The world doesn't stand still, and neither should you.
I think it's about being curious, paying attention, reflecting, debating, and running experiments to iterate forward at pace.
Two weeks ago, I was in the audience at CogX Festival on Leadership hearing from incredible thought leaders on what's changing and what we need to be aware of.
In the words below, you will find two sections.
The first is the key ideas I picked up from key leadership speakers ranging from senior leaders at Google, Open AI, and HSBC to policymakers to people tackling the very real issue of Deep Fakes through to Innovators and Entrepreneurs.
The second is three experiments for you to play with - a quick easy one, a medium one, and a longer one/
AND to make it more interesting, I’ve chosen a piece of music to consider listening to whilst reading this!
Ready to go?
Ok: Cue the music first (optional obvs) - Life on Mars by David Bowie (listen on Spotify).
As an aside, ChatGPT chose this song to accompany the blog because: “This track captures themes of curiosity, exploration, and breaking boundaries, much like the mindset needed to lead boldly in a world shaped by AI and other new technologies”
Key Ideas (attributed to each person)
Debbie (Costin) W - Vice President and Managing Director of @GoogleUK & Ireland;
Over the last 18 months, the business conversation has changed from:
"What does my AI strategy need to be" to
"How can AI be an accelerant for my business strategy”.
In simple terms, how can AI either help us drive the top line (growth) or drive the bottom line by reducing expenses or increasing productivity?
An interesting point was 15% of all searches made on Google are from brand-new search terms that have not been used before. This would be about driving the top-line growth and smart ways to access new buyers (no ideas were shared specifically on doing this).
A story was shared on the power of using AI to reduce costs at a customer contact centre - by smart use of AI (unspecified), there were increases in customer satisfaction by faster resolution of queries.
John Carlin - previously the United States Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division
Shared insights on the very real risks in the realm of cyber security from National State Actors (Russia, Iran, China, etc) and criminals who have created successful business models out of cyber fraud.
Three new developments have been:
Social Engineering - where a bad actor pretends to be someone inside your organisation
Where AI is used to examine your code and look for vulnerabilities, and
When using AI, there is “poisoning of the well”, where data is trained with “false information” so that the AI-produced results are inaccurate.
These are very real issues and there were some interesting debates around how to tackle this, for example, such as having “safe words” inside an organisation to verify if you are speaking to someone who isn’t a bad actor. (Yes I know that sounds weird ;)).
Debate on the Future of FinTech
I watched a fascinating panel session of the future of Fintech with senior leaders from Lloyds and HSBC and from a consultant working with challenger banks.
The advent of GPT4 in Nov 22 accelerated many new developments. It was interesting to hear how the big banks are managing their internal processes to take advantage of these new innovations. Some collective insights were:
What does the high-level data show is possible
Is the tech stack mature enough
Are we actually solving a business problem
Do we have “hand on heart” confidence that we can demonstrate good compliance
Does the new solution maintain “architectural discipline”
Is it a protected safe environment
How do we identify which projects go from “Pilot” to “Scale”
How do we “de dupe” the different use cases?
What’s “real” vs “not real” when it comes to assessing talent?
The talent shortage is very real. Lloyds have taken the approach to centralise their “high intelligence” with some 40 PhD’s who are responsible for standardising the building and scaling of AI. What was also interesting is that training is happening with the PhD’s giving 10 hours plus training to senior leaders starting with the CEO down on how to approach the use of AI.
What do these Fintech leaders see as the future of AI in Financial Services? Some assorted views:
You will deal with an AI agent at the bank who will be able to deal with everything for you
AI will be interwoven with all operations
By 2030, when Gen Z will be part of the workforce, they will demand greater tools and capabilities
The plan for the future will be orientated around AI models which are responsible and ethical by design.
Caspar’s Observation: the challenges faced by Incumbents are very different to that faced by nimble start-ups who frankly have less on the line to lose. What is very real is the approaches taken by talented smart people to orient their models and approaches around disruptive technology. The movement and actions are very real to embrace the change. Senior leaders in all organisations take note.
Open AI - VP Global Impact - Anna Makanju
"Start small by adopting easy-to-implement AI applications that boost productivity”
Fascinatingly, 90% plus of Fortune 500 use Open AI tools, whereas only 2% of Government Agencies are using them"
Anna shared a powerful story of how nurses are using AI to record, transcribe and transmit patient notes and are saving significant amounts of time.
