Kevin Benedict is a TCS futurist and lecturer focused on the signals and foresight that emerge as society, geopolitics, economies, science, technology, environment, and philosophy converge.
Intelligent Automation is one of the most exciting and fast growing areas in high tech today. Everyday we read, watch and listen about more robots, artificial intelligence, sensors and other innovations. In today's interview with Wipro's Intelligent Automation expert Alex Veytsman, we get to the bottom of the hype and ask the expert what companies are really doing with intelligent automation. Enjoy!
***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.
In this Silicon Valley Series I have the privilege of interviewing very smart and experienced Silicon Valley veterans on a variety of important business trends, technologies and strategies. I hope you find this series of short interviews interesting.
In this episode, filmed in front of the Bay bridge in San Francisco, veteran Silicon Valley CEO Tom Thimot and I discuss how digitizing physical objects, adding real-time sensor data, analytics, AI and algorithms offers incredible amounts of new value.
Kevin Benedict's Video Series:The Power of Algorithms
***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.
Have you considered how the traditional textbook author/publisher, teacher, student and parent relationship should change as a result of digital transformation? In this article let's explore how this traditional process can be greatly enhanced with digital technologies. Traditionally a physical textbook is published in one format for all students. Sometimes, at a great expense, they can be translated to another language. There are several challenges with that. Not all students learn in the same manner or language, physical textbooks can only use images and texts on paper, and today's students are more accustomed to accessing, reading, watching and listening to content in a digital format on smartphones, tablets and laptops.
Digital formats, however, can be integrated with all kinds of digital media. The devices or hardware that reads digital formats (smartphones, laptops, tablets, etc.) also mostly support GPS and mapping. With GPS sensors, authors can integrate location data from Google Field Trips, to make their textbooks location-aware and more contextually relevant to the reader. For example a student could be reading about Lewis and Clark's explorations, and their digital textbook could automatically show them nearby locations, photos, video clips, notes, podcasts, etc., related to that journey. In addition, virtual reality and augmented reality applications could then be created to bring historic events to life.
In this Silicon Valley Series I have the privilege of interviewing very smart and experienced Silicon Valley veterans on a variety of important business trends, technologies and strategies. I hope you find this series of short interviews interesting.
In this episode I am joined by my friend and veteran Silicon Valley CEO Tom Thimot. We dig into the lessons Google has taught all of us on the value of data, and how data can be used as a competitive advantage. Enjoy!
***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.
I had the pleasure of interviewing futurist and TCS's thought leader extraordinaire Frank Diana today. In this interview we discuss the impact of automation on jobs, the role of platforms, the accelerating pace of innovation and how ethics and purpose need to be considered. Enjoy!
***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.
In this weekly report I collect, curate and comment on interesting topics related to emerging technologies and digital trends. Enjoy!
Question: Why is 2017 a record year for retail stores in the USA? Answer: A record 6,700 retail stores have already closed in the USA in 2017, and as many as 8,600 will close by the end of the year. Online stores are capturing more market share, and fast fashion is overturning traditional retail business models and supply chains. [KRB Comment] This is our fault. We like to shop online. We like access to global inventories and next day shipping. We like to be able to conveniently return products that don’t work for us. We like personalized product offerings. We like recommendations. We like lower prices. We like shopping from our couches and beds. Source:
Question: How do you dupe Americans out of more personal information without their knowledge and then sway an election? Answer: Offer them a free personality test on Facebook, and then use that information to create psychographic data. Cambridge Analytica built psychological profiles of over 200 million Americans in part by using information they shared on social media. For example, many Americans took personality quizzes spread by the firm on Facebook, which were designed to reveal how they score on measures of the so-called “big five” personality traits. [KRB Comment] I am guilty of taking both personality tests and political leanings tests on Facebook. I am now sure the results were ultimately combined to create a profile that could be used for nefarious purposes. I don’t think this is what Mark Zuckerberg had in mind when he first programmed Facebook at Harvard. Source:
In this Silicon Valley Series I have the privilege of interviewing very smart and experienced Silicon Valley veterans on a variety of important business trends, technologies and strategies. I hope you find this series of short interviews interesting.
