Job van der Voort’s Remote is an HR-tech company that helps businesses employ people across the globe by managing their payroll, benefits, compliance, and taxes. Van der Voort, who has a background in neuroscience, was the first employee of software company GitLab and is now the CEO of Remote which was valued at more than $3 billion last year.
Recently, van der Voort has been rolling out AI across his company. He believes it will give workers “superpowers” because it’s so powerful. AI is used to search through information in its databases on a daily basis and transform the way every businesses will operate. Generative AI platforms such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard can be used to write essays, news articles, and even résumés and cover letters.
Though this kind of AI has been met with some backlash, van der Voort believes it can do great things. AI gives staff access to information they otherwise wouldn’t have and saves them time from searching for it manually. It can also help them make sure the information they share is accurate. Amazon has warned its employees against having AI writing emails for them but van der Voort believes it can greatly help the efficiency of Remote’s customer service.
Not everyone sees the potential of AI positively. Goldman Sachs estimates it could impact 300 million full-time jobs worldwide and focusing on creative or communication skills may not be enough to combat this effect. But van der Voort says that rather than replace people’s jobs, AI will cause a redeployment of the workforce instead. He believes this technology is set to transform the world and expects it will be available to answer emails directly in the next year or two.
