Professor Advises Emmy Award-Winning Broadcaster on Leadership and Embracing AI

Ruchin Kansal, M.B.A., professor of practice in the Division of Continuing Education and Professional Studies (CEPS) and the Stillman School of Business, recently appeared on Steve Adubato’s Lessons in Leadership to discuss how leaders can embrace the disruption and innovation that comes from artificial intelligence (AI) and help to guide AI’s impact on the future of leadership and education. Watch it here.  

Kansal is founding editor of In the Lead, a semi-annual magazine from Buccino Leadership Institute focusing on sharing leadership perspectives from the field, with content that is curated from leaders across industries. The publication seeks to inform future leaders, generate global dialogue on leadership, and build a community that sees more effective leadership as a prerequisite to building a better world. The Fall 2023 issue of In the Lead magazine examined Navigating AI.  

Professor Kansal explored the AI theme in a recent broadcast with Steve Adubato, author, speaker, and Emmy Award-winning broadcaster of Lessons in Leadership, along with co-host Mary Gamba. Adubato, a long-time friend of the University, announced that in Spring 2024 he plans to provide his popular master class on leadership and communication through the Buccino Leadership Institute for a fourth year in a row. Pointing to In the Lead, Adubato reflected on the quest to incorporate artificial intelligence, AI, into our leadership coaching, curriculum, and writing. The three also discussed the fear and anxiety that many people experience around AI and career security.  

Professor Kansal reflected positively on the opportunities.  

I shared with the viewers that similarly to how we teach our children to comprehend, to summarize, to create, we have taught a machine to do the same thing. Now, of course, the machine has a lot more capacity to learn because it works on what we call large language models, and it has a lot of data to learn from. That's why it becomes smarter and smarter. But it is a machine and machines have been with humans since humans have been around. It is another more complex, smarter machine. Will it disrupt our jobs? The answer I say is (generally) no. Yes, it can do text. Yes, it can do images. Yes, it can create music. It can do a lot of those things, but it is not perfect. For example, if I go to ChatGPT to write my bio, it will be accurate most of the time, but it will also give me awards that it thinks I should have had because my peers have had those awards in the market, but that will be a lie, what we call hallucinations.

The interview turned to how to encourage students to use AI and ChatGPT for learning in an ethical way, one that does not lead to cheating.  

Professor Kansal said, "It’s a fair question and it goes back to if a tool can do it easily for me, write a code or solve a formula, why not let it do it? I encourage my students to think beyond that, I encourage them to use ChatGPT and tell me how they're using it and really get very familiar with it... Use it because you'll be using it anyway. At the same time, it also goes back to 'what am I trying to teach you?' If I am still trying to teach you how to solve two plus two equals four, I'm not teaching you enough. I should really be teaching you how to be creative, how to be problem solving, how to be really bringing people together, building teams, and really getting things done. And also understanding when the machine is hallucinating, right? So, I would rather you get very used to it now and use it just like you started to use slide rules and calculators and then be a step ahead. And I think that's what we need to do."

The interview looked at how AI functions in a crisis, at different stages and at different times. What does AI do in terms of pivoting, adapting, being agile, and making critical decisions in real time? Does that require us to be strategic leaders and thinkers so there are no computers involved at that point?  

Professor Kansal said, "I think there is a role for AI because you as a leader cannot make good decisions in the absence of good data. If AI can help you get good data faster, it can help you make a better decision. But I fully agree that strategy is not the same as an analytical skill set. Strategy is a lot more creativity, a lot more storytelling, a lot more visioning. Data helps, and AI in fact can help. But, you know, you still need that creative mind and that strategic thinker to really use that data to make the right decisions."

The founder of Kansal & Company, Professor Kansal has spent 20 years in healthcare as an executive focused on strategy, innovation, and digital. He and his teams have developed and launched AI products focused on diagnosis, clinical decision support, and management of health conditions. He encourages leaders to embrace and not reject AI with the proper guardrails in place. He recently addressed the Oncology Society of NJ on the topic. Also, on his TV Show 30 Minutes, he has interviewed guests on how much of AI is hype versus real, what the applications are, how it may impact healthcare, and how universities can prepare the work force of the future. He is the co-author of Redefining Innovation: Embracing the 80-80 Rule to Ignite Growth in the Biopharmaceutical Industry, 1st Edition, Routledge. He also contributed a chapter in Digital Strategies and Organizational Transformation, August 2023, World Scientific, on "Digital Transformation and Organizational Change: An Experiential Case."

Professor Kansal has created a framework for his scholarship and research through what he refers to as LEAP, and he encourages everyone to adopt these concepts as they navigate AI.   

Kansal explains his framework for navigating AI: "LEAP stands for Learn. Be intellectually curious and learn what AI is, how it works, and what are its applications. Don’t just get caught in the narrative that media has created. Empathize. AI will create haves and have nots. Be empathetic to those who can’t keep up with the learning curve. Help, not judge. Adapt. Be an early adopter. Experiment. Find ways to augment with AI what you do today and find new ways of doing things. Prevent. Hallucinations, bias, and threats to privacy and security are very real. Understand and develop guardrails to prevent them. You know how to do it."

To learn more about Navigating AI, and the topics highlighted in this article, please visit:  
Steve Adubato’s Lessons in Leadership: Navigating AI with Ruchin Kansal

In the Lead: Navigating AI 

Kansal & Company: Strategic Leadership Development

Redefining Innovation: Embracing the 80-80 Rule to Ignite Growth in the Biopharmaceutical Industry

Digital Strategies and Organization Transformation 

Categories: Business, Education