Leading indigenous fintech company, SystemSpecs Limited, has counseled companies to adopt an innovative outlook in order to compete favourably in the rapidly changing business environment.

This summation was made by an Executive Director of the firm, Deremi Atanda, while interacting with pressmen on the sidelines of the 2019 Techpoint Inspired in Lagos. Atanda, who was also a discussant at a panel session titled ‘’Technology and 21st Century Work Culture’’, urged employers to adapt their businesses in tandem with the latest technological changes and the idiosyncrasies of millennials who are the future of the workplace.

He maintained that it is only by so doing that businesses can achieve longevity and ensure relevance in their sectors. Atanda pointed out how several revolutions, including the Industrial Revolution, changed the modus operandi of businesses around the globe, insisting that the millennial swing and the inception of advanced technologies are no different from them.

According to Atanda: ‘’When you talk about preparedness, it is just about preparing to live life the way it is going to be, so technology is defining how we live and we just have to wake up to it because it will affect all facets of life including work and our personal lives. We just need to prepare for how technology will influence man at the place of work and what do we need to do to respond to that.

‘’The millennials have told us that they want to live differently and it’s a function of technology around, things are a lot more convenient in terms of accessibility to information, in terms of processing power, in terms of knowledge available to make things happen, and those are the key driver’s for the change in the place of work.’’

Furthermore, Atanda allayed the fears of individuals and groups alike who opine that there will be a flurry of job losses as a result of the increasing shift towards Artificial Intelligence (AI). According to him, jobs are meant to be outdated naturally as new job will also be created. It then behooves individuals to attune themselves with the requisite skills to secure new jobs and thrive at the workplace.

‘’ The future of work is going to be about the skill set that the new work environment requires, what’s the nature of investment that’s been made? It is clear that you no longer cannot wait for the curriculum-lead skill building for the contemporary work environment, you need to do a lot of investment in yourself.

‘’Knowledge will keep breeding opportunities for work, so if you are thinking about the problem that robots are solving today, some people thought it that robots did not create themselves, but because work had to be done differently. Likewise, if you want to be a successful private sector business, you will only be doing yourself some harm if you don’t rightly equip the roles with the right set of skills,’’ he stated.