Artificial intelligence must be embraced as a primary engine of economic growth if its benefits are to be shared globally, said Julie Sweet, chair and chief executive of Accenture, while addressing the India AI Summit.
“Using AI as an engine for growth is the only path for global prosperity for all,” said Julie Sweet, and she further added, “Companies, countries, and individuals must reinvent how they work, how they work together, and how they learn. And finally, it is humans in the lead, not humans in the loop, that will determine our future.”
She stressed that the future will be shaped by “humans in the lead, not humans in the loop,” underscoring leadership accountability in deploying advanced technologies.
AI, she said, should be able to bring changes and outcomes that were previously perceived to be impossible. With the use of AI, business leaders can bring entirely new products, services and performance benchmarks. “If you can’t do that, you haven’t captured its potential,” she said, adding that the greatest value of AI lies not in efficiency alone but in growth.
She also emphasised that the other major aspect will be to ensure better accessibility of AI to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which account for about half of global GDP and nearly 70% of employment in the global South. Making AI an engine of inclusive growth, she said, will require deliberate public-private partnerships to expand access to both technology and talent.
“We must commit to providing access to the technology and the talent for small and medium-sized enterprises. If we are to use AI as an engine for growth, we need to make sure that the engine for growth, these types, these size enterprises have access,” added Julie Sweet.
While she acknowledged that advanced AI is more powerful than previous waves of technology, she also underscored that the core lesson remains unchanged: productivity and growth depend on reinvention. Thus, the need of the hour is better investment in reskilling and redesign by the companies, especially for the entry-level roles, which remain critical for building future leadership pipelines.
“Underneath the headlines of a failure of AI is mostly a failure to reinvent. Companies have to invest to reshape their workforces, and companies must commit to creating sustained entry-level jobs,” added Accenture CEO.
She also called for global standards on AI safety and industry use, and also warned about the fragmented regulation limiting scale and disproportionately harming vulnerable populations.