Ben Hickman

Great article on how San Francisco is leaning in and leveraging its vast wealth of innovative thinkers, tech intensity, and vast learning and funding resources. San Francisco Chamber of Commerce is doing an amazing job embracing the next wave! Rodney Fong Anita LW Huang Katy Brown #Microsoft #AzureAI #Startups #AI

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"One of the hardest things for growth-minded leaders is to acknowledge and accept that they cannot be everything to everyone," says our CEO David Keil in his latest Fast Company article. What does this mean in today's AI world? See for yourself in this compelling article.

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The future comes in steps not in ramps 🪜 Interesting interview in TechCrunch with Rodney Brooks, Professor of Robotics Emeritus at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, my alma mater. Link in comments. He says of LLMs that when people see an AI do something, they often project that it will perform other similar tasks just as well - which is often wrong - because they judge it like they would a human, and that comparison doesn't hold up. This is a real problem in AI strategy because it can easily lead to unrealistic expectations and misguided decisions about the deployment and capabilities of AI systems. And it’s not just in parallel domains that this problem exists. It’s also future generations. Moore’s Law does not always apply. Just because your system is at a certain level now does not mean it will definitely get better next year. So, either spread your bets over a range of outcomes, or be prepared to pivot quickly and adapt your strategy as new developments occur.

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On CNBC's Mad Money, Jim Cramer digs deep with Anirudh Devgan on the importance of Cadence in the development of the #AI era. Hear Anirudh explain how Cadence’s vision and leadership in computational software are transforming multiple industries and powering the AI era. Is this the first time that you heard Anirudh's "three-layer cake" theory? Interesting, isn't it? His 'cake' provides a total solution for you: from accelerated computing to physical intelligence to, finally, AI. Here at Multi-Physics System Analysis (MSA) BU, we are fully aligned with our CEO's vision and strategy: * Bottom Layer: GPU-based accelerated computing in, for example, Millennium * Middle Layer: Principled simulation in, for example, Clarity, Celsius, Fidelity, Reality Digital Twin, Voltus ... * Top Layer: Optimality and Voltus-InsightAI for optimization, prediction, generative .... If you had a bite of our "three-layer cake" from top to bottom, I am sure you would love its taste. Just try it! https://ow.ly/blS450S4Zps

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On #CNBC's #MadMoney, Jim Cramer digs deep with Anirudh Devgan on the importance of Cadence in the development of the #AI era. Hear Anirudh explain how #Cadence’s vision and leadership in computational software are transforming multiple industries and powering the AI era. https://ow.ly/Ow9L50S3PGw

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I had the pleasure of joining the Aspen Ideas Festival last week to share views on the impact of AI on the workforce and the benefits that we’re beginning to see. In a discussion with President and CEO of the San Francisco Federal Reserve Mary C. Daly and moderated by @CNBC’s Julia Boorstin we explored this transformational technology and its potential to change the way we learn and work.   As I told the crowd in Aspen, AI will redefine how we work. The revolution will be across the board, leading the path to autonomy – from airlines using AI as a co-pilot to maintenance workers using AI as a partner to operators in in the energy sector managing safe operations with AI assistance.    There is no question that AI will be a disruptive force, and I believe most of the disruption will be positive. Since it enables both upskilling and reskilling of workers, it will be key to the future of shaping the industrial workforce and our economy.    Today we must begin reimagining the world with AI, so as the technology progresses, we can progress along with it. I’m optimistic.   If you’d like to watch, you can see the entire discussion here: https://lnkd.in/eDwcgaTW. Our dialogue starts at 33:17 and follows an interesting conversation on AI and Navigating Tomorrow’s Economy, which features CEOs from Blackrock and GE Vernova.  

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Had a great conversation with Matt Blumberg, CEO of Bolster on The Daily Bolster podcast! Matt is one of the most inspiring leaders I know, he's a serial entrepreneur and author of several books for the CXOs. We discussed how CEOs can navigate periods of uncertainty, view them as opportunities, and make the most of them! Link to the conversation: https://lnkd.in/gVK4Qqfs

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Steve Jobs✨ One of the things that hurt apple was thinking thinking that a really great idea is 90% of the work. Great Ideas vs. Great Products - Steve Jobs emphasizes that many people have great ideas, but it's the meticulous execution that transforms those ideas into groundbreaking products. #SteveJobs #Innovation #ProductDevelopment #TechInspiration #GreatIdeas #ExecutionMatters

