Emerging Tech Spotlight: AI Impact

L to R: Joy Fairbanks, Roberto Medrano, Rob Muro.

Velocity.  The greatest tangible impact of AI on an enterprise is the velocity boost on every element of the organization employing it.

I was invited to moderate a panel on AI at the Latinx MBA Association Summit with Roberto Medrano and Rob Muro.  Roberto, CEO of Beachview Capital, is a cybersecurity pioneer, board director for dozens of tech companies, and former tech executive at HP, Polivec Inc, Finjan Holdings, Avnet Technology Solutions, and Sun Microsystems.  Rob is the Senior Director of Technical Product Managment at ServiceNow with executive experience at Oracle, Sun Microsystems, and Siebel.  ServiceNow is an AI first, cloud-based, workflow automation platform that enables enterprise organizations to improve operational efficiencies by streamlining and automating routine work tasks.

We shared our personal stories of hard work, resilience, and family values before engaging in the twin topics:  1)  Innovation Trends and the Business of AI, and 2)  Impact on and Opportunities for us as Individuals and Communities.

I asked the audience who currently uses gen AI at work and for personal stuff.  Everyone raised their hands for both.

Innovation Trends and the Business of AI

I asked Rob Muro about the impact of AI on his organization.  It has completely transformed it within an 18 month period.

For ServiceNow, AI shrinks down the life cycle of multiple processes.  Teams can create product faster, write story faster, and validate iterations faster. It becomes more easily quantifiable where a company should invest.

Enterprises small and large can scale faster than before with a lower cash burn rate.

I asked Roberto where we should invest in AI.

Investing in AI depends on who you are and what you want to do with it.  Gen AI is used for marketing.  Visual AI is used for autonomous cars.  AI coding assistance speeds up software development.

There are evolving opportunities in cybersecurity across a spectrum of access and usage points.

I would add the need for better individual and corporate IP protection and content attribution.  There is a lot of uncredited web scraping going on.

How does AI affect humans in the workplace?  How do we as individuals and as a community reap the benefit of the impact of AI?

You can’t stay still.

Winners:          People who innovate and leverage AI.

Losers:             People who do repetitive tasks.

Rob says:  “Think of yourself as a product.  What new feature are you releasing every quarter?”

Network and market your dynamic self.

Roberto advises:  “Look where in AI to play... business process automation, management, fraud detection, banking. It is really just the new software. Don’t start learning old tech.  People who can make the most money can understand and use AI… You don’t have to be technical to get in a tech company."

We all need to be a self-taught junior expert in AI. Every organization must be AI native.

The rapid adoption through the ranks, including the most senior layers of leadership, has indeed been remarkable in the last 12-18 months.

Rob, while walking along a seawall, prompted ChatGPT to create a 12 week course in Gen AI to rival Caltech, Berkeley, MIT.  Oh yes, and for free please.  Think Good Will Hunting and the value of a library card.  This time with curriculum.

Dang.

L to R: Joy Fairbanks, Rob Muro.

Igniting Change. Yes, we are.