The Budget Question Every Leader Faces in the AI Era

AI is helping teams get more done, so leaders need to decide how to use this new advantage. Companies can either cut costs and keep output the same, or keep their budgets and use the extra capacity to create more value.

Georgina Lupu Florian, the founder and co-CEO of Wolfpack Digital, raised this question as the focal point of her speech at the "Leadership in the AI Era" fireside chat which took place at the second edition of Transilvania Digital Innovation Summit. Below we examine her views on how AI is altering leadership, together with our highlights from the summit.

Leadership in the AI era: the fireside chat

The fireside chat, moderated by Diana Rosca, brought together Georgina Lupu Florian, Cristina Mudura, Andrei Roth, Darius Popîrțac, Corina Vasile, and Ana-Maria Icătoiu. It followed Voicu Oprean's keynote about why businesses need to reinvent themselves, which set the stage for the panel discussion.

Viewing things from the standpoint of a tech entrepreneur, Gina cited a number of areas in which AI is altering the day-to-day activities of leaders.

Setting direction when productivity goes up

Because of AI, teams are able to produce more in the same amount of time, which then forces each leadership team to make a budget decision. One option is to reduce costs while maintaining previous levels of output; the other is to keep the budget the same and use the extra productivity to create more value. Gina regarded this as one of the main questions that leaders now have to deal with when setting the direction of a company.

"As we are early adopters of AI-tooling for digital product development or for various automations, including the ones for our own business needs, we are often faced with the decision ourselves." says Gina. "Balance is key, yet more often we find ourselves choosing to invest, especially since there are so many low-hanging fruits worth picking, and the ROI in the long-run is a considerable one, allowing us to take our business to the next level. We offer mindful recommendations to our clients too, and yes - sometimes it makes more sense to cut costs. However, the time and budget AI saves can be invested back into product strategy, more useful features, quality, and the details users notice, which means our clients get more value from the same budget. Cutting costs can look attractive in the short term, but it leaves most of the gains on the table, and we are all now experiencing a unique window of opportunity to harness them.".

Changing and reinterpreting processes

Ways of working designed before AI won't all hold up. Leaders need to decide which processes need to change and which have to be completely rethought in light of the new tools. For example, at Wolfpack Digital, we have adjusted the steps in our app development process in a way that reinterprets lean app development principles, while taking into account the productivity boost brought on by AI. Depending on the project and the business case, UX/UI design may become integrated with software development, as part of the same phase, for example. In the AI age, leaders have the responsibility to reinterpret the way valuable principles are put into practice.

Supporting people through difficult change

Roles, responsibilities, and the necessary skillsets have changed too. Getting involved with AI places a great deal of demand on teams, as they have to get used to new methods of working and also carry out continuous upskilling. Gina pointed out the importance of leaders in supporting their people during this period of change, and mentioned that communication, product strategy, and management skills are therefore becoming more valuable, together with offering the right framework and guidance to support people on their learning journey.

A summit built around real connections

To us, networking was the most valuable element of the day. Cluj has always needed a place where tech companies, investors, institutions and NGOs can actually meet, and the summit has been working towards that objective since it first started. This year, the variety of people present made it possible. Previous connections were revived, new ones were established, and we intend to continue those discussions and turn a number of them into collaborations.

The general atmosphere in the room was identical in direction. Both people and businesses appeared to be more willing than ever to collaborate and go digital, there being a common belief that this change cannot be delayed.

At the Wolfpack Digital booth

At our booth, Anca Hangea and Tudor Cutus from Wolfpack Digital were there, and people had the opportunity to adopt a wolf of their own using Join the Pack, an app developed by our team which is powered by AI.

It took about two minutes to adopt a wolf using the tablet at the booth. Each visitor would tell the AI one thing about themselves, for example, their favourite food, film or song, after which the system would suggest three names to choose from. When a name had been selected, the wolf would appear on the large screen at our booth, moving around the night-time skyline of Cluj-Napoca together with the rest of the pack and would also receive its own illustration within a minute. A QR code was then given to each person to take them to their wolf's page, where there was a picture ready to be shared in their Instagram stories.

The wolves kept themselves occupied on the wall during the entire summit by napping, howling, playing with one another and gathering pets. In the evening, each new owner was sent an email diary by their wolf, the diary containing an account of what the wolf had actually done on the screen that day. Visitors gave their wolves names such as Roz (Pink), Inferno or Notebook.

Each wolf that was adopted made a donation of €2 to Foundation Conservation Carpathia.

Two editions in, and still growing

We have been supporting the Transilvania Digital Innovation Summit since it was first held and always thought there was potential in it; it has been satisfying to have been able to offer our ideas over the years and to see the event develop into what it is now.

We would like to congratulate Bianca Muntean, Laura Lămurean and the entire Transilvania IT Cluster team, who listened to every suggestion and piece of feedback and turned them into reality!

The robot that fell off the stage

The summit closed with an energetic robot dance, which took an unexpected turn when the robot fell off the stage. It was a funny moment, and a fitting end to a day about AI and leadership. Advanced technology has a lot of potential, yet it can still fail, and it still needs people to lead it.

See you next year

We are already looking forward to the next Transilvania Digital Innovation Summit. Wolfpack Digital builds end-to-end tech products with product strategy, design and engineering under one roof, with its headquarters in Cluj-Napoca and an office in Dublin. If you're deciding how to reinvest the productivity that AI brings to your product or to your team, the company would be happy to discuss it with you!