Learning Nugget 28 - Why automation is a unicorn opportunity
Every generation has an evolution, a transformation, that literally changes the world. Stuff that has never been seen before or even dreamed of. We are in the midst of such a transformation. Something that will quite literally change the world as we know it and that for many years we thought was nothing more than science fiction. Automation. Automation is the generational transformation wave that can deliver breakaway results. It can drive such incredible opportunities that it will make your targets look so insignificant. Automation is the combination of many things;
Robotics
Artificial Intelligence
Augmented machine intelligence
Machine Learning
IoT
Nano tech
Qubits. In plain english Quantum Computing. It’s not far away
As well as many others
While there are many many cliched terms used about the current evolution of business, they are all underpinned by two key transitions, Automation and Information. The terms I’ve heard include;
Age of the customer
Experience revolution
Intelligence age
Digital transformation age
Society 2.0
Mobile age
Talent economy
My fav, the creative economy
Etc
Regardless of what it’s called every one of the above relies of two critical levers. Automation and information. But here in lies the opportunity. To empower automation, and all the technology foundations of automation, requires ecosystems that can think innovatively about the enabling technology architecture, an that is not your fathers Buick…to the as yet unseen capabilities, ways of working, engaging and the processes, to new paradigms of business models, operating models and experience models. If your current portfolio of offerings (products and services) are in any way enablers of Automation, the next 5-10 years can be break out years for you. But this will only happen if you think 5-10 years in advance. If you wait to be told or asked, you will be treated as a commodity. Thus your success depends on your ability to look into the future and help your clients see what they can’t see. So what are some real tangible examples right now of where Automation is being put into play in ways we’ve never dreamed of? Digital Fast Food ;) It started with grocery shopping self serve checkouts. But now McDonalds, Wendy’s and Carl’s jr have self serve kiosks, as does KFC. But what many may not be aware is that KFC just launched in China it’s first fully autonomous store. That is not one single human employee in store. Read about it here (2 min read) http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2016-05/04/content_25040905.htm as you read you’ll notice there is also a heavy heavy focus on the experience the customer has in store Is there a doctor in the house? One of the most famous examples is IBM Watson used to medical diagnosis. Think about this. It takes min 6 years of study to be a GP. Yet a computer is better, faster and more accurate at diagnosing a patients alignment. 4 Min read on Watson from 2014 that gives some insight into what it is already being used for in the medical space. That was two years ago. Imagine where it’s at now. http://www.businessinsider.com.au/ibms-watson-may-soon-be-the-best-doctor-in-the-world-2014-4 Stop the presses! The art of story telling. There is no way a machine could write better stories than a human ? Well to a certain extent yes. This is a good example of where a human PLUS a machine is better than both individually. In the story on the following link (3 min read) we explore how sophisticated software is helping publishing and media companies to write a significantly larger quantity of stories, faster and more effectively than ever before. http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/29/7939067/ap-journalism-automation-robots-financial-reporting A peak into the future…. In next week’s learning nugget we will be taking a deeper look at Blockchain. What is it, what does it mean for the technology sales profession and what untold opportunities it enables. But to give you a sneak peak, here’s an example of Blockchain being used in automation. 3-4 min read. http://theconversation.com/finally-interesting-uses-for-the-blockchain-that-go-beyond-bitcoin-51213
#Innovation #Disruption #BOLD #Transformation #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #MachineLearning #DisruptiveTechnology #Automation #Augmentedreality #CognitiveAutomation
