“Training is always the most powerful tool to deal with disruptions such as generative AI”

Interview with Ana Freire, professor of 'Impact of New Technologies: AI' and 'How AI is Transforming Business' in the UPF-BSM Executive MBA

The UPF Barcelona School of Management (UPF-BSM) has redesigned its Executive MBA with a program tailored to new demands and the latest market trends. The academic director of the Executive MBA, Katharine D’Amico, is joined by a teaching team that brings together academic excellence, doctorates, and extensive professional experience across multiple sectors.

In this interview series called UPF-BSM Faculty Feature, we speak with the main professors of the new EMBA. In this episode, we feature Ana Freire, professor of the courses 'Impact of New Technologies: AI' and 'How AI is Transforming Business'. “I like leaders to also grasp the more technical aspects of how artificial intelligence works—not only its applications, benefits, and risks, but also how these systems are trained, how an algorithm can be designed, or the importance of data for these algorithms to operate properly,” Freire explains. For the professor, this knowledge is what makes the difference and is essential in AI training for executives: “Without having this deeper layer of understanding about AI, I firmly believe that it’s impossible to make informed decisions about implementing AI systems in a company,” she notes.

When asked about one of the major trends transforming her field, Freire explains that, from a leadership perspective, it is generative artificial intelligence. “It is something that a large part of society already uses today, both personally and professionally, and as leaders we must understand and control how these tools are used in our work environments.”

For the professor, it is important for executives to be trained in the use of these AI tools so they can answer questions such as: How can we use them to improve the efficiency of our processes and our people? What precautions should we take? How should we implement them? “Training is always the most powerful tool to deal with disruptions such as generative AI,” Freire emphasizes.

Preconceived Ideas About AI

The professor admits that she has often encountered students who believe generative AI is the first expression of artificial intelligence. “In reality, AI has been running since the 1950s,” she explains. “I would even dare to say that a predictive AI model capable of forecasting sales or how your marketing campaigns will perform is much more powerful than many of the current generative AI algorithms we use today,” she points out. “I like to highlight these other facets of AI that are highly valuable for business in generating new knowledge—not just these newer tools based on generative AI,” she adds.

Freire also explains that many executives attending her classes perceive AI as destructive and believe it will eliminate many jobs. “I want them to see all the potential that AI has to complement the jobs we have today, and the importance of defining KPIs and metrics to verify whether process efficiency has improved as a result of its use.” The professor, who is also director of the Master’s in Data Analytics for Business at UPF-BSM, adds that it is crucial for leaders to understand data governance within a company so that, if AI systems are implemented, it is done responsibly, ethically, and efficiently.