In this episode, I interview the CTO of Cybric, Mike D. Kail, and discuss Security-As-A-Service, and the challenges involved in managing the digital security of a large enterprise when there are so many wireless and mobile connected devices and objects in your IT ecosystem. Enjoy!
In this Silicon Valley Series I am honored to interview a number of very smart and experienced Silicon Valley dignitaries on a variety of important business trends, technologies and strategies. I hope you find this series of short interviews useful. In this episode, I interview Tom Thimot, a veteran three time CEO of Silicon Valley companies, on the importance of developing the right culture in your enterprise so you can compete successfully in an age of digital transformation. Enjoy!
In this Silicon Valley Series I was honored to interview a number of very smart and experienced Silicon Valley dignitaries on a variety of important business trends, technologies and strategies. I hope you find this series of short interviews useful.
In this episode, I have the honor of learning from Silicon Valley veteran CMO (Chief Marketing Officer), brand and digital marketing expert, Mark Lewis (Twitter @marklewis_sf). We discuss the latest trends and strategies in personalization, opportunities and privacy challenges.
In this Silicon Valley Series I was honored to interview a number of very smart and experienced Silicon Valley dignitaries on a variety of important business trends, technologies and strategies. I hope you find this series of short interviews useful. In this episode, I interview Silicon Valley veteran and three time CEO Tom Thimot on how artificial intelligence and automation are evolving from hybrid models to more trusted automation models.
It took Magellan’s crew three years sailing ships to circumnavigate the earth. Today, at hypersonic speeds of 7,680 MPH, it takes just over three hours to circumnavigate the earth. Data on the Internet, however, travels at 670 million MPH, which means it only takes milliseconds to circumnavigate the earth. In this age of digital businesses and digital interactions, companies must digitally transform to work effectively in a world where mass information moves at these unimaginable speeds.
It's not just IT systems that are impacted by the volume and speed of information. The creators of business processes that were designed and developed in an analog area, simply never envisioned a business environment that would require these operational tempos. Analog business processes were designed to have humans involved. These dependencies were designed to slow down the process to ensure accuracy, compliance and accountability. Today, however, operating at the slow speeds of an analog, human dependent business process, will doom your company. Analog business processes must be quickly automated via robotic process automation using artificial intelligence and machine learning to effectively interact with impatient digital customers and B2B partners.
Fingerspitzengefühl: A German word used to describe the ability to maintain attention to detail in an ever-changing operational and tactical environment by maintaining real-time situational awareness. The term is synonymous with the English expression of "keeping one's finger on the pulse". The problem with fingerspitzengefühl traditionally, in addition to pronouncing it, has been it is hard for an individual to scale up. Today that is changing. In a world of sensors, AI and mobile devices, having real-time situational awareness is far easier than ever before. In fact, today the challenge is not how to do it, but what to do with the massive volume of data that can be provided.
W. Edward Deming taught that quality is achieved by measuring as much as possible and reducing variations, and reducing variation is achieved by improving the system, not just pieces. Japan widely adopted Deming's philosophies in the 1950s and became the 2nd biggest economy in the world. Quality improvement didn't decrease jobs in Japan, it increased jobs.
AI now has the ability to expand and codify Deming's philosophies - to take them to the next level. AI can improve and standardize decision making based on logic, rather than the fear of missing objectives, bonuses or losing one's job. It can continuously monitor for quality against specifications by analyzing streams of real-time data coming from embedded sensors connected to the IIoT, IoT and IoA (internet of agriculture). This means companies that are aggressive early adopters of these digital technologies will have more knowledge, higher quality and significant competitive advantages, which means more demand for their products, sales, customer service, manufacturing, distribution, etc. It also means aggressive adopters will likely generate more jobs.
