In an HCLTech Trends and Insights podcast during the World Economic Forum, Alan Flower, Executive Vice President and Head of AI & Cloud Native Labs at HCLTech, delved into the transformative role of artificial intelligence (AI) in business innovation. He highlighted how AI has transitioned from experimentation to a central driver of industry transformation.
“Over the last nine months, a lot of the world's leading business organizations have done all the experimentation they need to do,” he said. “They may have started this journey perhaps a couple of years ago, but what we've seen recently is a very strong, tight focus in terms of driving AI deeper into organizations.”
Flower noted that this growing confidence is sparking creativity among business leaders. “We’re almost overwhelmed with clients with some remarkably strong vision about where they expect AI to bring benefit to their business,” he added.
Early successes with AI have been key to building client enthusiasm. Flower highlighted insights from the recent HCLTech Cloud Evolution: Mandate to Modernize research: “Once clients have done one or two deployments of these new AI tools, their enthusiasm, confidence and commitment just accelerated.”
Agentic AI: The next frontier
One of the standout themes Flower discussed was the emergence of agentic AI, a concept poised to redefine how AI integrates into operations. “The theme this week at Davos is not just AI — it’s agentic AI,” he emphasized.
This evolution shifts AI from a tool requiring user prompts to one that independently handles complex tasks. “With agentic AI, you're not going to be asking questions — you’re going to be issuing instructions. Then you’ll say, 'Here’s a problem. Go away and solve it, please.' This remarkable shift is driving so much client interest,” he said.
Industry-specific AI solutions
A growing trend is the movement toward industry-specialized AI. Companies are pivoting from general-purpose models to domain-specific solutions to meet unique industry demands.
“One of the key trends that we’re seeing is this movement towards small language models, domain-specific models. When I fine-tune a model to suit the needs of my industry and my business, the level of accuracy just comes forward dramatically,” said Flower.
He pointed to HCLTech's AI & Cloud Native Labs as a resource for businesses navigating this transition. “For any business leader that wants to now drive AI deeper into their organization, an obvious opportunity is to work with our AI & Cloud Native Labs. We’ll help you build an initial solution as well,” he said.
Workforce transformation in the age of AI
The conversation turned to AI’s impact on the workforce, with Flower asserting that AI is more of an augmentation tool than a replacement.
“AI is a massive augmentation,” he stated. “It’s an opportunity to increase productivity, the quality of work and speed up processes. There is this growing expectation from businesses to help their workforce take maximum value from these tools.”
Building trust and transparency within organizations is critical to successful AI adoption. By fostering co-creation and involving employees in the process, businesses can accelerate trust and adoption while addressing potential concerns.
Flower highlighted the importance of reskilling and upskilling employees to adapt to AI tools. “One great thing that should reassure everyone is there is an overabundance of education and training material available. Within HCLTech, we have our AI academies, and we share those with our clients to accelerate their journey.”
He also emphasized the motivational impact of AI for employees. “That opportunity, for me, you, anyone, quite frankly, to offload some of those less interesting tasks to AI is a great motivator,” he said.
Balancing innovation with sustainability
Acknowledging the energy demands of AI, Flower addressed how businesses can innovate responsibly.
There is a strong need for thoughtful deployment of AI, urging businesses to focus on impactful applications.
“AI is going to be a very large consumer of the world’s energy supply,” he said. “But if that energy is being used to deliver really focused, high-value experiences, I think that’s a very good use of resources.”
Responsible AI as a competitive necessity
Flower also highlighted that ethical practices in AI deployment are no longer optional but essential.
“A solid approach to responsible AI will quickly become what I would call table stakes,” he said. “You can’t continue in business unless you demonstrate a very solid approach to using AI in an ethical and responsible way."
HCLTech has made significant strides in this area by implementing governance structures and providing education on ethical AI use. “As employees, we need to use these tools responsibly, but as employers, we also need to ensure the right frameworks are in place to operate safely,” continued Flower.
A bright future for AI
As businesses increasingly adopt AI, the message from Flower at the World Economic Forum was clear: innovation and ethical responsibility must go hand in hand. Whether through advancements like agentic AI, industry-specific solutions or workforce transformation, the potential for AI to reshape industries is vast.
