888: The rapid pace of technological change, particularly with the advent of AI tools, has drastically decreased the average half-life of skills to less than five years, necessitating a focus on continuous learning at every level. In this episode of Technovation, we feature a panel from our May 2024 Metis Strategy Digital Symposium, where Liberty Mutual Global CIO Monica Caldas and WestRock CIDO Amir Kazmi speak with Metis Strategy Partner and East Coast Lead Alex Kraus about future-oriented storytelling, talent upskilling, and innovation processes. Discover how Liberty Mutual leverages its ecosystem of partners to develop the ‘Skills to Fuel our Future’ strategy, maturing employee skills in data, software, and AI, and how Amir at WestRock emphasizes purpose-driven innovation and a growth mindset. Both executives also share their thoughts on executive storytelling, cultural nuances in approaching different personas, and the importance of metrics for evaluating performance and progress.
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862: Tomorrow’s banking will be unrecognizable to past generations, driven by rapid technological and digital advances in the financial services industry. In this episode of Technovation, Ather Williams III, the Senior EVP and Head of Strategy, Digital, Innovation & Enterprise Payments at Wells Fargo, returns to the broadcast to discuss the progress being made towards providing a comprehensive digital customer experience and the exciting innovations he is driving which leverage the latest tools in artificial intelligence (AI). Ather shares the recent expansion of his role to include the head of enterprise payments and the organizational rationale behind it. He delves into the strategic focus on delivering seamless digital experiences through new digital platforms highlighting initiatives such as the development of Vantage, the bank’s new digital banking platform; the adoption of Fargo, the digital assistant powered by AI; and the deployment of LifeSync, the digital financial advice and planning tool. The conversation also covers Ather’s three major predictions for the future of banking, the company’s strategic approach to digital transformation, and the anticipation of significant generational wealth transfers. Finally, Ather shares insights into his career success, emphasizing the importance of being data-driven, staying customer-focused, and fostering a curious mentality.
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This episode is sponsored by Nile.
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780: Jared Cohen and George Lee, the Co-Heads of the Office of Applied Innovation at Goldman Sachs, delve into the intersections between global affairs, geopolitics, and cutting-edge technology such as generative AI. As leaders in the financial services industry and technology space, both executives provide valuable insights into the significance of geopolitical swing states and the current state of global affairs, as well as the rapid rise of generative AI, and the role government regulation plays in technological advancements.
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779: Tom joins us to discuss insights from his latest book, All-in on AI, and give his perspective on the rapid rise of artificial intelligence and its impact on businesses. From his sociology background to becoming a seasoned technology academic, Tom shares reflections on his career path and the evolving landscape of analytics and the birth of AI. Listen to his explanation of the three eras of analytics, culminating in the rise of “Analytics 4.0” powered by AI. As an AI optimist, Tom shares concerns and opportunities associated with AI, including its potential impact on jobs and the declining automation costs. Gain valuable insights into how companies successfully explore AI tools, allocate organizational resources to its experimentation, and strategize its adoption in order to “win big with AI”. Tom also provides his outlook on the future of AI, its influence on consulting, and practical career advice for young professionals in this transformative era.
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764: Asif discusses the evolution of the company and how it reflects the evolution of artificial intelligence more generally. Asif shares his pathway into AI and data science, the genesis story of Quantiphi, and why he decided not to seek outside capital in the early stages of the company’s growth. We also cover the various phases of the company’s history including finding the company’s product market fit, specialization, verticalization, and finally the latest phase of exploring and leveraging generative AI. Asif shares his perspectives on how companies have successfully harnessed the power of AI, the potential disruptions coming from ChatGPT and other generative AI platforms, and the future ahead for AI in general. Finally, Asif shares the two key pieces of advice that he believes facilitated his career success and will continue to help him in the future.
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744: Ria discusses the work she is leading at Intel on developing ethical artificial intelligence solutions with a focus on explainability, fairness, and trustworthiness. She discusses her perspective on what it will take to reach ethical AI solutions, the opportunities and hurdles that she faces, and the value proposition that ethical AI offers to companies and communities. Ria also talks about the skills that she hires for on her team, the collaboration she engages in with external and internal partners, and the medium-term outlook for AI given the rise of ChatGPT and other AI tools. Finally, she reflects on her early start in a career in technology and explains how her passion for poetry and writing has helped balance and anchor her during her more technical position at Intel.
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740: Tom discusses the progress he has seen in the artificial intelligence space and the evolution of the role of platform companies like C3.ai in a company’s overall strategy. He explains what he saw back in 2009 that prompted him to embark on his journey to found C3.ai, shares the common characteristics of companies that have successfully adopted AI solutions, and dives into the emerging trend of CEOs becoming more involved with driving AI at their companies. Finally, Tom reflects back on his career success, the key learnings he has brought with him, and what continues to keep him motivated.
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This episode is sponsored by Adyen.
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691: Huma discusses the creative ways artificial intelligence is being applied and the path ahead for combatting unconscious biases in AI models. She describes her purview at Intel and explains to Peter High the key differences between typical software and artificial intelligence software. Huma dives deep into the intersection of AI and creativity and shares the remarkable progress being made in the creation of things like art, podcasts, and more. Finally, Huma reiterates the importance of diversity when building AI models to eliminate biases and shares how companies, both AI and non-AI-focused, can improve the opportunities granted to diverse talent in the workplace.
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This episode is sponsored by Cisco.
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680: In this interview, we discuss the work Andres and his team are doing to advance artificial intelligence and its applications. Andres speaks to the historical evolution of artificial intelligence, the work being done to democratize access to AI algorithms, and the benefits and risks that AI can pose to society. Andres also provides a unique look at the hardware side of artificial intelligence, the trade-offs in complexity with its software counterpart, and how companies of all sizes can train and distill large AI models into smaller more applicable models. Finally, Andres explains how open-source communities are advancing the progress being made in AI and how citizen developers and people without engineering backgrounds can be easily trained to become familiar with the tools behind AI.
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428: AI pioneer and UC Berkeley Professor Stuart Russell warns that AI is reshaping society in unintended ways. For example, social media content selection algorithms that choose what individuals watch and read do not even know that human beings exist. As AI becomes more capable, he suggests that we are going to see bigger failures of this kind unless we change the way we think about AI altogether. Stuart argues that to ensure AI is provably beneficial for human beings, we must design machines to be inherently uncertain about human preferences. This way, we can ensure they are humble, altruistic, and committed to pursuing our objectives even as they set their own goals. We also discuss why AI needs regulation similar to civil engineering and medicine, the impact AI is going to make over the next decade, autonomous vehicles, among other topics.
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