Most of us understand that artificial intelligence (AI) offers opportunities for productivity improvements in the form of speed, automation, standardized actions and responses, plus the opportunity for continuous improvements via machine learning. These opportunities are enabled by data inputs that are analyzed and processed through AI algorithms that execute a desired decision and action. For all of the great capabilities and benefits that AI can provide, there is also a potential dark side. AI solutions can easily codify our prejudices, bias, gender stereotypes and promote injustices intentionally or unintentionally. This threat, as real and serious as it is, can also be seen as an opportunity to evaluate who we are, what we want the future to look like, and then codify a better tomorrow.
These days it's not hard to identify the challenges organizations are facing during today's rapid business and digital transformation. What's more difficult is knowing how to succeed. The following recommendations are the result of our analysis after interviewing 37 executives and over 80 high tech professionals involved in digital technologies.
Develop and monitor your own digital mindset and that of your organization's: Understand the need to continuously upgrade and update your own thinking, as well as your organization’s. Accept that digital technologies and a connected world are here to stay, and that the path to business success resides in them. Understand digital technologies and their capabilities, and rethink every aspect of your business, and business strategy, with a digital mindset.
Recognize the role culture plays in being successful in three key areas: your leadership, institutional and customer culture. Purposely develop a digital culture that accepts and embraces the rapid pace of change that comes with the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
What makes an Industrial Internet of Things platform different from any other IoT platform? How is real-time data treated differently from data that can be archived and analyzed later? What role does AI play in IIoT? All these questions and more are covered in this interview with OSIsoft's Sam Lakkundi. Enjoy!
Read more articles and watch more interviews at C4DIGI.com.
***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.
We humans have a finite speed at which we think, analyze and make decisions that is largely determined by biology, chemistry and physics. These limitations were not a problem when business was conducted largely by face-to-face interactions with other humans. Today, however, in the digital age, businesses must operate in “digital” and ultimately in “future” time. Here’s a closer look at these different time continuums:
Human time: Time governed by our biological and mental limitations as humans. We can only focus on a small set of data before our minds are overwhelmed. When important decisions must be made, our brains need time, significant time, to weigh all the variables, pros and cons and possible outcomes in order to arrive at a good decision. In times of high stress when making fast decisions is required, many of us don’t perform at our peak. In addition, weak humans that we are, we need sleep. We are not always available; we require daily downtime in order to function.
Throughout history military leaders have suffered through the "fog of war," where they desperately sought answers to six key questions:
• Where are my enemies?
• Where are my friends?
• Where are my forces?
• Where are my materials and supplies?
• What capabilities are available now and at what location?
• What are the environmental conditions?
These “unknowns” impacted the strategies and tactics military leaders employed. Their time and energy as leaders were heavily focused on defending themselves against these unknowns.
The concept of speed as an advantage is not new. Over the course of 700 years, the Romans built and maintained a system of roads extending over 55,000 miles to enable speedy communications and the quick movement of troops across the vast expanse of the empire.
What’s different today is that digital technologies have warped our perception of time. As an example, a person might say they live five minutes from town, but that can have widely different meanings based on whether they were referring to walking or driving a car. Digital technologies compress our perception of time and space while expanding our expectations of what can be accomplished in a given time. We expect to complete the equivalent of one hour of shopping in a supermarket in one minute online. These changes significantly impact the way businesses must operate in a digital era to compete and remain relevant.
The human work of solving problems, facing challenges and
overcoming obstacles tends to share a common goal: creating stable, secure and
predictable environments. The tendency for most humans is that once we solve a
challenge, we want to be done with it. That propensity, however, does not
fit with today’s reality of perpetual change.
In the digital business world, organizations have no choice
but to operate in an unclear, uncertain and continuously shifting environment
that requires a new mindset and approach to formulating business
strategies. Digital winners recognize that change is part of the
game, and that they need to develop ways to exploit
continuous ambiguity. In fact, in our surveys of
high-tech professionals, when we asked how long they thought digital
transformation initiatives would last, about one-third of the surveyed technology
professionals answered “forever” – and as we all know, forever is a long, long
time.
