WHY IT MATTERS: Digital Transformation

WHY IT MATTERS: this list of technology questions for 2022 feels like an answer to the question "what is digital disruption?".

We have reached a moment in time where old technologies - eCommerce or videoconferencing for example - are finally breaking into established industries. And the impact, at scale, cannot be found in technology but rather in every single industry it disrupts.

Very thoughtful piece, very good questions.

WHY IT MATTERS: this post is a bit theoretical for someone not bathing in digital transformation all day as I do (mostly). It explores what could come next but more importantly stresses an important fact: we now have a new platform - the mobile phone - in our pockets that has the potential to transform our world. We have started to see this with eCommerce - physical retail stores become irrelevant and we can price compare from anywhere - but we have yet to see the real impact of eCommerce+mobile+cloud+5G. THIS is what I think about most days...

WHY IT MATTERS: 360 pages of reference material for any strategic planning exercice.

WHY IT MATTERS: the report is not available for free but the 42 slide summary is a great overview of key trends that are presented with observations and outcome.

WHY IT MATTERS: a clever overview of the digital media world that highlights the importance of digital technology and in particular of unified customer data to break down silos. Very true indeed!

WHY IT MATTERS: when I ask about what the "store of the future" looks like I often get descriptions of a robot-filled location with huge displays and computer kiosks. In fact the trend is to HIDE the technology to make the store experience more and more about what you had when you visited the general store of the past. Walk in and speak to an employee that is very knowledgeable about you, your needs and the products they have to sell. The only difference is that this knowledge comes from AI, cameras, sensors, and all kind of technologies that support and enhance the retail employee to make you believe they know you and their products. THAT is the magic of the store of the future. Get used to it.

WHY IT MATTERS: AI is transformative because it can solve problems in 5 areas that were previously difficult to apply computer engineering and technologies before the advent of AI.

WHY IT MATTERS: it is amazing how much foresight there is in this 2013 presentation - it may explain Trump's election but what does it mean for the near future if we do not have a more social oriented society.

WHY IT MATTERS: the world economic forum keeps putting out great reports on the impact of digital transformation. I love the illustrations, great summary of key trends and their adoption. Must read.

WHY IT MATTERS: AI evolves rapidly and this report presents the state of the world (mostly the US at this time) as it relates to AI. Must read.

WHY IT MATTERS: a short 15min video to listen to this weekend and bring very good conversation topics for Sunday dinner with the kids...

WHY THIS MATTERS

I find most of my clients struggling to find time and money to implement technologies that have been around for more than 10 years: Internet, Big Data, mobility, cloud computing, etc. When they do make it to implement them in their organizations, it is often too little too late to make a difference with their competition. As Wayne Gretsky famously said, you should "skate to where the puck will be, not where it is". Thus, every company's strategy should have a clear view on AI, blockchain, robots, 3D printing, Internet of Things, etc. Does your strat plan include them?

WHY IT MATTERS

Forrester has recently produced a matrix of disruptive technologies that is worth sharing. More important is the article conclusion where Forrester recommends that cIO act as Venture Capitalists to actively scout new technologies and companies to leverage this innovation for improved competitiveness. This is a radical departure form traditional IT roles and responsibilities which I believe has important benefits in large organizations where All eyes are on the CIO to lead the digital transformation. Unfortunately we are a long way away from this in most organizations.

WHY IT MATTERS

This article from McKinsey provides an overview of the investments, improvements and priorities in AI and machine learning as of mid 2017.

Very proud to share an article I recently co-authored on CloudRaker blog with Simon Hudson. It sheds lights into the potential impacts that AI will have on retail stores.

A must read ;-)

Perfect Sunday morning reading which is guaranteed to make you reflect and ponder for the next weeks. The article is a typical New Yorker one, very well researched and written. So captivating that it got me to start reading the book which appears to be as captivating and surprisingly easy to read and understand. I love those finds and have the feeling this book will be the best complement to "Singularity is Near" and "On Intelligence" that I wrote about in the past.

- book "singularity is near": http://fmcs.digital/blog/singularity-is-near-an-essential-read-to-understand-why-technology-evolves-so-fast/ 

- book "on intelligence": http://fmcs.digital/blog/on-intelligence-mustread-to-understand-frontal-cortex-architecture-what-makes-us-intelligent/ 

- article "Why the future does not need us": http://fmcs.digital/blog/why-the-future-doesnt-need-us-a-reminder-that-ai-may-have-a-bad-side-via-wired/ 

- related posts: http://www.scoop.it/t/digital-transformation-of-businesses/?tag=Singularity+is+Near 

One important stat from The Future of Jobs report is that the top trend that will drive change in work is new technology and innovation.

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

All jobs will be affected by technology and thus every good digital transformation should include the human disruption and its impact on current and future employees. Too often, we implement digital change and fail to consider people impact.

Look at UBER taxis: their model is to plow ahead and disrupt the market but they have failed to accompany the taxi drivers that are impacted. Because of it they are facing huge head winds from governments and established corporations.

On the other hand, Teo Taxi (Montreal-based) has recognized the people impact and embraced human transformation of the cab drivers which results in much better relationships and less confrontation. Same technology, same process, different human approach.

The company automated insights uses its AI tools to automatically write summary of baseball games (http://bit.ly/2a9g7qR), financial portfolio (http://bit.ly/2a9gG3T), and many other. This blog describes many of these applications. 

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

I wrote about automated insights in the past (http://sco.lt/7FRff7) as it was starting and have been watching ever since. It is important to take notice that AI has been hired by the Associated Press to write summary texts that go straight to the wire without human intervention (http://sco.lt/7FRff7). 

This is a trend worth watching as it means AI is slowing replacing human workers with machine intelligence in fields that were previously though impossible - here the redaction of human readable texts and stories. I wrote about data on why no job is safe from automatization and robotization (http://sco.lt/64xeyX).

Anyone putting together a digital strategy must absolutely consider the use of such AI tools in the coming years, and thus have a roadmap with trials starting as soon as NOW.