AI to influence workplace in next few years - read all about it.

Jim Carrey as Lloyd Christmas in Dumb & Dumber the 1994 Peter Farrelly movie.

The 2024 Work Trend Index by Microsoft and LinkedIn delves into the increasing importance of AI skills in the workplace, how AI impacts businesses and employees, and the role organizations play in encouraging AI adoption. It also offers a glimpse into the future of work in the AI era, where success will hinge on the ability to collaborate with and utilize AI.

Spoiler alert - the report concludes pretty much that if you don't get your arms around AI, you'll be yesterdays news, consigned to the scrap heap of utility faster than a baby-boomer. Maybe you'll be as surprised as Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carrey) was the first time he realized that we'd been to the moon.

The 2024 Work Trend Index insists that AI skills are the new workplace gold. No surprise, what do you expect? But as skeptical as I can sometimes be, it's hard to argue with this conclusion. Anyhow - read on as we have reproduced a copy of the report summary:

The desire for AI skills is not just a passing fad; it's a reflection of the transformative impact AI is having on businesses across industries. From automating routine tasks to analyzing vast amounts of data, AI is enabling organizations to operate more efficiently, make better decisions, and innovate faster. As a result, the ability to understand, implement, and optimize AI solutions is becoming a critical competitive advantage.

However, the advantage with AI skills is not just about proficiency with tools; it's also about mindset. More than half (52%) of AI users at work are reluctant to admit they are using it for their most important tasks, and a similar proportion (53%) worry that using AI for important work makes them look replaceable. These fears are understandable when employees are not receiving AI guidance from their leaders; in fact, only 39% of people globally who use AI at work have gotten AI training from their company. If leaders want AI-skilled talent, they need to create a working environment that encourages experimentation and learning with enterprise safe AI tools. Managers and employees alike need to embrace a mindset where AI is seen as a collaborator, not a competitor.

For example, as a manager, I encourage my teams to incorporate AI into their work. I systematically ask them, "Did you use an AI tool to check your writing or help brainstorm new ideas?" If they haven't, I request they do so before we debrief. To facilitate this, I even cover their subscriptions to AI tools like ChatGPT or Copilot. I tell them that using AI is a sign of smartness, not of weakness.

I believe that managers should advocate for this approach. Employees should think of utilizing AI like any other everyday work technology such as Excel for calculations. You never hear someone say that Excel performed the calculations; they will always say that they have done it. In the same way, when we use AI to improve a report, it is not AI that did the report, it is us, with the support of AI. AI usage should become a standard practice, as natural as using other technical tools that have become common in the workplace.

AI is a tool that augments and enhances their capabilities, not one that replaces them. This means recognizing that the value of human skills - creativity, critical thinking, emotional intelligence - is not diminished, but elevated in an AI-driven workplace. Those who are embracing AI first are seeing that edge. AI power users are familiar to extremely familiar with AI, using it at work at least several times a week and saving more than 30 minutes a day. Power users say AI makes their overwhelming workload more manageable (92%), boosts their creativity (92%), and helps them focus on the most important work (93%)—and it helps them feel more motivated (91%) and enjoy work more (91%).

Organizations have a critical role to play in fostering this mindset shift. By providing training and support for AI adoption, creating a culture of experimentation and learning, and recognizing and rewarding the unique contributions of human skills, they can help employees navigate this transition with confidence. At the same time, individuals have a responsibility to proactively develop their AI skills and to approach AI as an opportunity for growth and development.

The message is clear: in the AI era, your success will be determined not just by your traditional skills and experience, but by your ability to work with and leverage AI. In the near future, you will not be replaced by AI, but by a person using AI better than you. The rise of AI in the workplace represents a paradigm shift that requires a collective readjustment - in our skills, our mindsets, and our understanding of what it means to succeed and find fulfillment at work. By approaching this shift with openness, adaptability, and a commitment to lifelong learning, we can harness the power of AI to create a workplace that is not just more productive, but more human. The future of work is here, and it's an exciting one for those ready to embrace it.

