My presentations these days are focused upon the challenge of change. Every day, something is in the headlines to challenge your thinking from AI to quantum to digital currencies to digital identities. The only constant is change.
Whenever I talk, I come back to the wrongly attributed quotation of Charles Darwin that it does not matter how fit, strong or intelligent you are, the survivors are those who are most adaptable to change. Great quote, but change into what?
And this is the key: you need to have a view of where to go next. Some CEOs avoid the change; they dodge the bullet; they decide the status quo is better or, for those who know Latin, ceteris parabus (all other things don’t change). The problem today is things change every day and keeping up with how today has changed, let alone tomorrow, is the hardest thing for any leader of a company.
This is why KPMG’s survey of CEOs late last year found that over 80% are struggling with the speed of change. I am personally surprised it was not 100%. What does not surprise me is that the focus of the challenges these firms face is cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI). What does not surprise me is that these companies have no idea about what to change into.
We are in what I call the third age of technology.
The first age was automating processes. Most of what was around stayed the same, but we automated the administrative structures. Technology did not replace anything, as the structures remained the same. It just made the processes simpler and automated them.
The second age was replacing structures. Digitalisation through cloud and networks replaced the traditional physical structures. We moved from face-to-face to device-to-device and that changed everything. The digital transformation changed everything.
The third age is where we move to intelligence embedded. Everything becomes intelligent. Everything we touch, interact with, communicate with, trade with is now filled with intelligence about us. It’s the world of one: me. Forget one-to-one marketing; it’s now total intelligence about one.
The third age will change everything we do, think, see and hear. It will be all about you and intimate knowledge of you. Sound scary? Maybe, but it will also maximise your lifestyle, tastes and thoughts.
Therefore, going back to what to change into, it surprises me how many companies I talk to these days who are still talking about how to digitalise. Why? Because Doing Digital should be done by now. Doing Digital was the last decades challenge of change. This decade’s challenge is Being Intelligent.
Someone asked me what Being Intelligent means, and I answered that Being Intelligent is predicting what I need or want to do next. Predictive systems of shopping, work, travel and finance is the age we are entering and so, when you ask: change into what? the answer is change into an intelligent system that predicts the next thing needed by the customer, whether that be a consumer or a corporation.
Predictive intelligence of client’s needs will be the next age of challenge and, btw, if you are still doing digital you are probably dead as how can you predict client’s needs if you haven’t already created a rational system of data with a 360-degree view of the client?
Chris M Skinner
Chris Skinner is best known as an independent commentator on the financial markets through his blog, TheFinanser.com, as author of the bestselling book Digital Bank, and Chair of the European networking forum the Financial Services Club. He has been voted one of the most influential people in banking by The Financial Brand (as well as one of the best blogs), a FinTech Titan (Next Bank), one of the Fintech Leaders you need to follow (City AM, Deluxe and Jax Finance), as well as one of the Top 40 most influential people in financial technology by the Wall Street Journal's Financial News. To learn more click here...