News Article
Do we (truly) need to hire a Chief GenAI Officer (M/F)?
GenAI took hold as a common term in 2023 and keeps expanding, transforming how businesses handle content creation, application development and more.
Generative AI became a common term and has been steadily growing, reshaping how businesses approach content creation, application development, and other tasks. This suggests a new distribution of responsibilities between humans and machines. While the actual impact of platforms like ChatGPT, Midjourney, or Dall-E remains uncertain, some companies are considering the possibility and significance of appointing a Generative AI Officer, also known as a Chief GenAI Officer.
This column is presented as a job advertisement to illustrate, by way of example, what the role and qualifications might involve. The job posting, company, and conditions are entirely fictional, and any resemblance to real situations or persons would be purely coincidental. As part of our expansion efforts,we are actively searching for our next Chief Generative AI Officer. Given the widespread adoption of generative AI, we invite you to join our team to maximize its potential for our clients and future colleagues alike. We’re seeking the ideal candidate to enhance our professional services through the integration of generative AI. Initially, we extended this position to an Artificial Intelligence, but it seemed to have a hard time understanding what we were looking for. Its lack of self-awareness led us to resort to hiring a human being through the more traditional hiring process. We are looking for someone who can deeply appreciate the impact of generative AI for our company. For now, our teams aren’t too sure about this new approach. In fact, maybe you could convince us that this position isn’t necessary?
Your Responsibilities:
Leadership within the Management Committee
You will play a pivotal role in shaping the company’s generative AI strategy. Your duties will involve setting implementation priorities, developing internal guidelines, and overseeing all aspects of generative AI usage in service and product development. It’s worth noting that the company’s management may not yet fully understand the potential breadth of generative AI or the teams’ readiness to leverage it effectively. Consequently, you will maintain constant communication with all executive teams to tailor your approach to development priorities.
Internal Advocate
Your position is both strategic and operational, marking a unique presence within the company. With no predecessor or direct hierarchical oversight in your field, you’ll function as an independent agent, across all Lines of Business (LoBs) to engage with colleagues seeking guidance on effective use of generative AI. Additionally, you’ll work to persuade and rally those who may be hesitant, ensuring that everyone is included as ChatGPT heralds a groundbreaking revolution.
Guideline Setter
You will ensure the consistent usage of various generative AI solutions across all teams. This includes remaining abreast of emerging solutions to determine if they are relevant and can be considered as essential tools or are just mere passing fads. Lastly, you’ll establish new boundaries for a tool often perceived as boundless.
Your profile
Experience
You have a minimum of 10 years of management experience in the technology industry. While you may not be an engineer per se, you’re not too far off. You’re not strictly focused on sales, but you have a keen interest in economic development. You’re not a technician but you do grasp and understand certain technical concepts. In essence, you’re a versatile, hybrid professional—curious, enthusiastic and open to work with others while also expected to lead and conduct projects independently.
Passionate about Technology
Proficient in both risk and change management, you skillfully navigate and even derive satisfaction from the process. You excel in tracking key performance indicators and implementing project management tools to measure success and adjust objectives accordingly. Your grasp of new technologies is both precise and comprehensive, encompassing their operational aspects and the contextual factors shaping their usage.
Agile
Do you thrive in a constantly changing environment? Transform your agility into an advantage and your adaptability into a catalyst for growth. While you may not be familiar with every technical aspect, you possess a deep understanding of the evolution, challenges and applications of technology. Acting as a bridge between humans and machines, you seamlessly connect the two. If this aligns with your strengths, then this position is tailor-made for you.
Digital Transformation is not only about technology…
It is also a question of development expertise for industry-specific solutions. As front-line workers of the Covid-19 crisis, pharmaceutical industry players need support in optimizing their inventory and managing their supply chain. To help them cope with the current crisis and anticipate more potential crises to come, having a turnkey and adapted technological solution is the best alternative moving forward.
The Achilles heel of a Beleaguered Industry…
While this industry has demonstrated incredible efficiency during the crisis, it still has to deal with certain political, economic, and even regulatory contingencies.
In this crisis, the question of health sovereignty has become critical. Close to 80% of the active ingredients contained in the medicines we use are produced by a small number of suppliers in China and India. Not only are these countries very far away, but they have been both hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, partly disrupting their production capacity. That dependence has affected our Health Management at a critical time. While having to endure the multiple outbreaks of the pandemic, we also had to deal with major supply shortages.
With the slew of factory closings and government orders banning the export of raw materials, this pandemic has brought to the surface the obvious political and economic realities that have disrupted the National Pharmaceutical supply chain and put our citizens at risk.
The general state of the drug industry is dependent on the momentum of various aspects such as scientific innovations, decrees, and other exogenous factors related to epidemics, mutations, natural and social disasters. New healthcare bills and policies get passed regularly and to face these new regulations, industry players must constantly adapt and demonstrate remarkable agility and flexibility.
Finally, pharmaceutical raw materials are fragile and sometimes unstable. They need to be handled with extreme care during transportation. Moreover, air cargo remains the primary international distribution channel for the import and export of pharmaceutical products. But because the pandemic has had a significant impact on air traffic, meeting global demand for medicine and pharmaceutical products has become even more challenging, making an already elaborate logistics system even more complex.
What can we do to take back control of the present, become less dependent, and work our way efficiently towards a clear, agile and sustainable future?
Simple – it is all about logistics going digital, a real breath of fresh air for the pharmaceutical industry.
The automation of the logistic process combined with data tracking enabled software is what it takes to prevail over the challenges and obstacles specific to the industry. Transformation…free at last?
