In a space defined by data-driven decision-making, artificial intelligence seems like a natural companion for the modern Risk manager. Regulated firms are poised to gain a great deal from embracing the transformative power of AI-enabled tools, but ever-present barriers are preventing widespread adoption.

What do these barriers look like? What’s next in tech? What does AI mean for the risk management jobs of the future? Too many questions? There’s a lot to think about.

Barriers to Adoption

AI is no stranger to regulatory turmoil, partly because there’s a lack of cohesion regarding just how it should be regulated in the first place. For example, the UK’s ‘Pro-Innovation’ approach was met with some concern, notably from the Guardian, which suggested that the government's initial white paper may have been outdated on release.

Other major barriers include cost, reliability, a lack of specialised skillsets, public backlash, and a lack of access to trustworthy data sets, to name a few. AI has made some big promises (we see them in action every day), but businesses are yet to fully capitalise, even in the midst of a productivity crisis.

Ethical Considerations

From Healthcare and FinTech to Logistics and Marketing, AI is reshaping the world’s industries with each passing moment. Whether it’s the power to enhance disease detection, combat cybercrime, or optimise logistics operations, an AI-enabled workforce represents a shift in the way we work for the best, provided we can conquer the ethical hurdles.

Currently, mitigating bias is one of the major stumbling blocks. How exactly do we ensure bias in AI doesn’t perpetuate inequitable outcomes?

AI is only as biased as the teams that build it (and the data sets it's trained on). Even if there’s no explicit bias on show, unrepresentative data sets can lead to biased outcomes – take facial recognition systems for example – its infamous misclassification of ethnically diverse individuals has had grave consequences in the legal and healthcare spaces.

Through bias training, greater representation, and bias-detection tools, Risk Management has the opportunity to improve the use case for AI, realigning its scope to account for the needs of a diverse population.

The Changing Role of Risk Management

Risk Managers are naturally future-facing, it’s the only way to pre-emptively combat threats. In today’s world, they face a volatile tech future. Those with an understanding of the tech space and a versatile, adaptable, skillset are in high demand these days – businesses are more complex than ever, and the number of career opportunities for Risk Managers is rising.

If you’re interested in stepping into a high-growth, tech-enabled Risk Management Job, the team at Broadgate are here to help. Our specialist consultants have a wealth of experience in connecting incredible individuals with environments in which they can flourish. Reach out today to learn more about our diversity-led hiring methodology, our insights network, our people, passion and expertise.