News
Posting date:
10 October 2024
At the dawn of the world’s next technological revolution, Switzerland today has a rare opportunity to establish itself as the club house for the generative AI era in Europe. The country’s large infrastructure, its thriving ecosystem and its super-skilled workforce make it a well-equipped candidate to unlock the full economic potential of the new technology. If Switzerland wants to be the first through the door, though, it will have to move fast as policies need to anticipate.
The Economic Opportunity: A CHF 80-85 Billion Boost
Generative AI enhances so many existing tasks that it creates a paradigm shift in many industries. Our latest findings point to a hypothetical economic contribution of CHF 80-85 billion to Switzerland’s GDP. This equates to almost a 11% uplift – significantly stronger than Europe.
Simply European countries are better placed to realising the benefits of artificial intelligence. But to capture these benefits, Switzerland needs to play to its strengths: innovation, talent and regulation.
The Workforce: From Automation to Augmentation
The most heated debates over AI concern jobs. In Switzerland, it is estimated that 66 per cent of jobs will work in tandem with generative AI. This will drive up productivity rather than replace jobs. Presently, 65 per cent of labourers think that AI is making them more productive – a very encouraging statistic!
But we are at least realists. While many jobs will be augmented, it is naive to think that all jobs will be augmented – some jobs will be automated, too. The question that faces leadership-minded professionals today is how can this transition be managed, such that it unfolds in a way that creates new opportunities for workers rather than disruption to workers. With the right tools, the re-engineering of a future workforce can be strategically designed and implemented to ensure that people are prepared for the AI-engineered roles of tomorrow.
Switzerland’s AI Readiness: A Solid Foundation
What separates Switzerland from its peers is its strong AI innovation ecosystem and infrastructure. The country has world-leading capabilities in terms of talent, research and commercialisation – three key pillars that are translation-critical for AI success. In addition, its government provides a high level of support and facilitation in AI growth by implementing AI-boosting policies, including the Digital Switzerland Strategy (2022), which will help the public and private sectors enhance their AI capabilities.
Nonetheless, they do not detract from Switzerland’s strengths. If you think that the new AI industrial revolution is a winner-takes-all race, you might perceive a narrowing of the window of opportunity with every delay. If the share of the AI-induced world GDP (proportional to the country profit share from globalisation) expands from 11 percentage points to 30 points in a five-year period, it leaves little room to think that nothing will happen.
Capturing the AI Advantage: Policy and Innovation
To extract the most economic value of generative AI, Switzerland will have to prioritise the following:
Second, investing in upskilling and retraining the workforce, which will require broad-based education and training programmes in AI-focused and digital skills that prepare workers to not only work alongside AI but to lead and innovate within this space.
Sp&D by Local Innovators: Many small startups have come from Switzerland over the years to lead in tech innovation. Now more than ever, making sure that local AI startups have a chance, and creating the right bridges between industry and academia, are important activities.
Promoting Commercial Speed: To stay ahead, we need to accelerate the uptake of AI within companies, and this depends on avoiding barriers to regulation. To maintain Switzerland’s pre-eminence as a leader in new technologies, we will need frameworks for AI that encourage its use.
A Call to Action: The Swisslinx Perspective
As a market leader in recruitment in technology, as well as in finance and a variety of other critical industries, Swisslinx is well placed to support the transformation of Swiss businesses through the burgeoning technology of AI. If people are the solution to the problem, then the solution to people is recruitment. And by going through an agency such as Swisslinx, organisations will find the experts they need to embed and grow their AI capabilities.
Generative AI provides Switzerland with an unprecedented chance. If we start with a strong foundation, and a skilled and forward-looking workforce, we will be able not just to join but to lead the revolution. To achieve this, however, we will need to act today, to make investments into the future, to make the transition happen – and, most importantly, to make it inclusive.
Together, we can steer the next generation of AI innovation and place Switzerland at the forefront of the AI economy.