An all-digital logistics set up allows for optimized inventory management and very precise supply chain monitoring. The purpose of such a system is to ensure that the incoming and outgoing of goods runs as smoothly as possible with the suppliers and distributors while gaining full appreciation of the market. Such a tool lets the different stakeholders be on top of their inventory and mitigate any risk of shortage thanks to its increased agility and predictive capability. An adapted turnkey solution will improve the efficiency of logistics management at each stage of the supply chain, from the reception of raw materials to the distribution of the packaged product.
With the right technological solution, industry players will be able to transport their goods in the best optimal way and at the lowest cost possible, ensuring “grouped” shipments thanks to a better appreciation of the global supply status. Moreover, not only does such a solution help save money by cutting transportation costs, but it also strongly contributes to reducing the company’s carbon footprint with fewer delayed shipments.
Finally, such an industry-specific solution also allows for efficient tracking. All goods get systematically logged into a database. Systematically itemizing goods in this manner ensures efficient serial number management and helps in quickly identifying a faulty product. It also helps in actively combating counterfeit medicine, which is a real global scourge.
Economic, ecological, social and societal benefits…There are many benefits that come with such a digital tool that stretch beyond the limits and scope of the industry itself. Again, we clearly see how innovation unmistakenly brings much more to a given industry or business practice to heighten efficiency and quality of service and products to an even higher level.
The coronavirus crisis has highlighted the strategic role of the pharmaceutical industry, whether economic, social or political. It is also a wakeup call reminding us how dependent we are on the supply of our pharmaceutical raw materials. So, let’s do something about it: so why don’t we deal the cards for a change and get geared up to deal with the unpredictable.
In the current climate of increasing awareness, the Inclusiv’Day event stands out as a significant event to spotlight social innovations that contribute to building a more inclusive and fair society. This event, set for April 10, 2024, at Paris La Défense Arena, offers a day packed with training, discussions, and networking opportunities.
Advocating for inclusivity means recognizing the inherent value of every person and actively cultivating environments where everyone feels respected, accepted, and empowered to contribute. It involves celebrating diversity, ensuring fair access to opportunities and resources for all members of society. While challenges vary, fostering inclusivity allows us to harness the strength of our differences and collective resilience.
In modern society, disability is frequently perceived as a formidable barrier to achieving professional success. Nevertheless, disability should never be a barrier to finding fulfillment in the workplace. We firmly believe that integrating individuals with disabilities can enrich our teams and enhance our collective performance. By amplifying the voices of those who navigate disabilities every day, we strive to showcase that despite obstacles, achieving professional excellence is not only possible but also empowering.
Therefore, inclusion is central to the CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) strategy. The process involves raising awareness among teams to foster a trusting environment conducive to the growth of employees with disabilities. Externally, emphasizing commitments and actions taken helps resonate positively with candidates.
Commitment to inclusion is not merely about quotas or compliance with standards. We believe that inclusion goes beyond providing accommodations or technical adaptations. It’s a deep-seated conviction embedded in the overall corporate social responsibility strategy. It’s a company culture built every day, through kindness, empathy, and mutual respect.
Diversity and inclusion are pivotal in today’s world, impacting not just businesses but society at large. They shape our everyday interactions, both public and private, fostering collective enrichment and growth.
Indeed, Inclusiv’Day goes beyond the typical professional event. It’s a remarkable platform where diverse individuals come together to share experiences, exchange best practices, and explore innovative ideas aimed at fostering inclusion.
We therefore encourage the entire professional community to join us in this effort. Let’s all work together to make sure we eradicate any barriers to disability in the workplace. Let’s embrace diversity to strengthen our workplaces. By collaborating and valuing the distinctive qualities of each person, we can establish workplaces that are more equitable
Over the last couple of years, we have seen and continue to see how predictive maintenance is evolving as a concept, and how Artificial Intelligence enabled applications will eventually become widespread and available to all. Bringing these two technologies together will trigger a major paradigm shift in the industrial sector. In other words, the advancement of these technologies is a serious game-changer for the industry of today and tomorrow. Is Predictive Maintenance in an AI-enabled world the beginning of a new industrial revolution? Yes, but not only…
Trying to guess what the future holds without embracing the present just doesn’t fly.
Because today, when it comes to understanding and dealing with maintenance, machines, artificial intelligence…it’s still kind of blurry. I mean if we’re aiming for clear-cut, well established schemes and very precise trouble shooting techniques that can pinpoint the cause of a problem flawlessly, we’re simply not there yet. While we are enjoying some of what AI has to offer and experiencing the far-reaching business steering capability that comes with Big Data and Data Mining, we are still basking in some kind of childlike enthusiasm, dumbfounded by technology with fantasy-like expectations. A revolution, if we are on the brink of a revolution that is, will surely not happen overnight…and not even tomorrow.
Reaching for the Future via Inertia
One thing for sure though: so far, we’ve only tapped into a tiny fraction of the potential for using predictive maintenance solutions in industry. This is because AI itself is still in its early stages. But the advancement and development of these two technologies are closely intertwined.
These slow surfacing developments beget the following consequences. First off, it is understanding that in a not so mature market it is much easier to identify the most relevant players. Industries and large corporations stand out as the primary recipients of this type of solution. This is not only due to resources but also technological maturity. Moreover, it gives us an opportunity to examine the potential connections between predictive maintenance and existing technologies. Data collection is poised for broader implementation within production systems. Data is ubiquitous and ready for more effective utilization. Moreover, while data extends beyond industry, predictive maintenance could broaden its impact beyond its current confines.
Once we establish the connection between available data, computing power and industrial infrastructure, the opportunities are almost limitless. This could mean significant cost savings, international expansion along with a new 4.0 globalization model…The future advancements in predictive maintenance could lead to industry growth on a massive scale.