Professor Paul Virilio, a philosopher of speed, urbanist and cultural theorist, wrote at length about the impact of speed on society. He wrote that speed compresses both time and distance. Where once it took a letter 6 months to get to the other side of the world, an email can now arrive in seconds. Today's near real-time communications has changed how nations are governed, markets operate and commerce is conducted. The distance and time involved in communications has been compressed into seconds.
Commanders of Roman armies could once estimate the day and time of battle based upon their soldiers ability to march 20 miles per day on purpose built stone roads. Today, however, a ballistic missile can be launched and reach the other side of the earth in minutes. As a result, nations and their military commanders must now prepare to make critical decisions in mere seconds rather than taking days, weeks or months to deliberate. That's a big deal. In the past, an army could retreat and give up distance for time. In the example of the roman army, an opponent could retreat and separate themselves by 100 miles to give them the security of 5 days of time. Today 100 miles means only a matter of seconds. The distance and time of military conflicts today has been compressed to milliseconds.
Any significant business process that can be documented and best practices identified - will be. Any defined process that can be standardized - will be. Standardized processes that can be codified and automated (through robotic software automation), will be - if the volume justifies it. If the process is repeatable across many companies it will be offered as a shared service on a platform in a cloud.
If you agree with these technology maxims, then you are likely to agree that most existing business processes offer little competitive advantages in the long run, and the advantages of new innovations are fleeting so must be captured early. They will eventually become part of a shared services platform followed and used by your competitors. For example, 20 and 40 foot shipping containers offered a competitive advantage for shipping companies and ports that were early adopters, but only for a very short period of time. After a quick few years the entire world standardized on them and the competitive advantage disappeared.
How can an organization with decades worth of accumulated ERP customizations and configurations, IT systems and customized software applications digitally transform fast enough to keep up with the rapidly changing behaviors of digital customers? That is a hard question most organizations are wrestling with today. Often complex custom IT environments served a purpose in a past era, but today where IT speed and agility are required, they serve as anchors restraining an organization from moving forward and digitally transforming fast enough to compete.
Like a CEO that closes down or sells a profitable business unit because it no longer fits with where the organization is going, CTOs and CIOs must rapidly shut down or replace IT systems and processes that no longer support the reality of today, or the vision of the future based on the best information available today - not yesterday. Keeping an outdated IT system or business process for the purpose of achieving a positive return on the original investment is a strategy based on pride, not logic.
I had the honor of interviewing and disrupting the vacation of Hitachi's CTO for Industrial IoT, Rob Tiffany today. In this interview we talk all about IoT platforms, big data analytics, architectures, digital twins and solution stacks for industrial IoT. I learned a lot and hope you will too.
***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.
I have had the opportunity to work for and around a good many start-ups during the course of my career. Often the start-up founders would simply define a problem, develop a solution and launch a company. The marketing department would then do their very best to identify the individuals in each target company that experienced the problem and had a budget to fix it. This was always a challenging task, but it is even harder today.
Today, start-ups must not only identify a problem that needs solved, but they must compete against "digital transformation" initiatives in both the business and IT organizations that are trying to reduce complexity through the elimination of applications, customized software solutions, IT systems, multiple instances of ERPs and vendors.
The goal of many organizations today is to simplify the IT environment, and to make business processes much faster and agile. I see many companies seeking to standardize on a handful of platforms like Salesforce.com, SAP, Adobe, Ariba, SuccessFactor, etc. Too many systems in an IT inventory, means too much complexity and the increased risk that data will be compromised, and that systems will be too expensive to maintain, secure and upgrade. In this age of fast changing digital consumer behaviors, flexibility and simplicity equal organizational speed to keep up with their markets.
What is the answer for start-ups? Start-up solutions must appeal to the digital transformation goals of their target customers. It means their solution must be cloud based and automatically upgraded to stay aligned with customer's core platforms and systems. It means offering artificial intelligence enabled robotic process automation, chatbots and machine learning that can improve predictability, simplify complexity and eliminate troublesome areas of service and performance. It must not result in any additional layers of complexity, rather new solutions need to solve big problems, while at the same time reducing complexity, and increasing agility and the operational tempo of the business.
***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.
