The A.I. Project Guy: ✪ The A.I. Transformation is rolling! – Here is why YOU should DEAL with it and PREPARE for it! ✪

Great to talk to you. I am pretty sure you have heard already about the term "Artificial Intelligence" or short A.I., right? Especially if you do work in the field of Information Technology (IT).

Well, throughout this conversation we will have in the next few minutes, I will show you why you should REALLY take care of A.I.!

Even if you are a non-techie and have nothing to do with I.T., you should read further now. I am convinced that for most of you, this can be life-changing, at least career-wise. 
In a not too far future, ANY Business (not only I.T.) will need to handle and adopt A.I. in some way ... ANY!

The portion of projects and initiatives that deal with A.I. in some way will only rise in the next few years, and that alone shows that you should know about it a little bit at least, right? 

I bet you use A.I. - almost every day

Do you use one of these services down below once in a while or maybe even regularly?

Services like ...

• Amazon
• Linkedin
• Netflix 
• Google Maps
• The voice input of your car navigation system 
• The voice control of your smart home system
• Amazon's Alexa
• Apples Siri

You probably use several of these options on a daily basis .... am I right?!

And that makes you a natural user of artificial intelligence ... probably without you really being aware of it.

Artificial Intelligence - or A.I.  - is already ubiquitous and the development in this direction is unstoppable.

A.L. is already widely used in industry and the development of A.I. based solutions is progressing unstoppable and with big steps.

A.I. is NOT new ... 

A.I. is not a new topic. It is already ubiquitous, and each of us is already deriving some benefit from A.I. technologies and applications today. Whether consciously or unconsciously ...

That means the wave of A.I. transformation is already rolling, inexorably increasing in scope and speed!

Nobody - whether private or professional - will be able to escape the topic of A.I..

The German federal government  - like many other nations also - is keeping a close eye on this unstoppable technological achievement, which is often viewed and discussed with skepticism.

Is this development so different from the innovations of the last 50 years that have become integral to our current lives and society?

We live in the information revolution, just 50 years old, based on innovations like PCs, databases, the Internet, and smartphones.
The pace of development is getting faster and faster as each innovation builds on the previous one. The coming decade marks

the beginning of the intelligence revolution, the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

A.I. and machine learning are creating new ways to use data and software. This time, the potential is much greater than ever before!

A.I. brings us not only more efficiency - but additional intelligence. A.I. is not new; the first approaches existed in the middle of the last century. The Dartmouth Conference ( source: Wikipedia ) of 1956 is considered the birth of artificial intelligence. But machine learning has only made its breakthrough in the past decade. In particular, Deep Learning - a sub-from of Machine Learning (ML) using neural networks ( source: Wikipedia ) - which enables the recognition of images and speech (Alexa, Siri), and in 2016 a computer program named "AlphaGo" beat the human world champion in Go - 10 years earlier than all experts expected.

A.I. now has the potential to change everything and optimize other technologies.

The potential of A.I. is enormous ... 

With A.I., new materials will be developed.It will change the way we learn.A.I. will change our interaction with the environment and the way we work.Likewise, it will affect how we make decisions and govern society(s).In healthcare and the fight against disease, A.I. will enable us to find new ways.

 In short, A.I. will affect every aspect of human existence and society.

Another existential area for the use of AI is in industry.

We are in the first years of this new era that will redefine many industries and product categories. The foundations for the new market leaders will be laid in these years.
For example, Bosch in Germany plans to develop its products with A.I., or they will incorporate A.I. by 2025. ( source: FAZ )
P&G is another great example: Procter & Gamble Co. (P&G) has grown to become one of the world’s largest consumer goods manufacturers, with worldwide revenue of more than $76 billion in 2021 and more than 100,000 employees. Its brands are household names, including Charmin, Crest, Dawn, Febreze, Gillette, Olay, Pampers, and Tide.

In the summer of 2022, P&G sealed a multiyear partnership with Microsoft to transform P&G’s digital manufacturing platform. They will create the future of digital manufacturing by leveraging the industrial internet of things (IIoT), digital twin, data, and A.I. to bring products to consumers faster and increase customer satisfaction, all while improving productivity and reducing costs. ( source: CIO )

A.I. - the $15.7 TRILLION Game Changer 

Analysis and numbers also show the economic potential of A.I..
PwC revealed in a study ( source: PwC ) that A.I. can add US$15.7 trillion to global economic growth in 2030. By comparison, China had a GDP of US$14.3 trillion in 2019.