Challenging an Established Ecosystem
This inertia has various consequences that will fundamentally change the roles of all the stakeholders involved in the running of machines. Before everything was very clear cut: there was one supplier, a machine operator, another operator in charge of maintenance that services the machine on a regular basis and a technician who restarts the machine once it is repaired. Predictive maintenance changes all of that in one fell swoop: machines are fitted with a whole set of sensors that gather data that AI will then analyze to estimate the lifespan of each machine or device (RUL: Remaining useful life).
Machines then transfer data that can be used to run a technical assessment. Just like in Minority Report, the novel written by Philip K. Dick that was turned into a movie of the same name directed by Steven Spielberg. It is the story where criminals are arrested before they commit their crimes by a special crime unit called Precrime. The analogy here is that machines are maintained, spare parts changed before the machines break down and remain out of order for a couple of days. It’s all about doing what it takes before and avoiding the occurrence of incidents. This is what we mean about predictability. It’s with the IoT (the Internet of Things) that we’ll really appreciate how Artificial Intelligence will unleash its full potential. And of course, data analysis provides more and more in-depth statistical analyses that not only make managing maintenance that much easier but also impact retroactively the manufacturing and design of spare parts (shape and material) for improved effectiveness and better resistance to wear and tear. The bigger the fleet of machines, the more data there is, and the more manufacturers should factor in handling of the maintenance of their fleet of machines. Collecting operational data from 10 machines doesn’t provide the same insights as collecting data from 10,000 or 1 million machines.
AI-enabled data processing must now be shared or pooled to allow the entire production system to benefit from the analysis of a significant volume of data.
If data now becomes the main source of information and used to prevent machine breakdowns, then collecting this data also becomes incredibly strategic for today’s industry. Skill building, training programs, staff downsizing, the overall human dynamic is being disrupted. The Data Manager now becomes pivotal for a supplier of industrial machines. For an industrial player, the pooling of the analyses of data of a production unit can prove to be a significant asset in an increasingly competitive market. Yet, for a maintenance technician, the future may seem uncertain, and they may have to adjust and adapt to the new production ecosystem.
And, data collection, is an area of expertise that reaches way beyond the industrial sector per se. IoT is one of the trending technologies that is growing at an incredible pace. In fact, a smart refrigerator may turn out to be as useful as a machine that is part of a production unit, provided we properly leverage the data to generate value. In other words, the pivotal role that data now takes on will break down the silo mode of industry, forcing it to redeploy its set-up, oblivious to any consideration of physical barriers.
A Different Culture
But beyond the organizational changes brought on through time by preventive maintenance and predictive maintenance in the past, now and tomorrow, they will undoubtedly have an impact on the entire social structure of society. The industrial sector will be able to improve production processes (by reducing number of errors), make them more cost-effective (economies of scale on maintenance costs, less staff…), and quicker (by limiting as much as possible the downtime of machines). Better, cheaper and faster: what any business would dream of. But maintenance is just a part of the big picture. It’s Artificial Intelligence with a capital A & I that will completely disrupt production as we know it and therefore society as a whole. Because what comes with optimized predictive maintenance is a whole host of factors: interconnected means of production (with as many operational status sensors), a constant flow of market-related data provided to a business, optimized performance, and constant automation of production volume. A kind of 4.0 lean management approach. In a nutshell, this may be the advent of the factory of the future. But where does that leave humans and their added value? That still needs to be cleared up.
We also hear that some people actually “speak to machines.” They also listen to them. They know how to pick up a sound that doesn’t sound right or an apparent glitch in the motions of the machine. That is the result of an expertise garnered over so many years of experience. But without seeking to downplay their merit or expertise, it must be said that the computing power of Artificial Intelligence applied to predictive maintenance could soon challenge these highly regarded skills.
The cultural shift brought about by the introduction of AI-driven solutions also prompts consideration of responsibility. As AI’s scope widens, so do the responsibilities that go with it. However, responsibility is fundamentally a human trait. How do we apply it to AI? Consider the example of connected cars: statistics show they are safer than human drivers, with fewer accidents and tragedies. Yet, it remains unacceptable to accept and tolerate any harm caused by AI-driven vehicles. This is a true ethical dilemma.
The “optimization” aspect of a technological solution, no matter how effective it may be, is far from being the most decisive factor in its acceptance and deployment. Cultural change is not merely a technological issue but involves a distinctly human dimension that progress can never overlook. At least, let’s hope so.
Personalized recommendations, tracking, cookies…a whole slew of new terms came into being with the 2.0 user experience. So much so that they turned into a new standard for almost all online navigation experiences: that of the data collection process that provides useful information for algorithms that are more and more powerful and accurate.
This data provides information to many different artificial intelligences in order, it is said, to enhance our customer experience.
You are not only a number
“We respect your privacy. By checking this box, you authorize our partners to use cookies or similar technologies to access personal data regarding your browsing and to store it to provide you with the best possible experience…” The sentence is fictional, and any resemblance to an existing or former banner is purely coincidental, but the keywords are clearly present: privacy, browsing tracking, personal data, user experience.
It’s when visitors automatically check all the boxes without reading the consent form, and like magic they’re in. Since the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) law, it’s become a must, requiring every data collection process to be approved by the user. It’s a kind of safety net, but its effectiveness varies.
Behind these somewhat cryptic notions lie tons of data, algorithms that together are hard at work culling information to find out more and more about potential or existing customers. In Sales, this boils down to the RFM model of Recency, Frequency and Monetary respectively meaning, how long ago they made a purchase, how often they make purchases over a given period, and how much money they spend. It’s the Holy Grail of Marketing: knowing your customer from every angle to be able to provide the best offering at the best time. The considerable amount of data accessible turns each click, each second spent on a page, into valuable insights for the brand leveraging that click.