Shadow's GenAI Event Debrief

We held a tremendous British American Business Council event in Atlanta a couple of weeks ago, with a room packed with business leaders and practitioners. There was plenty of interest in the presentation topic and the panel discussion, and it is worth summarizing what was presented, the takeaways and a new service that has been created to manage several real-world GenAI concerns that arose.

Thanks to BABC President Ed Haines for the welcome. A few photos are added to the end of this post. 

Demystifying Generative AI

Simon Boardman and I attempted to present the history of AI, generative AI theory, use cases and benefits plus a couple of demos in 45 minutes. It was fast and furious! Some of the topics included:

• AI Evolution: We traced AI development from foundational theories by Turing and McCarthy to contemporary applications like Siri and ChatGPT.

• Key Milestones: Highlighted significant achievements such as IBM's Deep Blue and Google DeepMind's AlphaGo, showcasing AI's milestones.

• AI Layers: Explained distinctions between AI, Machine Learning, and Deep Learning, discussing their applications across various industries.

• AI Use Cases: We presented the broad applicability of Generative AI across industries, emphasizing its role in content creation, customer interaction, and data analysis.

• Risk and Future Considerations: Addressed several risks and envisioned future advancements in AI for transforming business operations and decision-making.

• Demonstration: Showcased ChatGPT, Meta AI and a custom GPT called Shadow from ShadowSeller AI.

• Presentation here

Panel Discussion 

[Panel: Laurie Hood, Carson Topping, Jason Stone, Andy McCartney]

Our panel was asked a series of questions about pros, cons and experiences to date with GenAI use at their companies. We can all read about the many use cases across business departments, but we talked about more general usage, such as:

• Document analysis: Summarizing, categorizing, and extracting key information from documents.

• Prospect and competitive research: Gathering and analyzing data on market trends, competitors, and customer insights.

• Decision recommendations: Providing data-driven suggestions to enhance decision-making.

• Content creation: Generating written, visual, or multimedia content for marketing and communications.

• We touched on more advanced usage, integrating and automating GenAI content into business workflows using tools such as Zapier and Make. 

We also discussed several real-world concerns about GenAI use, including bias, errors/hallucinations, job displacement, privacy/confidentiality breaches, skill requirements, and energy needs. Some are show stoppers preventing GenAI adoption in certain business functions, some require preparation, some need to wait for LLM enhancements. 

All in all it was an enlightening event with fellow professionals, based around a technology that is rapidly changing, requiring ongoing diligence. 

Creation of a New Kick-Start GenAI Service

Simon and I held our own debrief and both formed the conclusion that businesses would be well served with a GenAI kick-start type service, that holistically addresses both opportunity and risk. Smaller businesses without significant IT departments are more likely to need external assistance with new technologies and practices. 

We will be launching this service within the next week, here is a one page overview of the kick-start program: (and a screenshot)

Feel free to reach out with any questions, ideas or other ways to collaborate with this fascinating new technology and business enabler.

Event photos:

Ed Haines, president of BABC Georgia introduces the session

Andy McCartney walks through the history of AI, and business use cases

Simon Boardman introduces GenAI and the custom GPT known as Shadow

Lively discussion with the panel

Thanks for your time today!

Andy McCartney

Get ready, get prepped, get serious.

In professional sports, the pre-game warm-up is an essential ritual that athletes undertake without question. This not only limbers up their muscles but also tunes their minds for the challenges ahead. While we use sports metaphors and analogies constantly in business, this crucial preparation step is usually overlooked in professional sales, where the stakes are actually higher (you don’t get anything for coming second in business.) Let’s explore why it’s time for sales professionals to start taking a page from the athlete’s playbook, embrace both immediate preparation and just-in-time learning. We can now replace the old ways with he advent of A.I.

