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In an age of data abundance and complex decision-making, artificial intelligence has moved beyond being a mere backend tool for automating routine tasks.

Today, AI is emerging as a strategic partner in leadership, claiming a “seat in the boardroom”. It now possesses the capability to interpret data, understand leadership priorities, and propose tailored strategies for the enterprise.

Recognising this shift, The Federal launched ‘COGNI: The Boardroom Series’, a leadership-focused event series that explores AI’s transformative impact on high-level decision-making.

Also Read: The Federal COGNI: The Boardroom Series explores how AI reshapes CXO decisions

AI as business ally

The conference, held in association with the Madras Management Association (MMA), was titled ‘From Insight to Impact: AI in the Boardroom’. The event explored the growing influence of AI in the corridors of business power. Thunai AI was the title sponsor of the event, The Neural was the knowledge partner.

Kicking off the event on Friday (June 6), S Srinivasan, Editor-in-Chief of The Federalmoderated a fireside chat with Dinesh Varadharajan, Chief Product Officer of Kissflow.

The free-wheeling conversation offered an insightful discussion on the role of AI as a strategic partner, which is beyond a mere tech tool. It focused on how AI is enabling leaders to make decisions that are better, faster, and smarter.

Between hype and doubt

Srinivasan said that AI has the potential to change the whole working pattern, something similar to the Industrial Revolution.

“On one hand, there are those who believe, based on the kind of talks coming from places like Silicon Valley, that machines may soon replace human beings. That’s one perspective. On the other hand, some are more skeptical, dismissing it as just another technological advancement. As always, I believe that the truth lies somewhere in between,” he said.

Stating that every paradigm shift creates new opportunities, Dinesh said the AI shift in boardrooms will support decision-makers but may pose challenges for those who primarily follow instructions, as they are more likely to be replaced by AI.

“Decision-makers usually know exactly what they need and typically rely on their teams to execute it. But with AI, the executive team or the leadership team will be able to do it themselves,” he further said.

Also Read: The Federal COGNI: Why being ‘positively paranoid’ about AI can help businesses

AI Adoption

Dinesh criticised superficial implementations of AI in organisations, where companies merely add a layer of AI functionality to their modules and rebrand them as AI products.

“We don’t want to put an AI band-aid on our products. Rather, we want to build a new version of the product,” he stated.

He elaborated that typically, building a new product version involves hierarchical instruction passing and layers of translation, requiring large teams.

Contrasting this, Dinesh described how his founding team of just four members leveraged AI to build a working product prototype in four days without writing a single line of code. “If you are clear about what you need, AI will do it for you,” he affirmed.

AI transformation

Srinivasan highlighted statistics showing high AI adoption in sectors like pharmaceuticals and healthcare, especially in India. However, he questioned whether this adoption was meaningful or merely exploratory.

Dinesh agreed, noting that using tools like ChatGPT does not constitute adoption. Talking about AI adoption, he said companies must use AI as a differentiator to improve efficiency and productivity. He added that using AI alone isn’t enough, human input is still essential in many cases. That integration of AI and human intelligence, Dinesh said, is what defines true transformation

“Right now, most companies are using AI simply as a tool to replicate what humans already do. But that’s not true AI adoption — and it’s certainly not transformation. Real transformation begins when all stakeholders come together to look at how the business operates and reimagine every part of it.”

Stages of AI engagement

Dinesh outlined the progression organisations typically go through in AI adoption: denial, adoption, and then innovation.

Stating that very few companies are actually in the transformational stage, he stressed that transformation is hard work, requiring all stakeholders to come together, examine how the business is run, and then reimagine everything.

Srinivasan observed that while artificial intelligence has seen widespread visibility, as reflected in the 500 million users of ChatGPT, its actual industrial application remains questionable.

Dinesh agreed, emphasising that while such AI adoptions are important, it does not always equate to transformation.

He cited a telling example of a Swedish company, Klarna, which initially replaced 700 support staff with AI, only to rehire many later. “They realised that AI alone wasn’t sufficient. Human input remained essential in numerous cases,” he noted.

Also Read: C-suite AI: The Federal’s COGNI Boardroom Series takes off today in Chennai

Boardroom readiness

When asked about the level of appreciation board members have for AI and their understanding of its implications, Dinesh shared that most stakeholders recognise both the urgency and the need for change.

