As we know, the internet has fundamentally transformed the world, one of the most significant impacts is the speed in which information travels.
Nowadays, online sources provide real-time updates on events, online platforms offer virtually unrestricted access to a wealth of information, and … marketing and branding are becoming increasingly challenging.
Business leaders know this and have felt the rising anxiety in the face of these challenges. John Riccio articulates it best in his article “PwC’s 21st CEO Survey – The need for speed”:
“Technology is changing daily, faster – far faster – than the time traditionally taken to implement and embed it in a business. There is often little time to consider the options, let alone build business cases and multi-month roll out plans.
As customers adapt and adopt, so too must a business. A hard task when one considers the rate of change that an individual is comfortable with versus an industry or company.
Businesses need to be aligned, for obvious reasons, with the speed of the consumer. But this is much easier said than done.”
The speed of information online accelerates decision-making cycles, leading businesses to focus on short-term predictions rather than long-term strategic planning. While rapid decision-making can be advantageous in certain situations, it may also limit businesses’ ability to anticipate and prepare for future trends or disruptions.
Furthermore, the interconnectedness of economies and societies around the world has increased both opportunities and risks. While globalization has led to greater access to markets and resources, it has also heightened vulnerability to global economic shocks, geopolitical tensions, and supply chain disruptions.
The combination of these two points puts companies in an awkward position where they can difficultly sift through and optimize the vast data at their reach.
Plus, the competitive landscape of internet marketing is constantly evolving, with new players entering the market and established brands innovating to stay ahead. This intense competition can create uncertainties about market positioning, as businesses must continually reassess their strategies to maintain relevance and competitiveness.
Remember The Metaverse? A multibillion innovation with multibillion losses. Leading multiple companies like Microsoft, Walmart, and Disney to shut down their metaverse operations amidst the shortfalls, and fire the teams, sometimes consisting of up to a 100 people.
In retrospect, the metaverse failure isn’t all that surprising, but back then companies and CEOs couldn’t foresee it. And it’s only one example amongst many.
"According to a report by Gallup 2024, $322Bn are lost every year in productivity and burn-outs."
We’ve seen throughout the history of human inventions that whenever an issue was encountered, a tool was invented to solve it. The printer was invented to spread information faster and democratize knowledge, the internet too.
But now that the information is too fast to predict, let alone leverage, how do we cope?
In comes Artificial intelligence, one of the most transformative and impactful inventions of the past decade.
According to the 27th annual PwC LLP Global CEO Survey, 61% of CEOs in the U.S. anticipate that AI will enhance the quality of their products and services, while 68% anticipate it will alter their company’s methods of creating, delivering, and capturing value within the next three years.
AI is revolutionizing the role of CEOs by offering invaluable support across various aspects of their leadership responsibilities. Its unprecedented predictive analytics capabilities empower leaders to anticipate market trends, customer preferences, and competitive dynamics, allowing them to proactively respond to emerging challenges and capitalize on opportunities.
Yet, many leaders are still confused about AI, and have yet to hear the notion of “LLM”.
Large Language Model are designed to analyze vast amounts of textual data, often referred to as “signals,” and to extract meaningful insights, patterns, and trends. With their ability to process and understand language at scale, LLMs can handle millions of signals and content sources simultaneously, making them powerful tools for data analysis and natural language processing tasks. They understand, analyze, and generate human-like language.
It’s no surprise that LLMs are capturing attention in the generative AI industry. Enterprises should be actively seeking ways to incorporate this AI model into their workflow. After all, the models have been improving at an incredible speed.
According to The Economist, in their article “Large language models are getting bigger and better” discussing advancements in AI models:
“In March, Anthropic launched Claude 3, which bested the previous top models from OpenAI and Google on various leaderboards. On April 9th, OpenAI reclaimed the crown (on some measures) by tweaking its model.
On April 18th, Meta released Llama 3, which early results suggest is the most capable open model to date. OpenAI is likely to make a splash sometime this year when it releases GPT-5, which may have capabilities beyond any current large language model (LLM).
Speaking of which, on May 13, ChatGPT officially launched GPT-4o which outperforms humans in cognitive reflection tests, and offers features such as real-time voice interaction, vision capabilities, and multilingual support. ChatGPT-4 Omni is set to revolutionize many fields and is only becoming more accurate and performant. Making it a very powerful tool.
with all its models, is revolutionizing how organizations operate, leveraging predictive analytics, natural language processing, and computer vision to drive innovation and deliver personalized experiences.
But CEOS are worried.
Diane Brady writes for Ford:
“Alex Singla, a senior partner and global leader of QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey, said that conversations with CEOs have shifted over the past several weeks. Gone are the requests for explanations of how the technology works — and whether it’s over-hyped. Now, Singla says, five questions dominate:
- What are the specific use cases?
- How do I get started?
- What are the risks I need to manage?
- What are the implications for present and future employees?
- How do I learn fast?”
CEOs remain necessary. Human skills such as critical thinking, creativity, and leadership, (which are fundamental to the CEO role) are indispensable and cannot be supplanted by artificial intelligence. However, while executives won’t be displaced by AI anytime soon, it has been made clear by numerous surveys such as: The survey of CEOs by XometryCEOs, or The Gartner Inc.’s survey of CEOs and executives, that CEOs utilizing AI will eventually surpass those who do not.
Yet, leaders are already aware of this reality: EdX’s study revealed that 79% of executives worry that without AI proficiency, they’ll be ill-equipped for the evolving work landscape. Mastering AI and leveraging its capabilities will be pivotal for future success. It’s not a matter of CEO versus AI, but rather how to integrate these advancements into the workplace to ensure sustained relevance.
Becoming AI-empowered is a journey, not a destination. It starts with fostering a culture of curiosity and continuous learning. CEOs must invest in AI education, cultivate strategic partnerships, and integrate AI seamlessly into their business processes.
