Workday’s EMEA CTO Clare Hickie recently turned the tables on the king of the interviewers to learn the secrets of human connection and its growing importance in an Artificial Intelligence (AI) world.
Renowned journalist and broadcaster Louis Theroux has built his 25-year career on getting people to open up.
Covering a wide range of subjects, from cults and swingers to the American prison system and the Westboro Baptist Church, his documentaries often focus on controversial topics and people on the edges of society, with Louis's deadpan humour and non-confrontational style encouraging people to reveal more about themselves.
This approach, combined with his curiosity and compassion, helps him to connect with people regardless of their beliefs or backgrounds.
We recently invited Louis to Workday Elevate where he joined Workday’s Clare Hickie to share his thoughts on what it truly means to connect with others, and why, in an increasingly AI-driven world, it’s going to become more important than ever. Here are five things (of many!) that we learned:
Like Gryffindor’s favourite Seeker, Louis often gets credited with magical powers because of his ability to connect with people, but by his own admission, he’s “a muggle just like everyone else”.
What’s his secret? He says it’s all about the basics - the things everyone’s mum and dad taught them growing up, “being polite, being considerate and respectful, being attentive and listening to others".
As Louis points out, it was the writer of Howards End and A Passage to India who coined the phrase “only connect” as a maxim to live by.
He says that it’s in moments of connection with others that he feels most at home in his work and in his personal life, and he believes that’s something that’s universal.
Although he admits it’s unlikely! Louis accepts that we can all get trapped in our own heads and mistakenly put ourselves at the centre of the universe.
But, he says "we have to work under the assumption that the world is real and that the things that we see are real, and therefore the things that we feel fulfilled in - connection, value, going through life creating meaning - that’s what the core of life is that we all have in common.”
Despite his considerable success - three BAFTA awards and counting - Louis says he’s quite an awkward person who struggles in many aspects of his life. But it’s those qualities - his frailty and lack of “suavetee” - that people can often find endearing.
In fact, he believes that “sharing those parts of you that are more uncertain and tentative” can be the foundation for connection.
Louis acknowledges that AI is an incredible tool. But as a student of history, he recognises that for centuries humans have feared being replaced by machines, dating back to the Luddite movement in the early 19th Century.
He believes AI will never replace human qualities or the need for personal connection and says that “there’s no substitute for that guiding human intelligence that sits on top of everything and recognises what works and what doesn’t, and what connects and what doesn’t.”
Want to be there for the next great conversation? Join us at Workday Rising EMEA in Barcelona this November. Register now.
At Workday Rising EMEA in Barcelona we're setting the stage with cutting-edge AI, groundbreaking ideas and a diverse community that's shaping what's next.
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