Kevin Benedict Ponders the Future

As a futurist, I write often about the advantages of digital transformation for organizations and how early adopters gain extra advantages that aren’t available to laggards. One of the best demonstrations of this point was when Brad Parscale, the digital director of Mr. Trump's 2016 campaign, shared that using Facebook was an important factor in their win.  In his words, "Facebook moved the needle for us."  He understood how Facebook's computer algorithms worked before others did. Let’s pause a moment to define what computer algorithms are. A computer algorithm is software code written by people - in this case Facebook employees.  Algorithms consist of rules and code that enable software to perform automated reasoning.  How does Facebook use them?  Kevin Roose, a technology columnist for The Times, describes it as follows, "The platform [Facebook and its algorithms] are designed to amplify emotionally resonant posts, and people and organizations that are skilled

In this episode, I catch up with TCS’ innovation and digital transformation expert Ved Sen just 24 hours after his return from India.  We discuss the pandemic's impact on innovation, priorities, industries, and consumers around the world.  This future-focused deep dive discussion is special and gives insights into what is happening in Europe, Asia, and North America.   Interview Questions and Answers: Q1: What is it like to do international travel in the age of COVID? What was your experience? A1: 0:52 Q2: What is the mandate of your group there? What are you tasked to do? A2: 2:26 Q3: How do you see the Covid-19 pandemic really affecting digital transformation? A3: 5:06 Q4: What industries do you see that are really being impacted the most, right now, due to Covid-19? A4: 11:07 Q5: How do you see that impacting the world of the future of work? How did TCS address this change in the work environment? A5: 17:40 Q6: Consumers are changing their buying behaviors, what

We find ourselves today in a hyper-politicized environment that business leaders must recognize, understand and be prepared to address.  Increasingly a business’ brand, mission statement, identified purpose, marketing themes, suppliers and the executive team’s social media activities are all being scrutinized to reveal political positions to either support or oppose.  Whether intended or not, or true or not, claims made by pundits and popular social media influencers can quickly lead to market segmentation that may have a direct impact on a business.   Prudent business leaders will think through these issues before they happen.  They will want to discuss the most likely trouble spots and identify the most likely scenarios and impacts.  The goal of these exercises is to create a playbook on how best to respond when it happens.  When it happens, the speed at which it can impact your business necessitates foresight and planning. Earlier this year in Boise, Idaho, new owners of a pizza joi

If you have spent any time working on IT projects you will have heard the statement, "The solution is only as good as the data." It's true.  If you lack enough good data to generate an accurate output, stop and find it before moving forward.  I remember having so many good ideas for process improvement when I worked in IT.  Almost all of them, however, were shut down with the words, “We don’t have good data for that.” Truth is important.  If your data does not reflect reality – digital solutions won’t work.  Many technology projects fail when they move from the whiteboard to reality because they were designed on a notional view of the world, rather than on the state of things as they actually exist.   Understanding what reality is can often be helped by developing a digital twin.  A digital twin is created by integrating sensors into a thing or series of things for the purpose of capturing enough good data to clearly depict reality.  Sensor-supported digital twins fill in

In this episode, I get to learn from Matt Laukaitis, EVP/GM of Consumer Industries at SAP.  He has been my friend for over 20 years and is a talented and inspirational leader.  He works closely with large SAP customers as they innovate, provide solution feedback and collaborate on the solutions of the future.   ************************************************************************ Kevin Benedict Partner | Futurist | Leadership Strategies at TCS View my profile on LinkedIn Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict Join the Linkedin Group Digital Intelligence ***Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

The Covid-19 pandemic has forced dramatic changes in the economics and business models of live sports and other live events - perhaps permanently.  As a result, new ways of consuming sports and personalizing it through innovations in live video feeds is required.  It involves advances in video compression, cameras, security, data transmission and production models.  Vislink Technologies is right in the middle of this vortex of innovation supporting the media and entertainment, the military, first responders and other industries.  In this episode, we get to take a deep dive into this innovation with CEO and President of Vislink Technologies Mickey Miller. Read more on Covid-19 business impacts here: Covid-19 Responses and Marketing Strategies with Retired VMware CMO Robin Matlock Customer Experience Trends During Covid-19 with SAP Expert Shalini Mitha Microsoft in the Right Place at the Right Time During the Pandemic with Expert Dr. Tomer Simon Moving Physical Interactions to Digital