The user isn’t simply a number but a whole set of digits. But behind that user is an actual human being. And this human being is a much deeper being, more complex, more complete than whatever their website navigation says about them.
Commonplace and/or Diversity?
This observation is not specific to digital platforms. Marketing operates on a global scale just like that. Customer knowledge has always been the fundamental lever of success for any sales channel. It is the tool that has changed. It has become more accurate and powerful, but it is the same “business as usual” at work.
It starts with appreciating the behavior of customers, understanding why and when they decide to purchase and then collecting their usage data to gain deeper insights.
The next step is to set up customer segmentation based on specific characteristics, also known as personas or buyer profiles. It is to be noted that this segmentation approach is commonly used in sociology and demographics, clearly highlighting that it is not unique to marketing, let alone Artificial Intelligence.
So why all the suspicion? Maybe it’s because humans don’t really appreciate being constantly pictured as a bland representation of themselves. And it could probably also be that we tend to narrow down a person to a boring statistic instead of appreciating their cultural diversity. And yet, even when it’s only about consumption, we all behave very differently depending on the sales channels we use.
Also, as the physical and digital worlds intertwine, a person’s behavior may vary significantly depending on whether they are in a physical or digital context, even with the same brand.
AI’s secret dealings
Concerns about AI often arise from not fully understanding how it works. No, AI hasn’t been spying on you to find out if you have just become a parent. It doesn’t have a legal right to do so, nor does it need to do so; you put the information out there yourself with your search for baby strollers. And this is what is puzzling about how people feel about AI. Like with any new technological advancement it’s all about progress and the excitement about how technology will make our lives that much better and simpler. Looking up something on Google and comparing prices is much more easier than actually going to a brick-and-mortar store to compare baby strollers…
Yet, the comfort of online shopping and searches comes with a price: surveillance. They go hand in hand because they are closely connected. If a brand can suggest a product you are looking for exactly when you need it, it’s because they have listened to you and in a way, have even gotten to know you.
Artificial Intelligence reflects human behavior, a sort of mirror – sometimes a distorting mirror – of who we are. Believing that AI can influence our behavior is not understanding the concept and missing the point. AI is driven and controlled by human beings and lacks any kind of moral intent. When questioning the potential uniformity AI inadvertently induces, it actually underscores the stereotypes we all carry.
Our website navigation is all about behavioral patterns. Algorithms are simply accelerators. So we shouldn’t be worrying about any kind of threat AI may pose but rather reflect on one’s digital identity, what we are all about, what we like. This new boundary we need to explore may be more deeply rooted than expected.
Applying empathy over authority
In a 2018 report published by Business Solver on Empathy at Work, 96% of employees surveyed considered empathy to be essential. Ironically, 92% believed that the companies they work for do not value that specific ethical value. These figures underscore a significant paradigm shift within companies. They also show that employees have new expectations calling for more respect and recognition and demanding to be more involved in the decision-making process. It seems that the days of top-down management, where managers did the thinking and employees did the tasking, are over.
Showing empathy at work means above all being able to work together as a team or group and move away from organizational silos in order to leverage the benefits of a horizontal organizational structure. It also means being willing to refrain from passing judgment and opening up to others. It means being willing to accept that one is not all-knowing and that unleashing the power of many through the concept of collective intelligence is superior to one’s individual decision even if that decision proves to be excellent. Exploring these new principles of management implies adopting an authentic and strong “feedback” culture. All opinions deserve to be heard and shared in order to promote a culture of innovation and agility and therefore creating growth and value.
Ethics contributing to customer experience
The impact of an ethical approach to business has been measured in several publications such as the LRN Benchmark of Ethical Culture. This survey of thousands of employees shows that companies with the strongest ethical cultures outperform others by 40%. These ethical qualities can be seen throughout all of the organization: employee loyalty with employees in turn becoming company ambassadors; teams proving to be creative and willing to easily adapt to change; more growth while also increasing company attractiveness and customer satisfaction.
This last point has also considerably evolved. Ethics and Global Warming challenges facing the world today have consumers radically changing their purchasing behaviors and expectations. So, a Feedback Culture really matters and not just to measure your employees’ level of satisfaction but is now the « name of the game » for customers as well. Reaching out to your customers, understanding or even anticipating their needs and expectations is now “a must” for companies intent on providing new and innovative products and services. Here too, digital transformation is pivotal in collecting feedback from consumers online via the different social media channels.
Taking risks – learning to move forward
How do you foster and promote a corporate culture built around ethics and empathy? Well to begin with, accepting that people make mistakes and that failure is part of the learning process. In the past, whenever there was some kind of setback it was customary to point the finger at someone and blame them. And that led to employees believing that showing initiative could be dangerous. But now, it is a whole different ball game and taking risks, encouraging risk taking, is the way forward. And that means accepting failed attempts and learning from them – drilling the, “if at first you don’t succeed then try and try again,” motto to get the message out there. However embracing the idea that you learn from your mistakes is what will set the stage for this new mindset and avoid the blame game. Moreover, choosing to not blame any one person for whatever mistake is also a way to pinpoint the real root cause of the problem.
Corporate culture must therefore promote risk taking and what psychologists refer to as cognitive flexibility i.e. the ability to be in constant learning mode and call into question one’s certainties proving to be open to change and adaptability in all circumstances. So these new management principles in constant flux is what is needed today to cater to the extremely fast-paced and volatile markets. Competitors or start-ups can emerge at any time with new business models and so learning and agility have become fundamental pillars to ensure the development and growth of companies.