Many countries have created an A.I. strategy and planned investments to ensure their competitiveness and promote the development of A.I.! 

Germany has increased its A.I. investment in 2020 from €3 billion to €5 billion by 2025 ( source: German Government ) and is launching a Future Fund, providing another €10 billion over the next ten years, focusing on high-growth startups and new technologies such as A.I..  

The EU plans to invest €2.5 billion in A.I. by 2027. China aims to become the world's leading A.I. nation by 2030 - in research, innovation, and applications. Billions of $ are being invested nationally and regionally to achieve this. The national figures are not published, but two regions alone (Shanghai and Tianjin) have planned US$15 billion each in A.I. investments ( source ).
Saudi Arabia plans to invest US$30 billion in A.I. by 2030 ( source ).

Even the U.S., which has so far relied on the strength of its universities in A.I. research and private investment by Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, and co.), is strengthening public A.I. investment. In January 2021, the U.S. Congress approved about US$6.5 billion for A.I. demand in the non-military sector as part of the National Defense Authorization Act ( source ).

A lot is happening, but often these developments are hard to see in our daily lives.

A.I. adoption is still slow and most often without a strategic approach

We use A.I. daily with our smartphones (facial recognition, Siri, and Alexa), Google search, or online shopping (recommendations). That is already so normal for us that we overlook A.I..

On the other hand, A.I. hasn't even arrived in many companies yet. And the companies that have started to deal with A.I. usually begin with a test, a so-called proof of concept.

In principle, this is a good approach, but a fundamental strategy for implementing and using A.I. is usually missing here.

It often becomes dramatic when the A.I. pilot project is not selected carefully enough or is started under the wrong aspects and is practically doomed to fail from the beginning. Especially for rather critical CIOs and CEOs, the topic of A.I. is quickly "dead" again.

The topic of A.I. is often regarded - especially in management - as hype, which - according to the assumption - will soon fall off again significantly.
 
Another severe misconception from my point of view.

 But yes, A.I. is one of the most hyped tech trend topics. Gartner shows in the A.I. Hype Cycle ( source: Gartner ) that many A.I. technologies are currently at the peak of hype or are on their way into the valley of disillusionment.

However, it is also becoming apparent that in the next 2-5 years, many of these A.I. technologies, such as machine learning, deep neural networks, chatbots, and computer vision, will reach the plateau of productivity.

If you want to learn more about the Hype Cycle and its phases, then please go here: "Understanding Gartners Hype Cycle"

We are still in the begining of the A.I. era

The next few years will see the emergence of more and more AI-based solutions and companies that are superior to current approaches. The development is making great strides. There are breakthroughs to report almost daily. And progress in the field of A.I. is additionally fueled and accelerated by other technologies.

One example is "quantum computing", which according to many experts, is on the verge of a commercial breakthrough. It has just been published that IBM, for example, will put the first quantum-based supercomputer into operation in 2023 ( Source: Forbes ).

 The impact quantum computing will have on the development of the field of A.I. cannot yet be estimated. But we can assume that the dramatically higher computing power will dramatically accelerate the progress of the topics mentioned in the A.I. hype cycle. In addition, quantum computers will open up new possibilities and, thus, new and improved A.I. applications and technologies.

We can already see this happening in the area of end-user solutions. Companies like Google, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, or in China, Tencent, and Alibaba, are leading the way in the use (and advancement) of A.I. Their market success is primarily based on their strategic use of A.I. across the board. As a result, they have become the most valuable companies (by stock market value) in the world and the best examples of the winners of the so-called "Internet A.I. wave. 

The four waves of A.I. adoption 

Kai-Fu Lee, a well-known A.I. researcher, and current investor outlined four waves of A.I. adoption in his book "A.I. Superpowers," published in 2018:

1. First Wave: Internet A.I.
2. Second wave: Business A.I.
3. Third wave: Perception A.I.
4. Fourth wave: Autonomous AI
   
   

To learn about those Waves please refer to our "A.I. Introductory Roadmap".... or buy the book of Kaifu Lee here >>>

All of this will develop over the next ten years. For the reasons mentioned above, the waves will come faster than many believe. We are looking at exponential growth due to the cross-fertilizing technologies and trends. 

The good news is that it's not too late. 

Now is the time to address the issue of realigning your priorities - whether business-wise or personal. 

Waiting - as many companies and professionals do - is undoubtedly the wrong strategy here, as history has taught us many times. 