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This week, Jeff Skelly, Melissa Miller and I sat down with Julie L. Mohr, John Feldmeier, Jackie Rocca, Ema Patki, Craig Vaughan and Sean Crabtree, who represent various industries and roles, to discuss their perspectives and challenges in adopting AI. We all share a common desire to separate AI hype from reality, so we focused the discussion on creating tangible outcomes for our teams: 1. Quality data is crucial: AI is only as good as your data. Ensuring data integrity and completeness is a prerequisite for meaningful AI-powered experiences. Data quality initiatives and governance will become more critical across our organizations. 2. Experiment to identify use cases with the most productivity gains: For example, when we rolled out Virtual Agents internally, they assisted with 50% of requests in the first month of service. Six months later, we reduced the time it takes to resolve requests by 96%. Start with pilot projects, measure outcomes, and refine your approach based on feedback. 3. Joy, not just productivity: Today, Atlassian AI powers quick summaries, smarter search, custom virtual agents and more to free up time so teams can focus on the strategic and creative aspects of their jobs. While this can help productivity, it increases joyfulness for teams by letting them focus on the more enjoyable parts of their jobs. While this is not linearly measurable, this matters even more over the long run than productivity gains.

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At Davos 2024, industry leaders sent a clear message: embrace AI or risk falling behind in today's rapidly evolving world. 🚀 AI is not just a trend; it's a transformative force that will shape nearly every aspect of our society. 🤖💼 As IBM CEO Arvind Krishna pointed out, AI will be a significant driver of economic competitiveness, with an estimated $4 trillion in productivity gains by the end of the decade. 📈💰 This is a wake-up call for businesses and professionals alike. We must be proactive in understanding and adopting AI to stay ahead of the curve and reap the benefits of this powerful technology. 💪📚 If you're wondering how AI can benefit your business, our latest blog post, "7 Ways Predictive And Generative AI Can Benefit Your Business," is a must-read! 📑 Click the link below to discover how you can harness the power of AI to drive growth, increase efficiency, and stay competitive in your industry. 🔗7 Ways Predictive And Generative AI Can Benefit Your Business https://lnkd.in/gPH-ywpf #DataScience #InnovationTechnology #FutureOfWork

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Roger Federer at Dartmouth or Apple Intelligence? It's great what we all thought would happen will go live: a more conversational Siri, custom, AI-generated “Genmoji,” and GPT-4o access that lets Siri turn to OpenAI’s chatbot when it can’t handle what you ask it for. Whether it runs on device or private cloud, good to make some things quick and easy with our devices. Or in other words, it will be able to manage your notifications, automatically write things for you, or summarize text in mail and other apps. Not sure that's going to get people to buy more products but those features are great. I love it but for today, I enjoyed Roger's commencement speech. One of my favorite parts was talking about his "effortless swing....how he didn't sweat...movement." When in reality it took his whole life to become "effortless" and to train his mind and body for all situations. https://lnkd.in/gzkc6NJr #ai #mobile #data #privacy #tennis #sports

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In an era where AI is birthing thousands of startups, staying ahead of the curve is not just advantageous—it's essential. The pace of Moore's Law is way behind us. How is your organization adapting to this rapid evolution? Tom Siebel’s assertion that AI is advancing at the "speed of science" resonates deeply. We're living in a time where the principles of Moore's Law are not just being met but surpassed. This necessitates a faster cadence of experimentation and iteration. To thrive, enterprises must embrace a culture of rapid innovation: establishing clear success metrics, implementing robust feedback loops, and iterating relentlessly. It's through this agile approach that we can harness the full potential of AI, driving meaningful progress across industries. How are you ensuring your organization stays ahead in this fast-paced AI-driven world? To learn more about how C3 AI is bringing significant economic value to the largest and most complex organizations, at a fraction of the cost and speed of doing it yourself, book an appointment or visit our website at: https://c3.ai #AI #Innovation #Technology #Startups #BusinessTransformation #DigitalTransformation #MooresLaw #Agile #EnterpriseSolutions #FutureOfWork #generativeai #LLM #SpeedVsSpec #Manufacturing #SupplyChain #OperationalExcellence #OperationalDiscipline

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Today marks 10 years since coming back to TechTarget -- one of the best decisions I've ever made! Most people in my circle are aware that I spent the first 5 years of my career at early-days TechTarget living in San Francisco and MapQuesting up and down the 101 freeway trying to sell white paper promotions. Best way to spend my mid-20s! I left to explore career growth options and gained invaluable skills from HubSpot (MAPs, inbound marketing, transactional selling) and Burst Media (B2C, the onset of Influencer marketing, so many media agencies), before coming back to an ever-evolving TechTarget. These last 10 years have flown by in the best ways possible. I honed my selling skills, taken risks, learned new methodologies, became a leader, developed a team, and the list goes on. My advice: find an organization that supports you as an individual, hires thoughtfully smart people, and isn't afraid to change. I'm constantly in awe of our new solutions, the smart acquisitions, and most of all - some of the smartest people I know. Major thanks to my mentors and leaders (namely Annie Matthews and Steve Niemiec for bringing me back), to my team, and all of our customers!!! Cheers to the next 10.

