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The Big Idea: Organizations need to ramp up their AI talent strategy if they want to stay ahead.
Despite AI's rapid ascension as a transformative force, there's a startling gap in readiness.
While many executives express confidence in their AI strategies, this sentiment often isn't shared by their C-suite counterparts. This disconnect, revealed in recent IBM research, suggests a widespread underestimation of AI's complexity and the depth of transformation required: 74% of CEOs say their teams are appropriately skilled in generative AI, but only 29% of their C-suite agree — a gap that poses a substantial hurdle for organizations in leveraging AI's full potential.
At the heart of this drama is a pivotal question — one that was posed at A.Team's AI x Future of Work Summit: Are our workforces prepared to embrace the transformative power of AI? A poll during the summit revealed a startling readiness gap: 43% of tech leaders feel 'very prepared' for generative AI, yet a significant portion is less confident.
If you missed A.Team's AI x Future of Work Summit last month, Charter's recap offers some noteworthy insights. A.Team founder and CEO Raphael Ouzan noted how "we’re all startups again," in the rapidly evolving role of GenerativeAI, advising continuous adaptation and innovation—even for established firms.
A theme echoed in Ouzan’s recent interview with Trinity Chavez on TakingStock for the NYSE.
His keynote and interview unveil a compelling narrative: The Builder Economy is emerging, characterized by fluid, cross-disciplinary collaborations breaking down traditional silos. It's a world where the lines between human creativity and machine intelligence blur, birthing unprecedented innovation and efficiency.
By this time next year, Ouzan predicts that the most sought-after professionals worldwide will be deeply embedded in the Builder Economy, thanks to 3 major trends:
1. Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration: The Builder Economy thrives on diverse talents, fostering integrated innovation.
2. AI as a Creative Partner: AI's role is evolving beyond a tool to a co-creator in project ideation and execution.
3. Adaptive Corporate Structures: Dynamic team compositions are essential for businesses to stay agile in a fluctuating market.
Needless to say, there’s a lot for business leaders to think about over the holidays. We’ll be taking a break next week to let you mull all this over; see you in 2024!
— May Goldhacker
Click here to share this issue of Build Mode with your team. Missed last week’s issue? Read it here.
AROUND THE WATERCOOLER
The Spooky Future of an AI-Haunted World
Heading home for the holidays? Liven up your family dinner by casually dropping into the conversation that we’re heading towards a future where your older relatives could soon be taking life advice from a toaster. While they debate whether what you’re saying is reality or a lost J. G. Ballard short story, you can take some time to disassociate at the table and blissfully spiral into the implications of what happens when every gadget in our home eventually becomes a conversational partner.
In his recent Substack on An AI Haunted World, Ethan Mollick presents the inescapable integration of AI into our daily lives—open-source AI models radically democratize AI's capabilities, breaking the stronghold of tech giants.
From smart dishwashers to personalized fitness regimes, AI now runs on personal devices, bringing an unprecedented level of intelligence to our most mundane objects — and bringing us closer to a world where every household item could soon be able to hold an intelligent conversation, all powered by AI. Eventually, AI agents will be able to autonomously interact, delegate, and solve problems, creating a network of intelligence that transcends traditional boundaries.
As AI's omnipresence and evolving capabilities redefine our interaction with technology, it is prompting a reevaluation of how we work, create, and live in an AI-dominated world.
Mollick’s contemplation of this AI-augmented future is both fascinating and unnerving — AKA a great topic to explore with your tech-confused grandma!
CHART OF THE WEEK
The Ongoing Hunt for AI Talent and How to Solve It
A poll from our AI x Future of Work Summit underscores a critical challenge in the industry: the AI talent gap. With 300+ thought leaders in attendance, we took a quick pulse check during the live stream, where virtual attendees were asked about the stark reality of the AI talent scramble in today's market.
Sixty-five percent said that their organizations are struggling to find AI expertise.
During the Summit, we gathered leaders and experts like Athena Karp (CEO & Founder at HiredScore), Obed Louissaint (Chief People Officer & Senior Vice President at Aptiv), Bill Schaninger, Ph.D. (Senior Partner at Modern Executive Solutions), and Lauren Weber (Reporter at The Wall Street Journal), for a panel to offer deeper insights into the evolving role of AI in shaping the global workforce.
During their session, they answered two questions that remain top of mind for industry leaders: What problem is AI actually solving for the global workforce? And are traditional talent acquisition methods keeping pace with today's workforce needs?
The key takeaway was that having a well-defined problem is half the solution. The other half is having the right talent to build it.
CLIENT SPOTLIGHT
How A.Team Helped Discord Reduce Fraud for 130M Users
Discord needed a team of data scientists and risk engineers to help the Safety Data Science team reduce fraud and spam. The vision: use data science to make Discord a safer place by improving the efficacy and usage of their anti-abuse platform by working on a home-grown tool to reduce spam and fraud. So they brought in two top builders from A.Team’s network – one security expert and one risk and compliance specialist to make it happen.
The result? A massive reduction in fraud and spam for their 130M+ users, keeping the platform safe and giving Discord’s customers a better experience – and all done 5x faster than it would take to build with traditional full-time hiring.
EVENTS
Crack the Code on AI Efficiency and Productivity for your Org
Uncover The ROI of generative AI with us on Wednesday, January 24th at 5pm EST and join 100+ top tech leaders in NYC for our invite-only Gen AI Salon.
Efficiency and productivity gains are the "first horizon" of AI ROI, but most companies aren't sure how to proceed.
We're bringing a curated group of tech leaders building the future of AI to help you build better products, faster. Together we'll get a first look at headline-making new AI research, dig into real-life strategies and use cases from AI pioneers and unveil powerful insights into how AI is transforming product development and where it's driving the greatest efficiency gains.
Grab a cocktail and some gourmet bites, and forge key friendships and partnerships. If you're not in New York, you can join virtually via livestream!
DEEP DIVES FROM THE ARCHIVES
- Why the Anti-Open Sourcers Have AI All Wrong
- 3 Things Generative AI Can Never Do Better Than Humans
MEME OF THE WEEK
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