So at the end of the day, the meaning of “culture” in the expression “Corporate Culture” should be appreciated as such, for its true meaning. Before, the only real priority and raison d’être of companies was to keep their shareholders happy. Now with Corporate Culture in the picture, making a profit is still just as important but it now needs to bear meaning and purpose. Companies create financial and economic value for sure but from now on, they will also need to create societal value.
Through the values a company sets for itself and conveys, it actually turns into a true social contributor with responsibilities, rights and duties. Both internally and outside the organization, i.e. for its employees and partners alike, a company’s role now also consists in creating and bringing value for the common good. So, in addition to its products or services, its values permeate society and could even be educational, a source of inspiration and bring people together.
So the term “Corporate Culture” isn’t just another of those buzz words, but a real thing that keeps on changing. It needs to feed off the culture of its talents rather than trying to have them blend in under an imposed version of it. Trying to impose such a version would mean trying to do away with differences, doing away with what makes them unique and what they can contribute. So what needs to be done is exactly the opposite i.e. getting the corporate culture to grow by aggregating and feeding off the culture of all a company’s talents in a kind of syncretic spree where empathy, ethics, open mindedness, a willingness to learn, trust and transparency make up the social fabric of tomorrow’s innovative companies.
Often enough, low-code is thought of as a kind of “low-cost” software code. And yet, it is a software development approach that requires little to no coding that makes programming accessible to the masses.
This is what democratization of technology means. With digital technology-ready tools pervading our lives and the emergence of this new digital culture, having a solution that empowers everyone to take part in this digitalization spree comes as no surprise. Low-code makes that happen.
Low-code: boost to independence
Low-code is a software development technique designed to simplify software programming using existing technological components or building blocks. With User Experience (UX) and user-friendly graphical interfaces being at the heart of the low-code experience, there is no need to have extensive programming expertise. However, to know which building blocks to use, it is imperative to learn how to combine these blocks.
This does not mean that we are done with programming altogether, but it is about rethinking a concept that makes programming intuitive and accessible to a much wider audience. And so, people considered to be non-technical, like sales representatives for instance could dive in and configure or program their own applications to design tools that cater specifically to their business.
The emergence of low-code has brought on a model where each individual user can actually work on a technical project on their own. In that sense, we have shifted the boundaries of feasibility, where such advancements were only possible within an organization.
Thus, low-code is an independence booster but does not replace programming in any way. Low-code in itself is a gamechanger in that it has completely reshuffled the cards of project governance and web development. As such, it has proven to be an authentic innovation vehicle in the way organizations operate.
Low-code, a game-changing advantage for businesses
If low-code represents above all a great boon for individual users, it is also an incredible business agility maker.
According to a survey of 200 companies, the appeal of low-code was primarily driven by improving productivity, but also by time-to-market, creating enterprise apps and improving UX.
Having been in use for several years now, we now have enough hindsight with these low-code platforms to appreciate the different types of applications they are used for. What we know for sure is that the buy-in phase is clearly underway. Low-code can be compared to what the Cloud strategy was 10 to 15 years ago. In fact, some believe that this is the next logical step to Cloud as most of the low-code platforms operate in “as a Service” mode, bringing together the best in what the Cloud and self-learning have to offer.
Another significant advantage is that low-code brings much more flexibility and broadens the scope of possibilities of IT projects in an industry severely hit by labor shortage. Experience has shown that with only a couple of months of training, people in fields such as Finance, Marketing and so on can start developing, granted small applications, but real applications, nonetheless. Here again, this marks an important turning point in the way IT and technological projects are addressed while alleviating the hiring challenges.
Deploying low-code
How do you achieve low-code success in an organization? It all depends on the organization’s digital maturity.
The overall goal of having low-code is to empower and train non-technical staff so that they become familiar with the platform and get used to the logic and methodology behind it.
It is also important that customers of the platform understand the new dynamic and perspective low-code has to offer. The actual hardware and tools will tend to become less and less relevant in the future with a much stronger focus on the creation of commercial and customer value rather than the actual solution or way that value is delivered.
Another proven best practice when deploying low-code is creating excellence centers tasked with overseeing the Development and Maintenance activities making for a risk-free environment when employees start testing and using the platform. These centers would provide a sandbox version of the platform, ideal to help employees practice and get used to the platform. Fairly simple, these best practices could lead to developing schemes to process incoming emails, transferring emails, or to automate tasks right from the body of the email. This is an incredible playground, that moreover, poses no risk at all to an organization.
Low-code, a metaphor for innovation
Innovation is both a “top-down” and “bottom-up” dynamic. The “top-down” kind of innovation is that incredible game-changing innovation that disrupts a given industry with a new technology or offering. It does not happen that often, and this is precisely why it is so unique and priceless. But innovation also works the other way around i.e. “bottom-up.” Low-code is such an example. By opening up a capability-ready platform to the masses, it is in fact literally creating an ecosystem dedicated to innovation. Indeed, low-code allows users with no or little technical background or expertise to develop local applications quickly and easily or to develop an application or process using only configuration tools. So low-code is an incredible breeding ground for what is better known as micro innovations. With the massive number of micro innovations developed, there could be a systemic impact on innovation simply by the fact that so many people can now have access to innovation. This democratization makes everything possible. All pretentiousness aside, it brings innovation to a whole new level.
The emergence of a new generation of data management and analytics tools enables organizations to uncover, predict, and measure the impact of whatever comes in greater detail. However, these tools and methodologies are not leveraged to their fullest capacity usually because of poor governance, underutilization of data, and an inadequate data culture.
This is compounded by the fact that most organizations compartmentalize their data and run isolated data processes led by teams not really used to or intent on sharing data and who do not necessarily garner unanimous internal support. And even worse, that data is often split up in different files and rarely gets updated.
