An Interview With Chad Silverstein
At Barge, we’ve leveraged AI to increase the efficiency and efficacy of our recruitment and hiring processes. We see tremendous ROI for leveraging the natural language power of large language models (LLM) to enhance job postings, ideal candidate cloning, and hiring practices integration.
In the ever-evolving and never-ending landscape of business, staying ahead of the curve is a prerequisite for success. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has gone from being a futuristic concept to a daily business tool that executives can’t ignore. In this interview series, we would like to talk with business leaders who’ve successfully integrated A.I. into their operations, transforming their companies in the process. I had the pleasure of interviewing Bob Higgins.
Bob Higgins is the President and CEO of Barge Design Solutions. Higgins joined the firm as an intern in 1996 following graduation from the School of Engineering at Vanderbilt University with a degree in Civil Engineering. He was appointed President and CEO in 2009. In his tenure, Higgins has directed the development and implementation of key technical, project management, and leadership programs, including helping to establish a new Leadership Professional Engineer (PE) program for mid-level engineers in Tennessee.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! To set the stage, tell us briefly about your background.
I am the President and CEO of Barge Design Solutions, an engineering and architecture firm with diverse in-house multidisciplinary practice areas. I have a degree in Civil Engineering from the Vanderbilt University School of Engineering, and I joined the Barge as an intern in 1996. I was appointed President and CEO in 2009.
I am passionate about artificial intelligence and its applications for businesses. I’ve helped lead a strategic collaboration between Barge and the Vanderbilt University School of Engineering, which led to the creation of “Generative AI for Leaders,” the first course on the Coursera platform that speaks to an executive audience about Generative AI.
What were the early challenges you faced in your career, and how did they shape your approach to leadership?
Early in my career I joined the Air Force before finishing my college career. It was a game changer for me. The Air Force taught me how to work with a diverse group of people, from all across the company, to train together, follow a set of values to accomplish a mission that was greater than us. I have used that “purpose driven” approach ever since. To rally people behind the good that comes from engineering and how the quality of life in our communities is improved from our work.
We often learn the most from our mistakes. Can you share one mistake that turned out to be one of the most valuable lessons you’ve learned?
A mistake I made early on was focusing too much on candidates’ capabilities in the hiring process. I learned quickly that hiring for values and training the capability as needed was a much better approach. It is hard for businesses to change the character our employees bring to work. It is much easier to evaluate that culture fit on the front end.
AI is a big leap for some businesses. When and what first sparked your interest in incorporating it into your operations?
I saw a presentation on Prompt Engineering for ChatGPT by Jules White at Vanderbilt University and was immediately hooked. I went home and signed up for an account and immediately started using it as a thought partner and data evaluator. I still leverage the technology for the same purpose today. Once you lean into the technology and respect its safe and ethical use, it will be a game changer for small and mid-size businesses to leverage against their larger competitors and regain market share.
AI can be a game-changer for individuals and their responsibilities. Can you share how you personally use AI and what are your go-to resources or tools?
AI can not only save time, but it can also help take away some of the more administrative tasks that leaders have on their plate so that they can focus on more high-value work. For me specifically, there have been times when AI has given me a whole day back into my week, which is extremely powerful. I also now spend less time putting together plans and presentations, which frees up my headspace to focus on the more creative aspects of my job, like the impact of a plan or presentation.
On the flip side, what challenges or setbacks have you encountered while implementing AI into your company?
The most common hindrance I see to responsible adoption is when employees rely too heavily on technology to do the work for them and forget the human element. AI does not have the ability to complete a project, and challenges arise when people are left out of the equation. AI requires human context, personality, and ingenuity for successful implementation. Businesses need to implement guardrails and policies for employees to ensure responsible use.
Another hindrance to AI adoption is the leaders themselves. This technology applies to all levels of the company, including the C-Suite. It is more important than ever that leaders model the use of AI so all their teams will feel comfortable doing so.
At Barge, we have taken a strategic approach to our rollout of Generative AI technologies. Employees need to understand why we are implementing the technology and the value it brings to their daily work. Leaders are responsible for creating guidelines, so employees feel comfortable embracing the technology and enable learning and development on safe and responsible uses for AI across the organization. This will ensure that more employees feel comfortable being adopters of the technology and leveraging the power of AI in their work. In addition to the guidelines we have created, we ensure that employees are using these platforms safely and ethically by educating our people on the safe, ethical, and responsible use of AI. We empower them to use AI in a manner that is consistent with our guidelines and keeps privacy and data concerns top of mind.
When we first implemented AI across our organization, we started with a slow rollout to certain employees. We provided access to AI tools, along with training and education on responsible use, and as those employees showed comfort and acceptance of the technology, we granted access to more employees. The slow rollout ensures leadership and IT teams understand how employees use the technology and any questions we can help address before the entire organization comes on board.
