5 takeaways from our Business Transformation Summit

Published on 02/11/2017

It was a morning of inspiration, transformation and a dip into the future for the professionals who attended our Business Transformation Summit back in October.Keynotes by futurist Gerd Leonhard and robotics expert Manuela Veloso were transmitted live from Portugal.In case you missed it, here are 5 key takeaways from the event.

1. The future is about transformation, not just innovation

Rapid change means we have to think carefully about where we intend to be in 5 or 10 years’ time. Organisations are under constant pressure to innovate, but they should also be planning for complete transformation. Gerd gave the example of the automotive industry with predictions that, by 2035, a quarter of all cars will either be autonomous or partly autonomous. ‘Megashifts’ in areas such as intermediation, mobilisation and personalisation must be taken into account when planning strategies, even in the short term.

2. Data is the oil and Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the electricity of the modern era

98% of data available to us is unused. This is mainly down to humans not knowing what to do with it as much as a case of information overload. We should utilise AI to do much of the heavy lifting in the vein of X.ai that schedules your meetings, or Do Not Pay Bot, a virtual lawyer that helps you fight small legal issues. None of these platforms are yet sophisticated enough to replace humans completely (see below), but they are adept at exploiting data in an efficient and beneficial way.

3. AI is not something to be feared, but embraced

Many people worry that AI will render much of the human population unemployable, but this is not the case. According to Gerd, 70% of tomorrow’s jobs do not exist today and the most value will be placed on skills which rely on human intuition and cannot be automated. Manuela reinforced this point by saying that robots are designed primarily to help humans, not take their place. Great advances in robotics have been made recently, but we are thankfully nowhere near the likes of C3P0 taking over the world! Or are we?

4. Technology is now being programmed to learn

Artificial Intelligence is designed to imitate the complexities of the human brain as much as possible. While we can only hope to replicate a tiny percentage of the capacity of the human brain, modern robots are being programmed to learn and ask for help when they need it. Robots should be transparent – we should always know what they are going to do next – so that humans can interact with them without any conflict and retain control. The success of this interaction depends on how we humans adapt to a world in which AI takes a prominent position.

5. The right mix of human and tech is crucial for strong L&D

L&D professionals know that training plays a critical role in this age of transformation, especially as organisations face pressure to keep up, let alone get ahead, and stay within tighter budgets. Many top-deck organisations are achieving this by encouraging trainers to use technology to extend learning beyond the classroom. Today’s best performing teams access a mix of face-to-face and online training that has clarity of purpose and is responsive to individual needs, which in turn leads to better targeted outcomes.Cegos presented the Business Transformation Summit to help us understand how future trends will affect business. It is all part of our ongoing drive to equip organisations and their people with the tools they need to keep winning.If you would like more information about any of these issues and how we can help you implement them into your L&D programme, contact us today.Cegos’ next event – Cegos Cognition 2017 – will take place in London on 17th November. Click here for details and registration.