Data or the beautiful data slumber
There are two instances when data is poorly leveraged. The first is when it comes to decision-making. Most decisions are made based on one’s extensive experience or educated hunch, even though that experience or hunch may prove irrelevant. The second instance is when teams all agree and decide on something and then look up information and data to substantiate that decision which does not really lead to fully leveraging the value of that data. Both of these situations lead to a significant competitive disadvantage compared to those organizations that get their data to talk about.
As a general rule, data, today’s new black gold, keeps piling up in data bases, but organizations fail to really process that data to its fullest, making only very superficial use of that data with Power BI-type tools. A change in mindset is definitely called for in order to push beyond our conventional limits. These tools should still be used however but should be considered as a component of a much broader data value chain1 and not like a building block of a comprehensive data strategy.
Let’s look at a company that conducts its revenue analysis, breaking down the figures by sales per customer, geographic area, and period using a reporting template. This approach, although relevant, does not allow for a deeper look and appreciation of the data. A company cannot measure for instance, the impact of other types of data sets on sales, such as the cost of raw materials, feedback from customers on new products culled from social media posts, how much the competition sells its products, website traffic, business news and so on…
The Netflix example: as good as it gets
That need to always establish causal relationships or determine a trend between data sets is very specific to companies known as “predator” type organizations. This is the case for Netflix that gathers and analyzes raw sets of data based on user preferences: their previous searches, their habits, choices, ratings, viewing time, and so on. Data collected this way contributes therefore to creating a virtuous circle (“Data network effects”).
What that means is that the more Netflix collects and cross-references data on its customers, the better it can fine-tune its offering and better serve customer demand with all that available data. Moreover, processing all these data sets allows for the development of new products (deep-dive segmentation), predictive maintenance schemes, or new business models (from selling products to selling product-based services), and so on.
Data, the mother of all virtues
“Culture eats strategy for breakfast”, is a quote from Peter Drucker that implies that if people do not take part in the data strategy, then that strategy is doomed. In actual fact, wanting to cross reference different data sets can cause a disequilibrium between management’s vision on data and the reality of what goes on in the field.
That said there is no miracle solution to speak of as each organization is unique, but there are several ways data can be handled better. Generally, a virtuous data processing model requires that everyone speak the same language to start off with and that there is a clear explanation on where the data comes from and how it is going to be used within the organization. Also, different steps need to be taken to ensure data availability and accessibility (data democratization), traceability, and quality of the data. Finally, everyone has to understand that we need to unravel the hidden potential of business data and appreciate how sharing data is an absolute game changer.
Not only must management acquire the technical resources to cross-reference data, it must also adopt a holistic approach, support different initiatives even if they fail at first, and make sure that there is real buy-in of this new data culture across all departments. Meanwhile, the idea of data proprietorship by a specific group of users or entity has to now to be considered a model of the past.
Cross-referencing data is an undeniable accelerator that adds value not only to organizations but to society as a whole. It comes as no surprise that the most advanced economies such as the United States have already embarked on a multi-annual action plan promoting data sharing architectures and governance mechanisms. The EU has come up with a similar action plan called the Data Act. The new rules will make more data available for reuse and are expected to create €270 billions of additional GDP by 2028. The Data Act addresses the legal, economic, and technical issues that lead to data being underused.
The whole point of cross-referencing data to unleash its value makes even more sense if you come to realize that the data itself is like a hub where culture and economy come together. As such, a completely new version of what data has to offer is at hand to rethink the world around us and appreciate what it has to offer. And, incidentally, data can become a lever (or tool) of a governing power in place. As always, when it comes to power, it can be put to good use or used the wrong way. It all depends on who is at the top.
Article published in French news site Latribune.fr by Alain Conrard, Prodware Group CEO.
At first glance, you’d think that Innovation and Ecology are worlds apart: one is an industry while the other relates to nature. However, pitting them against each other makes little sense because they mutually support each other. It is high time we embrace a much broader vision of innovation. An appreciation of innovation that encompasses the Human and the Living alongside Technology. An ecological concept of innovation.
“The difficulty lies, not in the new ideas, but in escaping the old ones,” said Keynes. We should all bear this sentence in mind in order to understand that our tendency to stick with the status quo, whatever the nature, is in fact the biggest barrier to innovation. It is easier to come up with new ideas than to let go of old ones and to be more specific: it is easier to find new ideas when you manage to let go of the old ones.
If we have to get rid of our old ideas, it is because they have a way of locking us into a way of seeing things that leaves no room for change. Old ideas have a way of representing a solid and consistent whole that is resistant to change. What Keynes refers to as « old ideas » are those ideas « that have spread into every corner of people’s minds, with most of these people having had or experienced the same education and training as most of us.”
The expression “old ideas” alludes to what most people agree on: in other words a true consensus specific to a given period in history. Old ideas therefore are those ideas that have become mainstream and accepted by all in today’s era. To that point then – the old is still the present – inevitably doomed to lag behind any form of evolution whether it is progress or regression. For a long time, the belief that the Earth was at the centre of the universe fit the mainstream narrative and was part of the principles and teachings of an era. Those who called into question those set of cultural beliefs (Copernic, Bruno, Kepler or Galileo) in order to introduce the cosmological model known as Heliocentrism, did it at risk of being banned, censored, and sometimes even of being sentenced to death.
Innovation upsets ideas, schools of thought or a conception of the world that we have a hard time imagining living without. This is why it is often counterintuitive.