There are many companies, managers, and also professionals who thought at the time ... 

- if only we had taken up the topic of steam (in industrial use) sooner

- if only we had taken more care of the topic of electricity 

- we would have been more interested in the topic of databases

- if only we had taken care of the Internet sooner

-If only we had taken up the topic of the cloud sooner...

- if only we had taken on the digital transformation sooner 

- ... 

And so, in a few years, there will be many who will look back and say

"Oh, if only we had taken on the topic of artificial intelligence sooner!"

Data is the foundation for the productive use of A.I.

Over the next few years, the available data will grow exponentially.

IDC ( source ) predicts that by 2025, 175 zettabytes of data will be produced (2018 comparison: 33 zettabytes). Of this, 90 zettabytes will come from intelligent sensors (keyword IoT - Internet of Things). 

The increasingly prolific A.I. technologies (see Gartner Hype Cycle) that will be available in the next few years will lead to an exponential increase in AI-based applications.

We have not yet considered that A.I. research is also evolving rapidly, driven by significant investments in developed countries. Many A.I. technologies that will be used in 10 years have not yet been "invented." 

That creates a fantastic potential for companies (of all types and sizes), employers, employees, and investors. 

But it also shows the necessity for companies of all industries and sizes to deal with the topic and potential of A.I. and actively use it better today than tomorrow. 

New business models will emerge. New jobs will appear, and collaboration between humans and A.I. will become the norm. 

What is the dark side of A.I.? 

Well, part of the truth is that A.I. also brings new risks; for companies, users, and societies. 

As a society, we need to understand better what opportunities and changes A.I. bring and how we deal with them. Regulations will be required - both at the national and international level - but they should not limit the innovative potential of A.I.

Most of the time, we overestimate the short-term possibilities of new technologies like A.I. Inevitably, we are often disappointed by overly high expectations and quickly dismiss the technology as useless hype.

But in doing so, we underestimate the long-term possibilities (think of the Internet hype of the 2000s). With technology like A.I. developing exponentially, this is a critical mistake to avoid.

In less than ten years, A.I. will become an indispensable part of our professional and personal lives, becoming virtually "invisible." Just as electricity or the Internet is today.

Only the A.I. transformation will happen faster than it ever has before. Be prepared!

"This is all great, but I am neither a programmer nor an engineer. Why do I need to be interested in this tech topic as a business or project professional? Isn't it just another one of those new technologies?"

Most Experts agree that A.I. is the next big wave.

From digital transformation to A.I. transformation!

The impact that A.I. will have not only on the industry but on society as a whole - one could also say on mankind - is compared, for example, to steam power at the beginning of the 20th century.
The industrial use of steam power dramatically changed the working reality of people, but also dramatically promoted the prosperity of society.

"A.I. is the new electricity!"

 Andrew Ng goes even further. From him comes the statement

You should let that sink in for a moment and realize what it means.

...

But why now?  

Developments such as the Internet, the massive increase of available data, the exponential growth of computer processing power, etc. have given a massive boost to the further development of A.I..

However, the adaptation of A. I. still leave a lot to be desired, similar to what happened with electricity in the beginning.

Organizations often find it very difficult and encounter multiple hurdles that are often underestimated. As an organization, you can't just decide, ok, we're going to introduce A.I. or we're going to implement an A.I. project.

Many preconditions have to be created and if you don't want to run the risk of wasting a lot of money, you need a structured and forward-looking approach.

Organizations need an A.I. strategy, they need to develop different organizational and also personnel capabilities ... And this is where you come in!

The three action fields I see for non-techies in A.I.

Whether it is to

• ... develop an A.I. implementation strategy 
• ... provide a fit-for-purpose PM framework, or
• ... ensure the effective use of A.I. solutions in PM

A.I. will massively influence and change the execution and management of projects.

In addition, the A.I. field offers a wide range of career and development opportunities also for non-techies.

Have I piqued your curiosity about A.I.?

Great! So I guess you want to learn more, right? 

Well, we have created a bunch of courses - or like we call it: "roadmaps" - which you can choose of. You may jump right to the one you are most interested in or you work your way through them in the suggested order. It is your choice!

The best starting point - espacially for newbies to the field of A.I. -  would be our "brief introductionary roadmap" where we dive even deeper in some topics we mentioned already throughput this article. But providing additional information and many resources helping you get a grisp of the topic. 

>>>> hier die Grafik einfügen

If you are more interested in learning about the steps to follow on how to create a A.I. implementation