However, he noted that it is extremely difficult to make decisions without a clear understanding of where the technology is headed. “AI is a moving target. It is changing every day,” he cautioned.

He emphasised that the pace of innovation is unprecedented, adding, “We need to run alongside AI. Otherwise, we’ll be left behind. It’s a survival challenge now.”

Start-ups overtake legacy firms

On the difference in approaches in AI adoption across company sizes, Dinesh noted that start-ups are often more keen to adopt AI as it is easier for them due to a lack of legacy systems.

“Everyone has their own priorities. And it’s extremely difficult to channelise the energy in a bigger organisation towards a common objective. That’s the reason the startups end up killing the bigger companies as they can innovate very quickly,” he remarked.

Data dilemma

Highlighting a critical bottleneck in AI adoption, Srinivasan remarked that access to data remains a significant challenge, particularly in industries where there are governance issues like banking and financial services.

Responding to this, Dinesh noted that the most pressing issue is not regulatory resistance but the sheer availability of data. He emphasised that AI needs unified data access to generate meaningful insights.

“Data, even if not structurally connected, should be logically connected,” he cautioned. When asked if companies are willing to invest in data collection, Dinesh admitted that while some large enterprises have already begun investing in data lakes, such practices are far from widespread.

“And if a company wants to remain competitive in this new era, it needs to make that investment now,” he noted. “Ultimately, it is a major transformation. It won’t happen overnight. Leaders must have the conviction that data infrastructure is critical to truly harness the power of AI.”

Will managers be replaced?

Addressing concerns about AI replacing managerial roles, Dinesh stressed that AI cannot replace the experiential knowledge humans bring to decisions. “AI can work only with data. But any decision that we make in business is based on a lot of information that is not logically connected,” he explained.

Adding that it is important to use AI as an augmentation, he stressed that AI will never replace the managers who are defining the business workflow. Decisions often rely on trust, intuition, and implicit knowledge, all of which are difficult to encode, he noted.

Also Read: The Federal to launch ‘COGNI: The Boardroom Series’ in Chennai on June 6

AI budgeting

Srinivasan highlighted how most companies allocate less than 10 per cent of their IT budgets to AI initiatives, questioning how AI adoption will take off under such constraints.

Dinesh responded, “When organisations reimagine the way they operate, they often end up saving significant amounts of money. Those savings must be redirected into AI.”

Acknowledging that AI is expensive, he said, “If you’re saving large sums through AI-driven efficiency, then it justifies the initial spend. But for that to happen, companies must be willing to invest.”

Responding to concerns about short-term losses, Dinesh acknowledged the complexity, saying, “It really depends on the kind of initiatives you undertake. What matters most is identifying the right problems to solve with AI.” “The key in any boardroom conversation,” he concluded, “is to highlight challenges that lead to significant cost inefficiencies — and then demonstrate how AI investment can directly address those issues.”

Regulation and guardrails

When asked about AI regulation, Dinesh stated that it is still too early to implement rigid frameworks, suggesting that the industry is not yet mature enough for such measures.

“AI is at a stage where we don’t yet know where it is heading. It’s extremely difficult to impose regulations to control it at this point,” he said.

While acknowledging that there is a significant risk involved, he noted that AI is progressing at such a rapid pace that it is extremely difficult to impose any guardrails, as it would likely overcome the controls currently in place.

Also Read: The Federal Cogni: Aditya Santhanam Throws Light on Thunai’s Second Brain ‘

AGI vs human intelligence

Asked whether the term Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) is being overused without a clear understanding of its meaning, Dinesh said that AGI is an evolving concept and that there is no single, definitive definition.

Srinivasan then asked whether he believed biological intelligence is still far superior to machine intelligence. Dinesh affirmed this, stating, “There are a lot of things that machines won’t be able to do.”

‘A time for thinkers’

Concluding the conversation on an optimistic note, Srinivasan remarked that this is an exciting moment for computer scientists and technologists.

“I believe it is a great time for people working with computers and immersed in this space. There’s so much happening, and it’s all very promising,” he said.

Dinesh agreed, adding that the opportunities extend beyond technologists alone.

“It is a great time for all thinkers,” he said. “If you have a vision, which has traditionally been difficult to translate into reality due to the multiple layers it must pass through, the power is now in our hands. We can use AI as an assistant to help bring that vision to life.”