#652 In the AI era, the 'ability to ask questions' might be what increases in value. ~Reflecting on the role of managers from Mercari's organizational reform~

Notes on thoughts I had after reading a column titled 'The Blurring Boundary Between Humans and AI' in the 'Management Perspective' section of the July 20th issue of the Nikkei newspaper.

1. What kind of article is it?

It is about human resources at Mercari, specifically that Toshiya Kimura, the head of the technology department, was appointed as the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) as of June 1st.

It pointed out that as 'AI employees' with agent functions that autonomously perform tasks are emerging, the conventional wisdom of treating 'HR' and 'AI/Digital' as separate departments is beginning to collapse.

The article introduces the precedent of the US pharmaceutical company Moderna, the choice on the ground between 'buying GPUs or hiring new employees,' and the concept of 'division of labor between humans and AI' as discussed by Mercari's Mr. Kimura.

2. An era of thinking about 'HR' and 'AI' together

I often hear people say lately that 'AI will make managers unnecessary.'

What I felt after reading this article was the opposite: that AI might actually make managers 'more like managers.'

Given that a CIO is also serving as CHRO, many might read this column in the context of 'the AI department has become stronger' or 'AI is taking away human jobs.'

That was not what caught my attention. It is that we have entered an era where we must think about HR and AI together.

3. The job of a manager in the AI era will no longer be 'having the answers'

Until now, managers were expected to have knowledge, experience, and the correct answers.
However, AI performs information gathering and document creation with astonishing speed and accuracy. In terms of the sheer amount of knowledge, humans can no longer beat AI.

So, where will the value of a manager go?

Mercari's Mr. Kimura summarizes it this way.

'Researching' and 'identifying' can be left to AI. What remains is the judgment itself of 'what to decide and in which direction.'

4. AI provides answers. But it cannot create questions.

What is important when developing subordinates is not teaching them the answers, but asking good questions.
Even in 1-on-1s, instead of asking 'How have things been lately?', ask 'Is the work you are spending the most time on right now truly leading to results?'

AI is the same. If you instruct it to 'perform a market analysis,' it will return a decent market analysis. However, if you ask, 'Looking at it from the psychology of the customer when they make a decision, rather than the differences from competitors, what can be seen?', it will return an answer with completely different depth. It is not the AI itself that determines the AI's capability, but the power of the person asking the question.

The essence of questions that develop subordinates and questions that master AI is the same.

This is because it is not a technique for drawing answers out of others, but a technique for clarifying what you yourself want to think about.

5. Summary ~From 'Management' to 'Editing'~

How was it?
I made a note of my thoughts after reading the column on Mercari's organizational reform.

Previously, I wrote an article titled 'Managers should be tea masters.'
A tea master is not the protagonist, but plays the role of choosing the tools, arranging the flowers, and preparing the space so that the people gathered there can spend their time comfortably.

Isn't the manager in the AI era the same?

Identify what humans are good at and what AI is good at, combine them, and design a space where results are produced.

From someone who knows the answers to someone who can think about what should be asked.
AI provides answers. Therefore, the 'ability to design questions' remains with humans.

The manager's job is to edit the space where people and AI produce results.

I think the value of managers is shifting in that direction.

I hear that many companies are under immense pressure to utilize AI these days. The company I work for is the same.

When new tasks arise, whether to entrust them to AI or to people, and who will formulate what kind of questions to decide that.

Isn't it about time we started thinking about such things, and isn't that one of the roles and capabilities of a manager?

Thank you for reading until the end.
As usual, this is just a note of my personal thoughts after reading the column, but I would be happy if there is any part of it that you find helpful.