Sophia, the AI-powered robot who was infamously granted citizenship by Saudi Arabia recently beat me out for two keynote speaking opportunities. True story. This is how I opened my presentation at the KQED studios in its inaugural Silicon Valley Conversations program, “The New Experts: How Robotics, AI and Automation Are Shaping the Future of Your Work.” The event focused on the way new technologies are changing how we work, where we work and the skills we need to work. I joined Michael…
The Nexus of Digital, IT and Science Fiction in the Future of Work
I have to tell you, I am absolutely loving the Digital Outliers podcast series and I hope you are too. In this episode, I get to talk with Brenda Cooper who among many things, is the CIO for the city of Kirkland, Washington. She is also a futurist and the author of nine science fiction and fantasy books. Her most recent novels are POST (Espec Books, 2016) and Spear of Light (Pyr, 2016). Her other works include Edge of Dark (Pyr, 2015), The Creative Fire(Pyr, 2012), and The…
The Possibilities of Possible
Sometimes success is a poor teacher. It lulls us into contentment and complacency. Instead of always striving for greatness and relevance, we’re instead focused on iteration and incrementalism, improving what is, to progressively grow our success rather than concurrently challenging what works today to innovate and create new opportunities for tomorrow. Your greatest enemies in breaking new ground are those who have have already benefitted from previous success. They want more and their experience validates their path. But that was…
Business Innovation, Culture 2.0 and the Importance of Shared Experiences
Leo Bottary is a well-known author and keynote speaker. He’s also a long-time friend of mine. For several years, I had the opportunity to tour the Vistage conferences as they toured the U.S. I nope to experience the opportunity to meet CEOs and senior executives on their home turf and hear their challenges and accomplishments again soon. Since I last spent time with him, Leo has launched a popular podcast, Year of the Peer, that explores the latest trends driving…
A Real-Time Conversation About AI and the Future of Work
I recently had one of the most fast-paced, fun and provocative conversations I had in a while. It wasn’t something that happened in IRL. Instead, this real-time conversation took place on Twitter. Organized by Cognizant and Pega prior to #Pegaworld, I joined Ben Pring, author of What To Do When Machines do Everything as well as Cogizant and Pega executives and AI/FoW experts on Twitter, to discuss the unfolding reality of AI and its role in the future of work. And, more importantly,…
Crossing Over to the Darkside of Digital and Seeing the Light
“Yesterday is not tomorrow; we can’t innovate, we can’t do new things by opening old doors.” Paul Miller spends a lot of time thinking about the future of work. In fact, he wrote a book on the subject, “The Digital Renaissance of Work: Delivering digital workplaces fit for the future.” I greatly respect Paul’s work and I’ve been lucky to know him for quite some time now. In fact, I was honored to write the foreword to his book. Following that, Paul…
Digital Transformation Needs Change Agents and Leadership Not Just Technology
Over the last year, I partnered with BMC on a new podcast series called “Digital Outliers.” We hand-picked 11 incredible guests working in critical areas of digital transformation and the future of work including IT, humanities and innovation. The result was humbling. Each episode dives into the trends shaping how companies work and compete. Our guests also offer prescriptive guide points for executives and change agents driving digital efforts to modernize culture, productivity, innovation, and experiences. My first guest in Episode 1…
What Makes Someone a Thought Leader?
That was the question I was recently asked by my friend Vivienne Neale. I wasn’t sure how to reply. After all, we all have our “thought leaders” whom we follow. Me, I always wanted to be part of a community where doing meaningful things made belonging matter. Honestly, I don’t consider myself a thought leader. I simply shared my ideas and work because I felt alone in my mission to change the future of business. I’ve always believed I couldn’t do…
Leading Digital Transformation
Last year, I had the opportunity to speak in Stockholm at Telia’s executive summit on Digital Transformation. After my session, I met with Joakim Jansson to discuss the state and evolution of the digital business landscape. At the time, he was working on a new book, Att Leda Digital Transformation, with Marie Andervin. That book is now available (in Swedish) and our discussion is included. I asked if it would be OK if our discussion was translated and published here to share…
How to Make Lifelong Learning an Organizational Priority
Guest post by Mark Burgess (@mnburgess) co-author of “Social Employees: The New Marketing Channel,” a 22-part video tutorial released by Lynda.com, a LinkedIn company. What is the value of lifelong learning, and how do you build it within your organization? Today, the value of building a culture of active learners can be summed up in one word: relevancy. In a recent post for Harvard Business Review, Pat Wadors, CHRO of LinkedIn, argues precisely this. Simply put, organizations that are not…
