How do we adopt a new general-use technology in a rapidly evolving state?
How do you, as a leader, successfully implement a program to adopt a new technology that is rapidly evolving in its nascent state? How do you train your employees on a technology that is evolving almost weekly, or create programs to ensure that the way you are using it maximizes its strengths, and benefits, to your business model? These questions are just a few that are facing today's leaders in organizations across the world as artificial intelligence is rapidly integrated into systems, practices and daily workflows at businesses and in personal lives.
The reality is that, as regards artificial intelligence, the answers to these questions simply do not exist yet. Just a few short years ago AI in business was just an idea, a promise of a capability that would alter the way we work and improve our efficiency in manners not yet conceived of. However, unlike previous technological waves, AI went from theoretical models to practical use almost overnight, with no real ability to prepare or plan for how it would impact our workforce, workflows and lives. One day we were using Google to research our business plans and the next day it was writing those business plans for us, welcome to the new frontier.
I mean that quite literally, artificial intelligence has led us to a new frontier, much like the early days of the United States, when explorers journeyed into the undiscovered West and laid down the paths that would one day unite a nation. Just as those explorers faced risks to achieve success, today's business leaders are journeying into an undiscovered country with no path before them, left to their own devices to discover the way or get lost on the journey. This means that leaders who wait to see how their competitors adopt artificial intelligence, and to learn from their mistakes, will instead be left behind and their organizations will suffer a severe competitive disadvantage, due to the rapidity with which AI will alter the business status quo.
Instead, the modern leader should focus on carving that new path out of the business landscape before them. Instead of waiting to learn from the best practices of your competitor, you should accept the fact that no one is going to get it 100% correct, but that 75% of an AI advantage will pay dividends that those on the sidelines will not be able to reap. Because artificial intelligence is both general-use and rapid impact, the speed at which it will convey advantages to those who are early adopters will be like nothing before it, including the Internet. By accepting that some mistakes will be made, business leaders can take advantage of the asymmetrical abilities of AI to catapult them ahead of their competitors in both the speed at which they execute their business and the depth of understanding of the market in which they are competing.
In the age of artificial intelligence, success in business will no longer be determined solely by the capabilities of the humans at the helm of a company, but rather by the organizational agility and speed with which businesses can adopt and implement AI into their business models to accelerate business plan execution and to master the digital landscape. Let the data wars begin.
