Building an AI Foundation for Growth

“Artificial intelligence and generative AI may be the most important technology of any lifetime.”
– Marc Benioff (Chair, CEO and Co-Founder – Salesforce)

Taking AI to the Next Level: Like many other organizations, Croixstone has launched a journey to harness the full potential of AI and to drive its value creation. Last week, three of our leaders (Ed Ritter, Brandon Morgan, and Mark Weber) participated in the second of a three-part AI educational series hosted by the Charlotte Chapter of the Private Directors Association (Croixstone serves as a sponsor along with Gold Sponsor Charlotte Business Journal and fellow Bronze sponsors GreerWalker and Essex Richards).

AI Speakers: Last week’s AI educational session featured a diverse panel of speakers including Jeremiah Grant (President, Chief Information Security Officer – EverOak Solutions), Lisa Weil (Board Advisor – Quinnipiac University School of Nursing and former Senior Managing Director, Head of Experience Product Management – TIAA), David Phillips (Founder – Faster Glass) and moderator Carolina Ko (Senior Vice President and Senior Relationship Manager – Bank of America).

AI Key Messages: We appreciated and strongly aligned with the following key messages delivered by the panelists regarding the AI journey:

  • There is a call to action for EVERY organization when it comes to AI.
  • Focus first on your employees and their concerns and potential resistance to AI.
  • Allow for experiential learning to drive AI training.
  • Organizations must have solid foundations rooted in clean data strategies, great controls environments, and solid governance to support their AI journeys.
  • Organizations should “right-size” their governance of AI.
    Board members need not be AI techies, but rather they should be asking foundational and strategic questions related to AI.

Wondering about how to best launch your organization’s AI journey? Reach out to Mark Weber, Croixstone’s Managing Partner and Co-Founder here.

Learn more about the Private Directors Association. Founded in 2014, the Private Directors Association is dedicated to improving private companies’ growth and sustainability through governance that adds value. Learn more here.

ChatGPT Fast Facts

It is nearly impossible to scan the business news over the past few months without seeing “ChatGPT” in the headlines.

Here are some fast facts to help you get to know what ChatGPT is all about.

The big picture: Many experts believe that new chatbots like ChatGPT are poised to massively disrupt technology to the same degree like Apple’s iPhone, Google’s search engine, and Netscape’s web browser proved disruptive.

“Anybody who doesn’t use this will shortly be at a severe disadvantage. Like, shortly. Like, very soon.”
– Jeff Maggioncalda – CEO, Coursera

So what is it?: ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence tool that allows a user to generate original text. It can serve up information in clear, simple sentences, rather than just a list of internet links. Furthermore, the AI tool can explain concepts in ways humans can easily understand.

ChatGPT automatically generates text based on written prompts in a manner that is much more advanced and creative than earlier chatbots. The software debuted in late November 2021, and it has generated extreme buzz.

Here’s the backstory: ChatGPT was created by OpenAI, a San Francisco-based company that was founded in December 2015. Open AI’s founders include well known technology gurus including: Sam Altman, Ilya Sutskever, Greg Brockman, Wojciech Zaremba, Elon Musk, and John Schulman.

OpenAI’s mission: The company conducts research in the field of AI with the stated goal of promoting and developing friendly AI in a way that benefits humanity as a whole.

Yes, but: AI chatbots are anything but perfect. They learn their skills by analyzing huge amounts of data posted to the internet, and they therefore can blend fiction with fact. They can deliver information that is biased along with toxic language (including hate speech).

The money train: OpenAI’s founders pledged $1B to launch the company. The company received a $1B investment from Microsoft in 2019, another significant investment in 2021, and a rumored $10B investment in January 2023. Microsoft said the renewed partnership will accelerate breakthroughs in AI, and help both companies commercialize advanced technologies.

Learn more:
OpenAI
ChatGTP

Our Sources: CNN Business, Axios, The New York Times, Microsoft, Gizmodo, Wikipedia

How Data Analytics Are Changing the Consulting Industry

Like other industries, the consulting industry is being disrupted in many ways.  With the rise of artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain and advanced analytics, consultants may find themselves working closely with artificially intelligent systems that can analyze huge volumes of data that are incomprehensible to the human mind.  Learn more about how data analytics are changing the consulting industry – and what is perhaps the most important consulting skill going into the 2020s.