We can witness that kind of resistance when trying to bring together “ecology” and “innovation” where very deep-rooted beliefs that form a “thought consensus” – or opinions devoid of any kind of scientific basis – could stifle the development of new ideas, in other words change. These two terms seem to be, more or less, compatible in context. Indeed, ecology refers to a natural order where an ecosystem materializes with living things relating and interacting with each other and with their habitat. The notion of innovation is obviously more Science and Techno Science related, reflecting the technological aspect of progress. Whether on the subject of ecology or technology, a change of perspective could be met with strong resistance, just like in any other domain, especially when there is a firm belief that one is right or possesses the truth.
However, the current environmental crisis connected with global warming/climate change calls for a drastic change. An overall change, a change of mindset, a change of methodology, a change in the nature of inter-species interactions, a change in the way we relate to ecosystems, and so on. And change means coming up with new ideas and therefore letting go of the old ones. This is when we can ask ourselves how innovation relates to the balance of nature and how innovation can maybe save the environment…
Two dead ends: rolling back or “kicking the can down the road”
What automatically springs to mind when the words “ecology” and “innovation” appear side by side is environmental crisis, global warming, and the consequences of human behavior on the planetary balances. Innovation and the industries it has spawned, wave after wave, would partly be the cause of these imbalances.
And, in such a situation, a situation that is hard to ignore, there appears to be only two ways to address it: rolling back to the past or “kicking the can down the road” as the saying goes. For those who are looking to the past, rolling back and giving up our modern lifestyle is the only way to stave off a possible environmental disaster and the many climate related catastrophes. Like adopting some form of “disinnovation” process. The “kicking the can down the road” advocates, the firm believers in full-fledged technology to solve the environmental crisis, support the idea that whatever caused the damage could be reversed to be leveraged as part of the solution and avert any dire consequences. Geoengineering, the deliberate large-scale intervention in the Earth’s natural systems to counteract climate change, seems to be the way to go. It could help address, with the development of wide scale technologies, all the problems related to global warming and climate change. Geoengineering has many promising projects in stock and is supported by laboratories, companies or even billionaires. Such projects are: chemical shields (particles of sulfur) that are vaporized into the atmosphere to protect against sunrays; ocean farming to produce seaweed that can absorb CO2; sending off gigantic sun screens into space; painting all urban surfaces white to increase the “albedo” effect; maybe even altering the axis of the Earth. Nobody, including the proponents of these global-scale projects engineered to affect the core of the Earth’s fundamental structure, is capable of really measuring the ecological impact of these solutions. So, this begs the following question: “what if the cure turns out to be worse than the disease?”
These radically opposed positions actually share the same challenge, that of trying to address the whole slew of problems. Indeed, their partial approach fails to measure and appreciate what is at stake here, even if they are to be commended for coming up with solutions, because there is definitely an urgent need to do something. We cannot afford to sit around and do nothing and leave the situation as is. Moreover, getting these two schools of thought to talk to each other seems next to impossible, given their conflicting standpoints. For the first group, nature should not be tampered with at all, (therefore considering any kind of technology-based solution is out of the question), and for the second group, it’s the exact opposite – because these incredibly innovative technologies can do wonders, they should therefore be leveraged to address the problems they may even have caused in the first place.
Mother nature, the greatest innovator of all
However, pitting ecology against innovation does not make much sense. In fact, ecology is actually the absolute innovation model. Mother Nature is the Mother of all innovations. Of course, Mother Nature does not create startups but it is on an uninterruptible innovation spree. It keeps on creating many kinds of innovations nonstop: creating new species; having species adapt to change in order to survive; generating new mutations…life. For example, trees that grow back with fire-resistant bark after a forest fire to protect against intense heat, as if they had learnt from that previous experience and innovated to fight off a new threat. But because these are natural occurrences, they seem to us to be perfectly “natural”: nobody is awestruck by these trees and the complex nature of this phenomenon. Yet, is it “less innovative” to create billions of cells everyday than to come up with an innovation that turns a business into a unicorn company? And, even what we call an « innovation » is somehow related to nature’s ability to innovate. This in turn has given Homo Sapiens this unique quality of being able to invent and create more and more sophisticated tools – leading human beings to consider themselves as the “masters and owners of Mother Nature” just like Descartes had predicted back in the 17th century.
So we need to get our inspiration from Mother Nature herself and her holistic interaction-based qualities to begin moving forward on this question. A holistic appreciation that does not stop at our usual and conventional frontiers but that stretches way beyond to think in terms of interactions and interrelations.
Biomimetics for instance is an alternative that fits right into that idea, whereby emulating the models, systems and elements of nature allows for the industrial manufacturing of artefacts bearing very specific characteristics that cater to a specific need. This approach considers nature and evolution as a very efficient R&D service that guarantees, through quality material or perfect functionality of a given shape, the efficiency of a tested and improved “product” that could last for thousands of years. This approach also makes it possible to imagine having human production workforces fully in tune with the elements that regulate the equilibrium of the biosphere. The result could solve one of the main conundrums of the modern era: making industrial innovation and environmental protection a compatible combination. Hence, a symbiosis between nature and industry would give a positive and new dynamic to progress.
Ecological innovation
It is therefore high time we rethink innovation not only as a technological feat, although technology is definitely a requisite but there is still more. We need innovation that brings in the human or living aspect alongside technology i.e. an ecological conception of innovation so to speak. This is consistent with the idea that innovation has to factor in progress that focuses on the greater good of all. And this last bit does not have to do only with the human species but has to include ecosystems and the other species: no greater good of all to speak of without the notion of one world common to all where all forms of the living live together. And understanding that for ecology means going beyond biotops. The meaning of ecology has to be broadened to include Human Ecology and/or Ecology of Work for example.