Let’s dig into this further. Can you share the top 5 AI tools or different ways you’re integrating AI into your business? What specific functions do they serve and what kind of result have you seen so far? If you can, please share a story or example for each.
- At Barge, we’ve leveraged AI to increase the efficiency and efficacy of our recruitment and hiring processes. We see tremendous ROI for leveraging the natural language power of large language models (LLM) to enhance job postings, ideal candidate cloning, and hiring practices integration.
- Generative AI has been instrumental in improving our recruitment and hiring practices. Using tools like ChatGPT-4, we’ve been able to create engaging, search-optimized job postings that have significantly increased the quality and quantity of job applicants. AI has also increased the speed of our hiring process by augmenting HR-related tasks like designing policies and crafting onboarding materials.
- Our AI-enhanced job postings have significantly increased our applicant pool, allowing us to hire more people than ever before. In one case, an AI-enhanced job posting received over 250 applications, leading to 118 interviews. In previous scenarios, our non-AI enhanced job listings received only 111 applications and five interview referrals. In addition to this, AI has been a major cost saver, as it has allowed us to fill challenging roles in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry, such as a senior civil engineer position, without the need for costly recruiter fees that are typically around 30–35% of the salary.
- Another large ROI is in processing large data sets. Manual tools will no longer be needed for any of these tasks. With computer vision, LLM, and other machine learning techniques, there is a substantial efficiency gain for any business using large data sets.
- AI is what you make of it and how you use it. For me personally and from a business leader’s perspective, AI absolutely is rising to its expectations for businesses.
There’s concern about AI taking over jobs. How do you balance AI tools with your human workforce, and have you already replaced any positions using technology?
Generative AI is fundamentally transforming the business landscape and will unlock efficiencies and opportunities we aren’t even aware of yet. Over the long term, small and midsize businesses will become less valuable if they don’t embrace this technology and leverage it for daily operations. Leaders and businesses need to remember that the value of using AI is not to replace employees but to support or augment those in place and eliminate some of the more day-to-day administrative tasks or highly data-intensive tasks.
Looking ahead, what’s on the horizon in the world of AI that people should know about? What do you see happening in the next 3–5 years? I would love to hear your best prediction.
Artificial intelligence is at the point where widespread adoption can become true augmented intelligence, coupling machines with human ingenuity. This leads to businesses experiencing increased productivity, cost savings, and highly customized products and services. In healthcare, medical professionals will see improvements in diagnostics, with the ability to provide even more personalized treatment plans and exceptional administrative efficiency. Educators will have access to personalized learning tools, enabling them to teach individual students rather than just the entire class. Consumers will be able to engage better with organizations’ content in a more intimate way, whether it’s a sporting event, concert, or shopping experience.
We are already seeing the early adoption of augmented intelligence and the advancements will only continue. We will see big strides in the next two to three years.
If you had to pick just one AI tool that you feel is essential, one that you haven’t mentioned yet, which would it be and why?
Any large language model like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Claude AI’s 3.5 Sonnet, or Google’s Gemini. When you learn how to prompt these models to help you and how to leverage your human ingenuity, they are incredible tools that will manage your calendar, help you through a difficult conversation, build a social media post, or help you strategize on new market opportunities and even prepare for your first cold call with a potential client.
For the uninitiated, what advice would you give someone looking to integrate AI into their business and doesn’t know where to start?
AI is a powerful tool applicable across all levels of an organization — from the C-Suite to interns — making it essential for employees to understand how to effectively use the technology. To promote adherence to company guidelines, we emphasize modeling the appropriate usage of AI. Business leaders play a critical role by demonstrating the appropriate and ethical use of AI while showing its value. From the first day of implementation, leaders should actively communicate guidelines and highlight examples of appropriate usage. This approach builds confidence among employees and empowers them to leverage the technology responsibly.
Where can our readers follow you to learn more about leveraging A.I. in the business world?
You can follow me on LinkedIn and check out the “Generative AI for Leaders” course on Coursera for more insights on implementing AI into your business.
This was great. Thanks for taking time for us to learn more about you and your business. We wish you continued success!
About the Interviewer: Chad Silverstein, a seasoned entrepreneur with over two decades of experience as the Founder and CEO of multiple companies. He launched Choice Recovery, Inc., a healthcare collection agency, while going to The Ohio State University, His team earned national recognition, twice being ranked as the #1 business to work for in Central Ohio. In 2018, Chad launched [re]start, a career development platform connecting thousands of individuals in collections with meaningful employment opportunities, He sold Choice Recovery on his 25th anniversary and in 2023, sold the majority interest in [re]start so he can focus his transition to Built to Lead as an Executive Leadership Coach. Learn more at www.chadsilverstein.com
Bob Higgins Of Barge Design Solutions: How We Leveraged AI To Take Our Company To The Next Level was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.