The era of Absolutely Incredible (AI) possibilities
From our blog / Article
Thoughts about AI’s role in business, mindset change needed in leadership and the importance of embracing a curious culture. Featured with insights from BLOOM event, a day for decision-makers, leaders, and digital pioneers eager to turn the generative AI hype into impact. The BLOOM -event was held on the 29th of April at Helsinki.
It’s time to rethink technology’s role in our business
AI brings us a whole new era of unknown and absolutely incredible possibilities. It’s time for leaders to rethink their position and take a step back. It’s time to concentrate on creating a culture for people to enable technology, not try to over control the unknown.
As technology is developing faster than ever it has suddenly become the thing we actually ask for advice. We even ask generative AI to give us perspective and guide us to think bigger. Somehow it feels that technology has taken the shape of a slightly quirky consultant that sometimes gives really weird ideas but even more often actually helps us and our business thrive. Since technology has grown to be our inquisitive friend instead of being just a tool, maybe it’s time to rethink technology’s role in our business and our roles as business leaders. Maybe, we should give our adventurous friend some space to explore.
AI can already compete (and do better) with human competence in various topics like speech and image recognition, language understanding and even writing. Imagine how it can help us in a few years time (or already today) if we concentrate on enhancing a curious and exploring culture towards the possibilities of technology.
We should change our mindset from thinking about tasks that generative AI can help us do faster to exploring the whole new Absolutely Incredible world where our new adventurous friend is able to take us. We just have to be brave and let it take the wheel for a bit… and that my friends is the hardest part.
AI will give your people superpowers, you as a leader will just have to enable people to use them
In consulting companies like Reaktor and many others the culture of making room and valuing the opinion of people with vision and technical wisdom, regardless of their position, has been the powerful engine for fast business growth and innovation. A curious mind also helps a lot when facing a problem, and with that I mean not just trying to solve the problem in an obvious way, but thinking what views it gives us if we climb on top of the obstacle and look far to the horizon, even the stars if you are brave enough. Could solving a problem actually be our gateway to innovation if we just dare to look at it with a continuous development mindset?
Culture that supports saying ideas out loud, hearing them with an open mind and thinking “what if” is the key for receiving the full potential of the rapidly evolving technology landscape. Like Mikael Kopteff, CTO at Reaktor said in one of Blooms deepdives:
“AI will give your people superpowers, you as a leader will just have to enable people to use them and make the business fly”
Asking for advice and understanding you don't know it all is the key for staying curious and enabling continuous development. Continuous development is the key to staying alive
It’s not a surprise that now when every single company on earth is affected by the major change in the tech landscape we should actually make room for people to explore the possibilities of tech, and in this case, especially what generative AI can give to our business.
“The old ways are not working.”
–Pekka Horo, CEO, Reaktor
No one in a listed company board room knows the effect of AI in their business in the next 6 months. Not even the experts who live hand in hand with tech know how AI will have affected their lives tomorrow. Nobody knows what will happen, like Antti Merilehto mentioned during his speech at the BLOOM. All we know is that the old ways are not working anymore.
“New speed of chaos is accelerating.”
–David Rowan, Tech Investor, WIRED UK Founding Editor
You need to give technology a seat at the table
Everything starts by letting the technology in. Letting AI in your ways of working and letting it help create benefits for your business. It’s a whole different game now than just adding a new tool to the tool box or downloading a new office package. You need to give technology a seat at the table. Developing a mindset of integrating technology as a part of the team and understanding as a team how you feel about your new teammate. What is its role in the team and how can you help each other thrive?
“Everything that didn’t have intelligence, can now have it and that changes, umh, everything.”
-David Rowan, Tech Investor, WIRED UK Founding Editor
It all comes to how we can learn to live with the accelerating pace of change, like David Rowan, a tech investor and the founding editor of Wired said on stage.
Everytime you see an exponential curve that grows exceptionally you know that there is going to be a major economic impact. This can be seen for example in the rapidly increased amount of rocket launches due to the significant cost drop from Elon Musk’s rocket launching innovation or the 750% increase of warehouse robots at Amazon over the last 10 years. Same exponential curve happened to the cost of storage. In 30 years the price of 1GB of storage had come down from 300000 dollars to 0,10 dollars. Now, over 10 years from that, the cost is too small to even mention. I won’t even start about the curve of crypto, I am sure you got the point.
These curves, that in the end not only make businesses thrive but shape industries and even the whole world, happen when you let the technology in, give it a seat at the table and encourage a curious culture that enables people to think “what if” instead of just the obvious.
“The problem with disruption is that there are people who are successful and they are threatened by change.”
–David Rowan, Tech Investor, WIRED UK Founding Editor
To be able to do this you need to acknowledge that no-one knows what tomorrow will bring in the new phase of chaos. Organisations need to have the support of the decision makers to go forward. To be able to go forward, everyone in the organisation needs to have a synchronised view on where we are and what direction we are heading, like Katie King said on stage at BLOOM.
Oh, and one more thing, try not to be afraid and ask for wisdom and perspective, even from our new friend: GenAI.
1. Tech will accelerate.
Let technology in and keep an eye on the exponential curves. If you see it, something exponential is going to happen.
2. You are early, we are just in the beginning
This is the time to invent. There has never been a better time to explore. Embrace curious.
3. Start with culture.
Planning the future isn’t about technology, it’s about culture and mindset.It’s about making the change achievable and safe.
The key is to build a curious culture that enables technology to give people superpowers.
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