So now, more than ever, we need to start developing a humanistic approach to innovation: before diving into any kind of technological innovation, we need to think and behave very innovatively. Innovation means adopting a very different mindset that will open up our minds and willingness to change the way we consume for instance. Innovation and ecology is above all about innovating “in our minds.” It is about willing to accept new rules of the game where utopia can actually start converging towards some form of reality that is more necessary than ever. In fact, thinking outside the box i.e. innovating our thought process, all dogmatism set aside, is the only way to innovate: technological innovation or innovation as such are, at the end of the day, what materializes following an innovation of the mind. Once that innovation mindset sets in with a completely new mental framework, then we can start working on the technological aspect of the innovation, the actual tool, providing full capability in initiating the transformation dynamic. And this is where the proponents of an all-technological approach can step in. With technology comes quick and efficient action in order to meet the goals that everyone agrees on within that new mental framework.
Everyone of course wants to have a healthier planet Earth. But who actually does what it takes to do something about it? What is at stake here is raising awareness on climate change and the need for urgent action. But what can we do at our level and that could get everybody on board? What compact are we willing to sign so that the rights of Mother Nature are restored?
Choices (always tricky) have to be made in how we are going to tackle these issues knowing that they cannot all be tackled at once. Let’s try and come up with a new way of bringing the notions of “concept” and “action” to work together: instead of testing solutions left and right with no real impact, why not decide on two or three major issues to tackle. Then we would bring in technologies from different countries and industry players to cooperate in a joint effort to conduct various projects. Then convince and engage a whole city, region, country or even a continent. This approach that consists in choosing high priority issues to focus on could lead to use the Conference of the Parties conventions to set up massive programs for example. This combined effort, requiring massive wherewithal both for research and implementation, would therefore be mutualized and would contribute in creating international industrial entities, new economic alliances for a new value creation economy while fighting climate change. Technology in this instance is definitely a powerful accelerator in solving these issues. The financial aspect though is at the heart of the equation because without money nothing gets done even if you’ve got the best technologies.
Addressing issues and solving them is not any one group’s privilege. Neither Luddites nor technophiles can claim any kind of monopoly on finding the solutions to fighting climate change and generating a growth model that is consistent with planetary boundaries. And government and politics are far from being the only ones capable of finding ways to solve the problem. Whatever our political persuasion we should all be concerned about what needs to be done, as individuals and as a society, to responsibly embrace the many challenges posed by climate change. What are we willing to do and endure to save our planet? Climate change forces us (or will force us), one way or another, to rethink our economic growth and consumption models.
In any case, we have no choice but to innovate, and to finish off this article as we started it, let’s quote Keynes, “the inevitable generally does not happen, because the unpredictable prevails instead.”
Article published in French news site Itsocial.fr by Marc Lestienne, Deputy Chief Information Officer at Prodware
Anything of value always attracts criminals. The fact that criminals are attracted to certain businesses shows that that business activity is highly sought after. For criminals always try to get their hands on something of value that they have contributed nothing to by breaking in and intercepting a sometimes very complex economic process flow. This is why they try to get as close as possible to the source of that sought-after value in a determined attempt to engage and profit from such illicit activities.
And, if ever it were still necessary to underscore the sought-after value of data and what it represents, resulting from the digitalization of the economy, then I guess the soaring crime rate in Cyberspace says it all. Cybersecurity therefore is pivotal and mandatory in securing a business activity. Just like a shepherd looking to protect his herd of cattle from predators, we need to protect our data, our networks and communication channels from cyber criminals.
You need a global, proactive and preventive approach when addressing cyber risk management. That means engaging all the employees and the ecosystem of partners of a company in the fight against cyber security attacks. That is how you keep your business safe on a day-to-day basis but also how you secure the future of your business. Because the damages caused by cyber crime are considerable. And when you come to think that a cyber attack occurs every 11 seconds worldwide, the pressure is on. The impact of cyber crime on business can be detrimental and even cause a business to lose its customers. In fact, data breaches can erode customer trust: how can you trust somebody who can’t protect themselves?
Gendarmes and Thieves
Hackers and defenders go at it, face-to-face, in the never-ending dual between gendarmes and thieves, between good and evil. The relentless dynamic of who is chasing after whom gets played out in cyberspace too. Because both use the exact same weapons: lines of code, applications and network protocols but they also resort to internet psychology, hitting on the weaknesses of users so that they fall prey to the different social engineering techniques. In this continuing arms race, thieves have no qualms in leveraging innovation to reach their goals. Recently for instance, a banker was tricked into believing he was talking to one of his customers when hackers used AI-enhanced technology to imitate the voice of that customer instead of deepfake technology which is more time-consuming and requires more resource. The banker was not talking to a business executive whom he thought he recognized but to a machine. By breaking down the barriers to innovation, by putting it to the wrong use instead of for the common good, cyber criminals are dragging cyber defenders onto a whole new playing field for which the boundaries are still unknown. Weaponizing AI for phishing campaigns or for automated vulnerability scanning and so on, takes them way beyond deepfake technology.
Leaving the Door Open or Closed?
When one is considering cybersecurity or is tasked with addressing that concern, you have to bear in mind that 85% of data breaches are due to poor cyber hygiene. Most cyber incidents are caused by employees browsing websites that are not secure or by employees using their work computers for personal purposes. Hackers usually target employees while in the workplace because that is when and where vulnerability is at its peak and when they can break into a system very easily. But hackers do not go only after employees of a company, they also target part-time staff, sub-contractors, and partners. So security breaches are due to weaknesses in technology and psychology. There would be no cybersecurity to speak of if you don’t have the best cybersecurity tools to fend off cyber attacks. But there also wouldn’t be any cybersecurity to speak of without engaging in a vast cybersecurity awareness campaign to raise awareness and educate users on cyber hygiene and best practices. Cybersecurity is a practice that stands on its own two feet: Technology and the Human Factor. So it’s time we learn the safety walk!