The brain's tendency to forget information is well-documented in psychology. It’s generally accepted that within one hour, people will have forgotten an average of 50% of the information presented. After 24 hours, this increases to 70%, and after a week, we retain only about 10% of the original information. For sales professionals, this means that without regular review and rehearsal, the crucial details about products, clients, and market dynamics can easily fade away. This cognitive phenomenon underscores the importance of a 'warm-up' phase right before engaging in sales activities. Just like athletes, salespeople need to get their game face on—mentally rehearse, review key details, and aligning strategy with current market conditions. Why don’t they? It’s a combination of things:

• Time - sellers are expected to know all about their target prospect's company, industry, function, technology landscape, likely challenges & opportunities, agendas and ambitions. The more people in the "buying group" means you can multiply at least some of this. It's too much.

• Complacency – veteran sellers and “clever” sellers, basically think they "got it."

• Cognitive overload – even if you do “know it all,” we all suffer from cognitive overload in the modern world. Too much stuff coming at us, all the time. We struggle to make sense of it and organize our thoughts.

• Concern – sellers are worried they’ll be exposed. It’s nothing more than good, old-fashioned insecurity. Sellers don’t want to consume their bosses’ or their peers’ time with preparation, not necessarily because they’re sensitive to other people’s time constraints. It’s because they don’t want to run the risk of being critiqued by their bosses or peers. You can deny it all you want – but it’s true.

Just-in-time (JIT) learning, which delivers information precisely when it's needed, proves incredibly effective in dynamic fields like sales. This “readiness” strategy ensures that learning is not only timely but also directly applicable, maximizing retention, relevance, and effectiveness. Research by Gartner indicates that JIT learning and preparation can boost knowledge retention rates significantly, with learners showing up to 60% better application of knowledge when it is taught in context of their actual tasks. This suggests that sales professionals can remember and apply sales strategies more effectively when learned just before they are needed.

Here are some ways to implement effective sales warm-ups and JIT learning:

1. Review Key Information: Just as an athlete reviews game films to prepare for an opponent, a salesperson should spend time before each call reviewing critical information about the client’s recent activities, industry news, and previous communications. This ensures that the information is fresh and top-of-mind, enhancing the relevance and impact of the sales dialogue, and ensuring you don't get blindsided.

2. Practice Your Pitch: Research indicates that spaced repetition is one of the most effective learning techniques, helping to cement information in long-term memory. Similarly, sales professionals should regularly practice their pitches and responses to potential objections. This could be a quick role-play session with yourself, a colleague or a rehearsal in front of a mirror.

3. Set Specific Goals: Athletes don’t just practice; they practice with purpose. Sales professionals should set specific, measurable goals for each call or meeting. Not every meeting results in a "close" the way we think of it, but you can "close out" stages as you progress. Keep qualifying, and creating preference in the prospect’s mind. This focused approach ensures that every interaction moves a deal up or out!

4. Supportive Coaching: Leverage real-time coaching and insights. Not surprisingly there is at least one great GenAI sales readiness solution that works here! And this also means you don’t have to rely on anyone else to help you get prepared (just Shadow!)

5. Pre-Call Planning Sessions: Conduct short, focused planning sessions (with your a.i. sales mentor for example!). This allows sellers to align their strategies with the prospect’s landscape. Planning here is vital. We need to connect our strategies to our solutions enabling the prospect to see how we help them succeed, clearly articulating how our solutions’ features solve their problems. The ability to connect our solutions’ features to the prospects’ business inspires them to share our vision and is the single biggest difference between the sellers who are the best…and those who are the rest!

6. Expect the unexpected - what did Mike Tyson say? "Everybody's got a plan until you get punched in the face!" This is not an excuse to not have a plan, it's a warning to be prepared to change and improvise when you encounter an unexpected event.

Incorporating warm-ups and timely learning and preparation dramatically improves seller effectiveness. Like athletes who perform at their peak when they are well-prepared, sales professionals who prepare rigorously, using the best and most time efficient tools, can expect to see higher engagement levels, better customer relationships, and increased sales success. It's time for sellers and sales leaders to condemn the complacency and provide some technologies that really help seller’s combat the effects of cognitive overload.  After all, when the preparation is thorough, success is not a surprise—it’s a result.