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New research report by enterprise data cloud company Cloudera reveals more than one-quarter of business decision-makers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are now increasingly investing in environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) ahead of developing new products/services (24%) or growing shareholder value (15%). Most knowledge workers also believe as much as 49% of the data their business uses on a day-to-day basis should be focused on doing good for the communities it serves. This is a sentiment 66% of business decision-makers agree with — a clear indication that profit and ESG are no longer mutually exclusive pursuits.

The comprehensive survey, which unearthed exclusive insights from a total of 2,213 enterprise business decision-makers globally including the UAE examines the fact that ESG is identified as a top priority for business leaders and those who fail to act for the good of communities put business growth and talent at huge risk. The study also explores the shift in attitude towards Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and Data Analytics.

The survey dubbed ‘Limitless: The Positive Power of AI Study’ also targeted C-Suite and a total of 10,880 knowledge workers among which 528 are UAE-based.

Failing to act for social good is risky for business growth, talent

Thirty-three percent of the UAE business decision-makers and knowledge workers surveyed believe that their respective companies should publicly support sustainable business practices. Additionally, the vast majority of knowledge workers (56%) argue there is a need to use Data Analytics to deliver more sustainable business practices that benefit both their organization and the communities it serves.

The data also found that 61% of decision-makers claim to be very active regarding the implementation of these technologies. However, 31% claim to be active but lack the required knowledge in order to implement these technologies. Companies that address these gaps now gain a real competitive advantage in the battle for customers and talent.

According to the report, businesses that truly want to embed sustainability at their core, its leaders must start to use data to deliver more sustainable outcomes – and quickly. Failure to act and 35% of knowledge workers and 32% of business decision-makers believe employees would leave the business. This, the report reveals, could be a business-destroying move amidst a global talent shortage, especially if all of a company’s competitors are addressing the gap.

“In my opinion, businesses, regardless of the industry they operate in, should today act in a socially responsible manner. As the research points out, doing this can start with data. Companies can, and should, use big data and AI to make more sustainable business decisions,” said Karim Azar, Regional Director, Middle East & Turkey, Cloudera.

Invest in reskilling to curb fear of job loss to AI

The research findings also dispel the long-held belief that workers were afraid of AI taking over their jobs. An explosion in the volume of data now available to businesses has made AI/ML a common threat to many job roles and a powerful ally. Over half of UAE-based knowledge workers say their daily tasks have been augmented or automated by AI (73%), ML (63%), and Data Analytics (78%) in the last 12 months. The biggest benefits of this have been saving time (40%) and allowing them/their team to focus more on strategic work (32%). What’s more, 88% of knowledge workers are now comfortable taking on a new role due to AI/ML/Data Analytics.

To capitalize on this, businesses have to do more and invest in employee reskilling. 96% of business decision-makers in the UAE said their organization will commit to continuous investment in reskilling employees as more tasks are automated. But the investment in people can’t stop there. Companies also need to make employees partners in the upskilling and reskilling processes to ensure a level playing field for staff.

“The study reveals a new wave of economics, focused on doing equally great things for profit, planet, and people - driven by automation and AI — is emerging. For business leaders, this means it’s time to refocus how they think about technology investment — identifying not only the data that will support growth but also the technology that will help employees and communities gain meaningful access to it. At Cloudera, we work with our customers to transform their economic output with Data Analytics and AI,” said Mick Hollison, President, Cloudera.