Detecting bank fraud. Engineering new software. Identifying serious illnesses.
These are not simply conceptual applications for artificial intelligence. For chief executives of Mayo Clinic, nVent and U.S. Bancorp, cutting-edge AI is already transforming the workplaces of these Minnesota employers.
As the new technology permeates industries at a rapid clip, business leaders are witnessing seismic changes. And they are leaning in.
“A doctor plus AI is better than a doctor, and there is good proof for that,” Mayo Clinic CEO Gianrico Farrugia said Tuesday during a panel conversation on Midwestern leadership, part of the Minnesota Star Tribune’s inaugural North Star Summit.
The AI conversation continued a daylong theme at the summit, a business conference held at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. Sessions featured Midwestern leaders in art, culture, business and politics.
As at Mayo, AI is assuming some of the workload at U.S. Bank by helping generate solutions for customers seeking financial advice. The new tech is also capable of making real-time assessments on financial transactions to detect suspicious patterns — a task that may have otherwise taken weeks.
U.S. Bancorp CEO Gunjan Kedia said the dialogue about artificial intelligence is shifting to a point of considering whether an AI agent could one day become a colleague working in the bank.
“This is creating a very real sense of anticipation and anxiety in the workforce,” she said. As some workers worry about job security, Kedia recalled the sentiment when ATMs first came out.
