Episode 109: Workplace inclusion in the age of AI
Welcome to Season 1, episode 9 of Breaking with Tradition, Catalyst’s podcast that explores trends and ideas that will impact the future of the global workplace. This episode was filmed live at 2024 Catalyst Honours and is called Workplace inclusion in the age of AI.
The way we approach workplace inclusion is evolving at lightning speed, driven by socio-political pressures and the rapid advancement of AI.
Without careful design, AI can reinforce existing biases—elevating some perspectives while sidelining others and creating new challenges for distinct groups, such as Black communities. But when used intentionally, AI can be a powerful force for innovation, helping businesses attract top talent and build stronger, more diverse teams.
Join host Victoria Kuketz as she sits down with Patrice Njoh, Partner, Deloitte Canada and Kike Ojo-Thompson, Partner, Human Capital at Deloitte, to explore the risks and opportunities AI presents for workplace inclusion. Together, they dive into some of the latest research, including the role of inclusive leadership and strategies for companies to harness AI as a tool for innovation and fairness.
AI is changing the way we work—let’s make sure it changes our work for the better. Tune in now and be part of the conversation.
Host and guests
Victoria Kuketz, Director, Corporate Engagement, Canada, Catalyst
Patrice Njoh, Partner, Deloitte Canada
Patrice Njoh is a Partner in Deloitte’s Technology & Transformation Consulting Practice with over 15 years of experience in strategic consulting, change management, and transformation. She specializes in leading large-scale change efforts, particularly in financial services and the public sector. Patrice focuses on aligning clients' business objectives with technology-driven transformations and high-performance culture shifts. She advocates for diversity, equity, and inclusion, co-leading Deloitte’s Black Action Council. She is also a certified PMP and PROSCI professional, contributing to Deloitte’s transformation initiatives across Canada. Patrice has authored several white papers on transformational change, leadership, and EDI.
Kike Ojo-Thompson, Partner, Human Capital, Deloitte LLP
Kike Ojo-Thompson is an award-winning equity thought leader, renowned for her expertise in organizational and system change. For more than 25 years, she has guided public and private organizations across a broad range of sectors toward more equitable outcomes.
Eager to bring her transformative impact to more organizations, Kike founded the KOJO Institute, which has now joined Deloitte Canada, where Kike is Partner in the Human Capital practice. For every client, Kike develops and facilitates bespoke diversity and inclusion strategies designed to address inequities while supporting critical business outcomes like diverse recruitment and retention, employee engagement, and establishing an equity-informed organizational culture.
In this episode
1:12 | Tell us about yourselves! Patrice and Kike talk about how they work with digital transformation at Deloitte and why.
3:53 | Breaking down the research. New reports from Deloitte provide guidance for inclusion professionals on how to intentionally implement AI.
7:52 | AI challenges for Black communities. How do we navigate the existing trust gaps while also exploring the opportunities that AI has to offer?
14:15 | What does responsible AI look like? Using outcomes to drive design, mitigating bias, democratize access, safeguard data and privacy, and more.
16:35 | AI literacy. Where do we start, and how do we approach upskilling and reskilling our employees to use AI?
20:27 | New opportunities for inclusion professionals. What upskilling and reskilling opportunities exist specifically for inclusion-focused employees?
24:44 | The future of AI in the inclusion landscape. Personalization, breaking down barriers, and improving data.
Favorite moments
6:33 | Kike: What Chief Diversity Offers (CDOs) are going to need to be clear about is that being responsive is a critical part of the role. What I mean by that is a really simple question: 'What problem or problems am I trying to solve?' So, we're not just doing an inclusion program for the sake of it—it needs to be responsive. This is a very serious point in our journey with equity work, and the work has to be responsive to data, responsive to outcomes, naming the issues, naming the direction we're trying to head in, and being clear. Exposure, reach, and access—all of that is going to be really important for CDOs going forward.
9:27 | Patrice: When we think about the spoils and benefits of AI, who is it benefiting and who is it not? Those roles are predominantly held by equity-deserving individuals. We're talking about front-end food counter support attendants and some general business-support roles, where we see an overrepresentation of Black professionals. If we're looking at the future and saying these things are going to be automated, how are we proactively upskilling, reskilling, or redesigning work in a way that takes advantage of all the unique skills these individuals have and hopefully repositioning them in a different way?
14:25 | Patrice: I think responsible AI means intentionally thinking about how we design, use, and continue to grow these solutions in a way that supports our society. The word ‘intentional’ is by design—it means we’re not letting AI happen to us, but rather thoughtfully shaping its outcomes. That requires designing the future in collaboration, considering bias mitigation, community engagement, data privacy, and the sources of our data—where they come from, how they’re generated, and how we ensure their completeness and representation.
16:50 | Patrice:We’ve been having conversations with executives and leaders about how to bring people along the adoption curve, but the real starting point is trust. Before even thinking about scaling AI tools, we need to get people comfortable using them. It’s like when we first got iPhones—there was hesitation. Can I touch the screen? Will it break? That initial uncertainty is natural. The more we expose people to AI tools and involve them in their application, the more we build trust and confidence in using them effectively.
18:45 | Kike: We were already sitting on a digital divide for particular communities. Add poverty into the mix, and you have a problematic starting place. Now, with AI, we’re at risk of the divide expanding significantly and very quickly. We can't take an equality approach to exposure—we have to take an equity approach, meaning we must be more responsive, especially to those who have historically lacked access to digital resources.
27:04 | Kike: DEI work has progressed because of evidence, data, and research—our ability to access these resources has been crucial. AI has the potential to catapult our work, making us faster, more responsive, and more effective. From that perspective, I’m excited. AI will be a powerful tool for DEI professionals, enhancing the work they do and the work they need to do in the future.
Mentioned on the Pod
Government of Canada: Diversity of boards of directors and senior management of federal distributing corporations – 2023 annual report
Statistics Canada: Experimental estimates of potential artificial intelligence occupational exposure in Canada
World Economic Forum: How to stop women falling behind on generative AI in the workplace