we retrain our workforce and encourage students to be continuous learners?”
Boeing is a foundational partner of the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus. Its gift supports sustainability, diversity, innovation, and the computer science and computer engineering tech talent pipeline, including through the Boeing Graduate Scholars program, which provides scholarships for Master of Engineering students.
“AI should be used to augment your work and make you the best worker that you’ve always been or that you could be, because you’re taking out the routine tasks,” Doniz said. She also stressed the importance of knowing how to ask an AI tool good questions – “it’s not the same as Google” – as well as using good judgment when an AI result doesn't seem to be accurate.
The evolution of work
An important part of the conversation revolved around changes in work modality over the past five years. Companies are embracing hybrid and remote work with varying results.
Rianka R. Dorsainvil ’09, founder and senior wealth advisor at YGC Wealth, was working from home and leading a virtual team even before the pandemic hit. “When I went out on my own, I didn’t realize how much weight I put on the water cooler and just getting to know my co-workers. So I started to have virtual team lunches and in-person retreats. In person cannot be replaced — even if you run a virtual practice.”
Doniz and Palmer also agreed about the benefits of hybrid work and importance of in-person meetings and connections.
“If you want people to stay on, I really believe you have to have a hybrid environment,” Doniz said. “At the end of the day, you lose touch with what is happening at your company if you are not there. You have to grow the next generation of leaders. That doesn’t happen in a Zoom call – it happens with you sitting beside them, helping them do their work.”
“You cannot have a 100 percent virtual job and you cannot have a 100 percent in-person job,” Palmer said. “When the meetings are virtual, they are more formal, more scheduled, more checklist. At Google, we have to find ways to bring employees together.”
For a change of pace, Sarker asked the panelists to describe their professional self in one short phrase.
Palmer’s answer: “Just say yes.”
“When I was at Virginia Tech, I never thought I would be here today,” said Palmer. She described her career as a nonlinear path – when someone brought her an opportunity she said yes, creating additional, exciting career options.
Dorsainvil noted her skills as a “curious innovator and empathetic connector.” At YGC Wealth she focuses on helping first-generation wealth-builders own their money story and pursue their biggest dreams. She believes that first-generation wealth-builders are a community that has been underserved by the financial planning profession for too long – and she wants to help change the tides.
Doniz described herself with the phrase “working hands and caring heart.”
“I always talk about decisions in my career as having to go from my head to my heart,” said Doniz. “Your heart knows things that your head really can’t compute.”