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Chewing glass while staring into the abyss - a few thoughts on Elon Musk's perspective of building a startup "The Importance of Resilience in Leadership" Resilience is not just bouncing back from challenges; it's growing through them. The ability to consistently deal with the onslaught of the biggest problems in a business is as refined skill. One that must be nurtured supported and understood deeply. Why? Because as leaders, our resilience inspires our teams and guides our organizations through uncertainty. #ResilientLeadership #GrowThroughChallenges"

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Microsoft's Phi-3 greatly increases the near-term viability of AI edge inference. As usual in our world, the mainstream use cases drive innovation and those of us in the dedicated space then take advantage. The key point made here is it works because of high quality training data. Which our customers typically have whether end customer or employee facing deployments. We are already prototyping with it. Living on the edge. https://lnkd.in/eDArbTuR

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While there were some exciting announcements and updates at Google I/O (Project Astra, Gemini at the core (on Android), NotebookLM, ProjectIDX, and Gemini 1.5 Pro) I found the potential for a Team Assistant in Gemini for Workspace really interesting. 📢 From Google I/O 2024 keynote... "As we look to 2025 and beyond, we’re exploring entirely new ways of working with AI. With Gemini you have an AI-powered assistant always at your side, but what if you could expand how you interact with AI?" "It’s not just how we collaborate with each other, but we each have a specific role to play in the team and as the team works together, we build a set of collective experiences and context to learn from each other." (Aparna Pappu, Google I/O) This is very exciting news! I know that this concept (an AI virtual assistant) might immediately bring concerns about reductions in force, but I see it more as an enabler. ⭐ What if I had such an assistant ingest all of my project data and give me insights into potential risks and let me build what-if scenarios? ⭐ What if I layered in my project team's calendar information, including mine, (sans private details), velocity, and client (or PO) feedback, to enrich forecasts and predictions? ⭐ What if I asked it to monitor or watch out for key technology news or market competitor alerts? ⭐ What if it could monitor inventory (supplies both local and remote) and part consumption coupled with real-time service calls and supplier news? These are things that I am sure many of us could use right now and none of those advancements would reduce the need for people. As a "cautious enthusiast" (of AI), I am not saying that there is no possibility for AI to reduce the footprint of some human resources somewhere, but over the entire course of history, while technology has displaced one form of work, it has always been a force multiplier. In the use cases I provided, I see AI as an enabler of people, one that could actually increase the demand for human resources. I could see even executive and team assistants highly benefitting from a virtual assistant. https://lnkd.in/e3PCV8-v #ai #virtualassistant #googleio #googleworkspace

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A good article by my colleague Lucas Schellenberg. One highlight: "Operational excellence in the age of AI is not just about automation but optimizing the entire production lifecycle to enhance quality, increase speed, and reduce waste." I would suggest, more broadly, that the introduction of AI into the production process will continue the contribution of technology as a factor in the production function -- and will extend and deepen technology's presence in growth theory (growth reality) to a degree that even Nobel Laureate Robert Solow could not have envisioned. This will, of course, likely entail 'factor substitution' to a degree not seen since the Industrial Revolution. That will be a difficult journey for many firms in many industries. But firms that do not embrace factor substitution (or cannot do so due to contractual arrangements governing existing factors of production) will likely fall further and further behind firms that do embrace it. That is not only unpleasant for particular firms, but it will change the competitive capability of entire nations. -rd

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Great advice. As both an Operating Advisor and a portfolio company executive, i commonly help both PE firms and operating executives understand each other and translate real risk. Execution is everything!

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Great take from my good friend Shelly Palmer on why and how more and more companies benefit from implementing a Chief AI Officer role. Executives that can connect the dots between cutting-edge AI and business and product needs are critical to move beyond "GenAI hype" and demos to large scale, value-creating productization of this disruptive technology. #artificialIntelligence #largelanguagemodels #AIrevolution

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