Another use case is that of submitting Vaccines for FDA approval where AI is being used to make large reductions in the time to submission, thereby increasing the speed at which vaccines can be brought to market.
Caspar’s Observation: What could you do if you and your teams could save 15 minutes in the hour by smart use of AI? What difference would that make? What would need to happen to save that time, and what are the best uses that could be made of that time across your organisation?
Panel Debate on the Ethics of AI
This was a fascinating panel discussion about the balance between innovation and risk, and how this has changed over the last year.
The tension is between execs who want to leverage AI, but who are concerned about the ethics of it, and also what are the tensions in relation to regulations.
Some points where there was agreement:
The importance of cross-party teams inside organisations to explore these issues, along with C Level sponsorship/ authority;
The importance of being able to identify where AI is being used inside an organisation and what are the control points/ checks
Knowing where to find the skills and real expertise to be able to answer these complex questions.
Deepfakes
A useful definition:
Deepfakes are images, videos, or audio that are edited or generated using artificial intelligence tools, and which may depict real or non-existent people. Source: Wikipedia.
Henry Ajder is a leading expert on DeepFakes (and worth following on LinkedIn.
Some points worth noting from what Henry shared:
It’s incredibly hard to deal with the issues of DeepFakes - what he noted is that he has not seen one piece of AI misinformation that has had catastrophic effects yet.
What is tricky is that Disinformation is one of the hardest things to deal with as is so contextual with what is being shared.
It’s something for us all to be aware of. A recent post by Henry shares the challenge coming towards us:
So the floods of AI-generated slop have entered the video realm, sweeping some hapless Facebook users along with it...
Posted on a page that churns out clickbait-style content, this video gained significant engagement.
The good news? The majority of comments and associated likes were calling out the video as clearly fake, many with a good dose of scorn.
The bad news? A notable minority seemed to believe it was real, leaving comments such as…..
The Entrepreneur Perspective
The final session of the day was the always impressive Emma Sinclair https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Sinclair interviewing Tony Fadell - the man behind the iPod, iPhone and Nest Thermostat.
His take was a pragmatic one for leaders:
"Forget the hype around Artificial General Intelligence, we need to be focused on Artificial Specific Intelligence - show me the specific problem you are solving for”
My Take
The world moves fast and there are snakes and ladders here for all leaders.
We don’t have a choice but to play the game.
Look for the ladders, the opportunities, that can dramatically accelerate your business.
Be aware of the snakes, the cyber risks, the deep fake issues, the ethics challenges.
Be well-read. Be alert. Be ready to move.
Whatever you do, don’t ignore it! *(what was notable was the slew of brilliant forward-thinking leaders in the coffee breaks the COGx all grappling with these issues).
Your Experiments
Let’s get practical. Here are three experiments for you to try (created with the help of ChatGPT!)
1. The 5-Minute Experiment: Identify AI Thought Leaders
Take five minutes to research and identify two or three thought leaders in the field of AI.
It could be people mentioned in this article like Henry Ajder, Tony Fadell or indeed the COGx team who regularly run events on the specific topic of AI.
This experiment helps you quickly tap into fresh perspectives and stay connected with cutting-edge developments in AI. Following these thought leaders can keep you updated and inspire new thinking in your leadership approach.
2. The 30-Minute Experiment: AI Tools Exploration
Spend 30 minutes exploring AI tools that could benefit your business. Choose one AI-driven platform or tool (e.g., for data analytics, content generation, or process automation) and experiment with its features. Identify one specific task you currently manage manually and see how AI can streamline or enhance it.
This experiment introduces you to practical applications of AI, helping you integrate fresh technological thinking into your everyday leadership. It also challenges you to assess how AI can improve efficiency or creativity in your team.
3. The 1-Hour Experiment: AI-Fuelled Problem Solving
Dedicate one hour to solving a specific business or leadership challenge using AI. Start by defining the problem clearly, then leverage AI tools to gather data, generate insights, or model potential outcomes. For instance, use AI-driven market research tools to forecast trends or simulate different scenarios for decision-making.
This deeper dive allows you to integrate AI into your strategic planning process, enhancing your ability to make data-informed, innovative decisions. By pairing AI insights with your leadership experience, you can explore bold, new directions.
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