Jersey has spent the past year talking seriously about artificial intelligence. The next test is whether we can use it seriously.
Following Channel Eye’s Technology and Innovation Focus Week, Tony Moretta, CEO of Digital Jersey, considers why Jersey’s AI conversation must now shift from awareness to action.
AI is no longer a future technology or a conference topic. It is already changing how businesses operate, how public services are delivered, and how competitive economies increase productivity. It has dominated boardroom agendas and industry conferences for some years now, and most recently featured prominently across election manifestos in Jersey.
There is certainly no shortage of discussion about AI’s transformative potential. The fact that hundreds of islanders have attended Digital Jersey’s AI Insights event series this year is testament to that interest. But awareness alone will not make Jersey more productive or competitive.
Despite the excitement, the pace of practical adoption remains too slow. The gap between ambition and action is increasingly becoming a competitive divide as Jersey competes with other jurisdictions. Those that embrace AI pragmatically and at scale will unlock productivity gains, improve public services and attract investment. Those that hesitate risk falling behind.
Action
Turning talk into action will require a shift in perspective: away from AI being viewed simply as a threat to jobs, and towards it being seen as a practical tool to overcome some of the structural constraints Jersey, as a small island jurisdiction, continues to face: limited labour pools, geographic isolation and increasing pressure on public services.
This matters particularly in an economy like Jersey’s, which is so reliant on knowledge-intensive sectors such as finance, professional services and government administration. We are starting to see the benefits of AI in pockets, but there is significant scope to do more, and the productivity dividend of doing so is profound.
Imagine, in financial services, if the workforce were able to double its productive output through the adoption of AI, without requiring a larger workforce and placing further pressure on housing, infrastructure and services.
For business leaders, the immediate challenge is not to develop an abstract AI strategy, but to identify the processes where AI can create measurable value now: reducing administrative burden, improving customer response times, strengthening compliance, supporting staff productivity and enabling better decision making.
Healthcare provides another compelling example, and the progress we have seen in this space in Jersey recently has been genuinely exciting, including projects funded through Impact Jersey.
Jersey faces distinctive healthcare challenges: an ageing population, a shortage of specialist clinicians and high costs. AI has the potential to help manage demand where skilled labour is limited, through earlier diagnosis, more efficient triage, predictive analytics and personalised care.
From managing medication and identifying patients at greater risk of illness to enabling GPs to transcribe consultations automatically, AI can support healthcare professionals rather than replace them, allowing more time to focus on positive patient outcomes.
How do we get there?
The technology is already here. The question is how Jersey can maximise the benefits of AI and make sure we do it well.
That requires moving beyond strategy documents, pilot projects and conversations, and placing a far greater emphasis on purpose, governance and outcomes. We should not adopt AI tools simply because they exist. We should adopt AI because it solves real problems and makes our lives better.
We also need to be honest. AI presents both an opportunity and a risk. The opportunity is that AI offers the ability to fill gaps in our workforce, do more business, direct resources where they are most needed, and improve efficiency.
The risk is that some roles will disappear or change faster than our education, training and tax systems can adapt. If we do not manage that transition carefully, we risk weakening opportunities for young people and eroding parts of the economic base on which public services depend.
There are three critical priorities for government and business as we move from the conversation phase to adoption and implementation: skills, trusted infrastructure and practical deployment.
The first priority is skills.
AI adoption is ultimately a people challenge as much as a technological one. Roles will change, and some will be displaced, which means we need a serious focus on retraining Jersey’s workforce so that people are able to use AI effectively and confidently.
It means focusing on AI literacy in schools, embedding digital skills across the education spectrum and creating accessible retraining opportunities for the existing workforce.
Businesses also need to invest in helping employees understand not only how to use AI tools, but how to use them responsibly, ethically and effectively.
The second priority is trusted infrastructure and governance.
Discussions about AI frequently focus on applications without addressing the infrastructure needed to support them. Jersey scores well in terms of digital connectivity, but it is important to maintain momentum in associated areas such as data governance, cybersecurity, regulation and responsible adoption, so that we can offer a robust platform for AI-driven entrepreneurship and diversification.
The third priority is deployment.
Businesses need to allocate capital not only to experimentation, but to actual, targeted implementation: moving from pilots to measurable use cases in business and government.
Change Agents
Driving accelerated AI adoption in Jersey is one of Digital Jersey’s strategic priorities this year. We are focused on being a change agent: providing support to both the private and public sectors and helping turn conversation into action.
We are doing that in a number of ways: through the formation of the AI Council, the publication of the AI Playbook earlier this year, and a tailored AI course for the C-suite.
But we need to move quickly. Jersey does not need to be the first jurisdiction to adopt every new AI tool. We need to be among the fastest and smartest at applying the tools that work, particularly if we are to realise the benefits for the competitiveness of our finance industry. If we wait, others will steal a march on us.
The winners will not be those that talk most enthusiastically about AI. They will be the places that build the skills, confidence and trusted frameworks to use it well.
Jersey understands AI. Now we need to put it to work.
Tony Moretta (main picture) has over 20 years of senior management experience across a wide range of digital industries, including mobile, online, broadcast, payments, advertising and data analytics, using the latest technological innovations to develop new revenue streams. As CEO of Digital Jersey Tony is responsible for delivering the organisation’s long-term economic, social and reputational objectives together with meeting annual business plan goals, to develop Jersey as a recognised digital jurisdiction. For more information, get in touch today.
