AI Agent & Copilot Podcast: United Nations’ Lambert Hogenhout Provides Future AI Perspectives

In this episode of the AI Agent & Copilot podcast, recorded at the AI Agent & Copilot Summit, John Siefert chats with Lambert Hogenhout, Chief Data & AI, United Nations, who delivered the anchor keynote of the AI Agent & Copilot Summit, about the future impacts of AI.

Key Takeaways

• AI Agent & Copilot Summit: Hogenhout notes how engaged and positive attendees are at the event. “There’s all this optimism of what can be done with AI, and I think that’s probably a combination of a lot of good technical knowledge…and also stores of people who are using [AI] themselves.”
• A philosophical perspective: Looking five years ahead, Hogenhout challenges what AI will mean for businesses and human beings. With AI having endless possibilities, organizations must consider what it means not only in terms of productivity but also how it will impact their business model.
• Upskilling: One workforce implementation of AI is automation, leading to organizations having to reassess what skills are necessary. This applies to the executive level as well. For instance, Hogenhout acknowledges how AI can now answer questions, but asking the right questions is a skill that managers will need to be trained on. Critical thinking, in general, will be more important in the context of business.
• The human dilemma: Using message and email replies as an example, Hogenhout suggests that there could be “a second level of society where we all have our AI-augmented selves that communicate with each other and the real us sit somewhere underneath…We have to decide whether that is something we want only in the business context.” As AI advances, we’ll have to be intentional about making the right choices.

---