Because of these changes, there has been an explosion of new technologies and ideas, which has forced businesses to change quickly or go out of business.
We asked eight Young Global Leaders how they would use technology trends and new ideas to become better leaders by 2022.
In the past, times of big problems have led to big ideas. During a crisis, we have the chance to change the way we think and make quick changes that can have long-lasting effects. Not even the COVID-19 crisis is different. Research by McKinsey & Company shows that COVID-19 has made it much easier for people to use new technologies, and many of these technologies are here to stay.
Tech post-pandemic world:
Organizations had to adopt new technologies right away in order to stay in business, or they risked becoming irrelevant. Because of this, over the past two years, almost every industry has changed how they talk to and do business with their customers.
During the pandemic, AI, robotics, and automation have made more progress than before. There are now places all over the world that use automatic temperature checks and new biosensors with AI facial mask detection. Robots and AI are replacing jobs lost during the pandemic faster than ever.
The mRNA vaccines were made using technology that was once considered strange. They were made and given to billions of people in a fraction of the time it usually takes to make a vaccine. The use of digital infrastructure in all industries has changed the way we work and opened up new ways for people from different places and industries to work together.
This forced, quick change can have a cost. Digitalization is sometimes out of reach, especially for small and medium-sized businesses. A recent survey by the World Economic Forum found that 40% of SMEs stopped doing business during the pandemic. This led to layoffs and other ways to cut costs.
In today’s uncertain world, leaders have to make tough decisions that can have a big effect on their workforce and employees’ well-being (though it’s not all bad). With the huge amount of data being created on the internet, there are also new risks, like cyberattacks, which are becoming more common and expensive.
Our Young Global Leaders know that it’s easy to lead when things are going well, but when you have to stand up for what you believe in, that’s when real responsibility comes out. When things go wrong, leaders who are responsible really shine. With this in mind, we asked eight Young Global Leaders how they would use technology and new ideas to become better leaders by 2022.
Game theory and AI can help plan strategies better.
Co-founder and CEO of Auctionomics, Silvia Console Battilana Business leaders are already using new computing and AI tools to help them make strategic decisions. This software will get better and be used in new and different ways over the next ten years. AI tools use the same kinds of computer innovations that make chess engines work. These innovations are based on the math of game theory.
But they are no longer limited to simple zero-sum games. AI can now solve much more complicated (and human) problems by finding patterns that haven’t been seen before and finding new ways to reach strategic goals. AI analysis is already being used to help telecommunications companies compete in high-stakes auctions and by CEOs to evaluate the structure of their companies. Tomorrow’s leaders will need AI analysis more than ever.
More information that is better handled
Zachary Bogue is one of the people who started and runs Data Collective. The rate at which a leader can get new information is amazing. Businesses and governments need to take in, analyze, and act on this data in real time if they want to lead well in the 2020s and beyond. But if information flows are not well managed, they can’t be used to help make decisions and can even get in the way of leadership.
New tools make it easier to get to data and give better ways to look at, summarize, and analyze it. Satellite launches not only give better time resolution, but they also change the algorithms used to find important changes over large areas. Machine learning helps make cutting-edge analyses of streaming data possible, and it also provides data catalogs that help make sense of the complicated database architectures that have grown up over time in large companies. Customized internet-of-things networks can sense and report inputs across different networks, but they can also automatically predict problems. Good leadership is built on good information. We need more information and the right technology to use it.
Roadmapping, flexibility, and making decisions based on data first
CEO and Founder of The One Health Company, Christina K. Lopes Here are three things I learned about leadership in Silicon Valley: making a roadmap, being flexible, and making decisions based on data first. Tech is crazy about roadmaps that show what needs to come first. Saying “no” is paramount. Agility means being able to change and move around obstacles. With daily stand-up meetings, problems can be solved instead of being buried. Data-first values versus assumptions or biases, hypotheses that are based on data. When these lessons are put together, they create feedback loops that help an organization move quickly in the right direction and deal with uncertainty along the way. Using tech concepts helped us fight cancer in both people and dogs, on both ends of the leash.
Using technology to make people smarter and more talented
Sarah Chen is the co-founder and managing partner of Beyond the Billion and The Billion Dollar Fund for Women. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that leadership needs to change in order to deal with a situation that has never been seen before. Technology is more important than ever when it comes to how leaders change the way we work, live, and solve some of the world’s biggest problems. Because of progress in robotics, AI, data, and analytics, operations that are both precise and large can now be done automatically.
Digital infrastructure has now replaced the physical workplace in a big way, making it possible for leaders to build a more productive, balanced team that works at different times. In the world of venture capital, technology has leveled the playing field by getting rid of biases that hurt founders and funders who would have been overlooked otherwise. The next challenge is to keep bringing people together around a common goal while using technology to boost human talent and insight.
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