Re-Envisioning the Future with Generative Design

Could the current manufacturing, distribution, assembly and maintenance processes become obsolete in the not too distant future?  Today, we take a look at generative design as an innovative approach to thinking outside the box when it comes to design and its implications to manufacturing.
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At Croixstone we are inspired by mavericks…those unconventional thinkers who can see past conformity and who can accomplish what others say can’t be done.  Generative design has the ability to generate unconventional design options that go beyond our imagination alone and can be used to create everything from running shoes, earbuds and airplane partitions, to a revolutionary approach to designing the office space and buildings of the future.
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So what is generative design? According to Autodesk, a leader in 3D design, engineering and entertainment software, “Generative design is a technology that mimics nature’s evolutionary approach to design. It starts with your design goals and then explores all of the possible permutations of a solution to find the best option. Using cloud computing, generative design software quickly cycles through thousands—or even millions—of design choices, testing configurations and learning from each iteration what works and what doesn’t. The process lets designers generate brand new options, beyond what a human alone could create, to arrive at the most effective design.”  To better understand what generative design is all about, click here for a short video.
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  • Learn how generative design and additive manufacturing (i.e., 3-D printing) is changing the manufacturing world here.
  • Check out how generative design could radically transform the look of our world here.
  • Delve into a new world of highly efficient products made by generative design here.
  • Take a sneak peak into the first large-scale generative designed office here.

Automation, Big Data and the Future for Accountants

So what does the rise of intelligent machines mean for the future of accountants?  

Accounting Today recently endeavored to answer that question with help from two executives from Genpact, a global leader in digitally-powered business process management and services with experience in serving one-fifth of the Fortune Global 500.

Gianni Giacomelli (Chief Innovation Officer) and Prashant Shukla (Vice President, Marketing) of Genpact shared the following insights.

  • A large number of positions now handled by people, including accounting jobs, will be supplemented or replaced in some way by intelligent machines
  • The accounting industry is already seeing a displacement of jobs through outsourcing and robotic process automation
  • By diving into LinkedIn analytics, it is evident that numerous, expanded career paths may exist for accountants in roles traditionally unrelated to finance and accounting
  • One-third of 1,120 randomly selected people with “accountant” roles in their LinkedIn profile have held a role unrelated to finance and accounting
  • Customer service, operations, and sales and marketing were all well-represented in the LinkedIn research
  • Additionally, positions in research, program management, consulting and business analysis stood out

The bottom line?  

The Genpact executives believe that accountants offer skill sets that can help address a wide array of business challenges and the future offers expanded opportunities for these professionals in non-traditional finance and accounting roles.

Read the full article here.

The Gartner Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2017

These are the top 10 strategic trends Gartner sees breaking out of the emerging space to have a potentially substantial impact over consumers and industries during the next five years.

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Advanced Machine Learning
  • Intelligent Apps like VPAs (virtual personal assistants) and VCAs (virtual customer assistants)
  • Intelligent Things like drones, autonomous vehicles, and smart appliances
  • Virtual and Augmented Reality
  • Digital Twins
  • Blockchain and Distributed Ledgers
  • Conversational Systems
  • Mesh App and Service Architecture (MASA)
  • Digital Technology Platforms
  • Adaptive Security Architecture

Learn more about each of these top 10 strategy trends via Forbes here.

5 Ways Work Will Change in the Future

Are you ready to peek into the future?

The Croixstone Consulting team recently reviewed a study published in the UK’s The Guardian newspaper that highlighted five ways that work will change in the future.

1. Workplace Structures
Forget the rigid corporate ladder – now the corporate lattice allows free-flowing ideas and career paths

2. Artificial Intelligence
The robots are coming and if the forecasts are correct, they could impact millions of jobs

3. The Human Cloud
Websites that match employers with freelancers are growing fast

4. Workplace Monitoring
Are you ready to be tracked in a much different way?

5. The End of Retirement
There’s no more automatic “out” at age 65

Read the full article here.

WHO WE ARE

Croixstone is an Inc. 5000 boutique consulting firm known for connecting the brightest minds in business and community. We drive business outcomes by accelerating and sustaining transformations.

Croixstone is nationally-certified by the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) as a Women's Business Enterprise (WBE) and a Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB).

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