AI for Orchestrators Newsletter #2

The latest AI insights for Business Leaders and Organisational Orchestrators

Hello Orchestrators!

Anyone remember what business was like before ‘23? ChatGPT and other LLMs splashed over organisational processes, disolving old management assumptions about how long things took, who could do them…and should they even be done at all! We’re still midway through the first half on that, of course. Different types of organisations, both commercial and public, are dancing with disruption, often being led by their employees rather than some top down strategic initiative.

And it’s set to roll into ‘24 with Google Gemini soon to be unleashed on the world (ignore the noise about a sped up video - it’ll blow over). With continuous improvements in multi-modality, the creatives lurking below the surfaces of all of us are going to get a turbocharge…think ‘anything-to-anything’! Science and research, and time to commercial product is about to take a giant leap.

And how this next set of assumption-busters plays out on the business world, which is still trying to keep pace with what happened in ‘23, is anyone’s guess.

Or anyone’s opportunity. This newsletter is all about focusing on the rolling initiatives playing out across organisations, be they commercial or public, and highlighting some of the unfolding opportunities and risks to consider. So let’s dive in…

In todays email:

• GenAI image generation unleashed at scale is driving up emissions.

• Want to launch a new business internally? Could be GenAI is the only solution if you want to do it fast.

• CFO’s and AI. The two are mixing it up to interesting effect. Will business performance follow?

• Google announces the twins. Gemini is coming soon, and the scientific and research community are humming.

• Overheard recently…its too complicated…

Staccato Provocation….

Leaders who have acquired expertise over the years in yielding resources distributed across complex organisation and political structures…how vulnerable are they to what is really going on? Do they have the right skillsets to serve the business going forward?

This weeks news:

• GenAI and it’s carbon footprint is becoming more apparent, according to researchers at Carnegie Mellon. A key insight is the higher energy use of multipurpose AI models for specific tasks, compared to specialized models. The study underscores the substantial cumulative impact of these AI tasks, given the millions of daily users. It concludes with an emphasis on mindful AI usage, balancing its environmental costs against its benefits. So it’s on all of us.

• Spinning-up a new business from the inside can be tough, and run into stakeholder hell according to this study in Leap by McKInsey. Think of all those internal meets and PPTs bounching back and forth with the wrong fonts. Over half of the leaders surveyed (56%) believe that generative AI is crucial for launching new ventures in the next five years. Five years! That’s some telescope. This figure is notably higher than for any other specific technology mentioned in the survey. It highlights the diverse and practical applications of generative AI in strategising, blueprinting, and building businesses. Lots of buzzwords to absorb there!

  The article notes that while generative AI isn't a substitute for the insights and critical thinking of experienced executives, it does streamline the process, leading to faster outcomes. Traditionally, executive teams might spend weeks in workshops to devise what to build and identify key value opportunities. Now, with generative AI, this process can be condensed into a few days of idea generation using AI tools, followed by a couple of days of focused workshops. No more yellow stickies?

• CFOs and AI. In larger organisations every department needs an AI strategy…because top leadership can’t know of all the possible use case benefits of applying generative AI…but somehow it has to tie together. And it has to morph and adapt as new tools emerge and functions adapt. This latest paper from McKinsey comes at us from the perspective of the vaunted office of the CFO. Worth a dive…

• Google dropped the big one this week with the announcement of the different versions of it’s Gemini AI, straight out of the labs of Google DeepMind. And the Scientific and Research communities are pumped-up about some exciting discussion threads with details that could potential unlock a lot of progress. On the business front, this will certainly accelerate a lot of R&D into commercial and public use. But how fast, and when can we get our hands on the Ultra version? Soon…apparently.

• Noodling on a new strategy? Some leaders think that it will take too many workshops/brainpower. But is it really that complicated with all of the collective AI power at our finger tips (rhetorical)? If our teams are utilising AI for solving really complex challenges with clients and partners, often under the fire-hose of pressure from the same Management, then it’s reasonable to expect Leaders to pick up the GenAI axe and begin to sharpen their strategies on the stone!

5 (rolling) questions for Orchestrators:

1. How is GenAI altering customer expectations and behaviours?

2. What new risks and challenges does GenAI introduce in data privacy and security?

3. How can GenAI optimise operational efficiency without sacrificing quality?

4. In what ways can GenAI enhance employee productivity and decision-making?

5. How can businesses leverage GenAI to create more personalized and engaging customer experiences?

Staccato Plug…

Looking for a thrilling read over the Christmas break? You could checkout one of my Nordic thrillers, available on Amazon - both hand-crafted!

• North Karelian Boomerang - a horror/thriller set in the snowy forests of Eastern Finland: Maija is an ex-cop, and ex-assassin. She’s also a functioning alcoholic, with a hunting business that’s almost breaking even. But when a horror from her past reaches out and threatens to drag her down into the maelstrom, she must summon up all of her lethal skills to save her family, as they are hunted through the snowy forests of eastern Finland.

  For a force of pure evil has awakened on the other side of the world, and it has travelled to this great northern land in search of vengeance. The question for Maija is, what does it have to do with her ex-husband?

  From the jungles of Queensland and Indonesia, to the vast lakes and forests of eastern Finland, a wolf pack is forming, and the hunt is on.

• Tilda & Lærke - A chase thriller set across the Danish islands: Twenty-seven years ago they left her for dead on a Minorcan beach. Now she's back in Denmark, hunting them down one by one. But she got more than she bargained for, and opened up a vipers nest of assassins from a global organisation that will stop at nothing to neutralise her. Her one chance at salvation is her former lover, whom she hasn't seen in a quarter of century, and he is caught up in a complex web with one of her targets.
  From Jylland, across Fyn, and onto Sjælland, the chase is on as the most ruthless assassin races against time to get to her quarry before they kill her.

• That’s all for this week. If you’re curious you can also check out more insights from The Nordic Woodshed on YouTube…