Outlook Money 40After40: Leverage AI For Career Growth And Leadership, Says Ronnie Screwvala

The third edition of the two-day Outlook Money 40After40 Retirement Expo opened in Mumbai on February 7, 2025. The event focuses on the evergreen subject of retirement planning. The event also aims to provide a platform to facilitate the exchange of ideas and change the way retirement is perceived.

Ronnie Screwvala, the chairperson and co-founder of upGrad Entrepreneur, and investor and philanthropist spoke about how the advent of technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) are reshaping the way business is conducted. He also talked about the relevance of AI for both leaders and new entrants to the workforce.

Leadership In The Era Of AI

Screwvala said at the event that with rapid changes in technology, leaders need to change the way they oversee operations. He advised leaders to adopt a more 360 degree vision and be like a ‘drone’.

He added that while the drone has a bird’s eye view of the broader picture, it can also zoom in to understand things better.

“Today, leadership or even a CEO is almost an expiry date. I think it’s almost like a revalidation every month because you could be having a good innings and one or two strategic missteps, and you are out because the world is very competitive. For leadership today, a 360 degree approach is very important. And that means you need to be a little bit of a drone which is just hovering above a little bit about everybody else, but has a very sharp eye to be able to zoom in to whatever you want to do from time to time,” Screwvala said.

Screwvala added that given the fast pace of life and the increasingly fast pace at which technology evolves, leaders need to be ‘problem spotters’ rather than ‘problem solvers’. Screwvala emphasised that since the world is moving fast, more problems arise by the time a solution for solving existing problems has been found.

“I think the time to be problem solvers as leaders is gone. We need to be problem spotters. If you look at some of the younger generation, because they’ve got a fresh outlook of life, I just find them to be a little bit more edgy and definitely more what I would call problem spotters than problem solvers. Today the world is moving so fast that by the time you actually get into a problem, figure out how to solve it, a new problem has arisen,” Screwvala said.

Accepting AI For Growth

The upGrad chairperson said that employees across levels need to accept the presence of AI. He added that acceptance is the first step, as it can help individuals in figuring out how they can leverage AI better.

“The key word is acceptance. When you accept it (AI), the threat goes away and the mindset changes to how do I use it instead of seeing it as an adversary. So if you’ve accepted that option that the tailwind that it’ll give me will be more than the headwind, you start approaching it by saying how can I embrace it and how can I go forward,” Screwvala said.

How AI Can Be Adopted For Growth

Screwvala noted that while AI might not displace jobs currently, it can significantly reduce the amount of hours an individual needs to work. He added that individuals can leverage AI to reduce their workload from 14 hours to 11 hours.

“I don’t think its (AI) going to displace jobs in general at the moment; in time it can displace a job. If you can use some of this technology. It means even if you’re spending 14 hours a day, maybe you can spend 11 hours a day. But even if you want to spend a 14 hour day to be a much more high quality day, you'll be smarter in the conference room, in the meeting room,” Screwvala said.

Screwvala also noted that leveraging AI can help you in growing faster in your career and getting promoted.

“Your possible growth and promotion could be higher if you can manage to figure out how to harness it, the opportunity for you to leverage your salary or your promotion is going to be much higher. That’s how I think it needs to be looked at,” Screwvala said.