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Meeting

How GenAI is Transforming Companies

12 June 2024 / 6:00 PM / ATLAS Building, CU Boulder

At this meeting, we explored the impact of generative AI on businesses, including strategic integration to enhance efficiency and innovation. Attendees learned AI-first leadership principles, prepare for Generation AI, and identify key roles for AI transformations. We highlighted practical AI applications, demonstrating task automation, time-saving, and fostering relationships. Additionally, we examined real-world examples and future potential, showcasing how generative AI drives creativity and productivity across sectors.

Our first speaker, Brett Schklar, presented a talk on, “What Your CEO is Being Told About AI.” In speaking with CEOs across the country, Brett helps Owners, Presidents and CEOs as well as their organization get their arms around AI, its potential and how to align the organization for success. During the talk, he’ll cover: The 9 AI-First Leadership Thinking Principles, Preparing for Generation AI, and Who should be leading AI Transformation.

Brett Schklar helps and teaches CEOs to harness generative AI to grow, streamline, and expand their businesses to outflank competitors and gain market share. With over 20 years as a go-to-market driver, agency owner, CMO and now Fractional CMO, Brett captures the attention of CEOs seeking an AI-first transformation of their business, operations, and market penetration.

The second speaker, Matt Fornito covered “Automate the Boring to Spend Time on the Meaningful.” Matt Fornito empowers business professionals to harness AI, helping them reclaim their most precious resource – time – and allowing them to prioritize what truly matters – fostering meaningful relationships. AI has the potential to revolutionize how we work, but if implemented poorly, it becomes just another tool that debilitates instead of enables. Learn how to navigate the complex landscape of AI, turning it from a time-consuming hindrance into a powerful ally. Matt will guide you through identifying tasks that can be automated, implementing AI effectively, and most importantly, using the time saved to build meaningful relationships. It’s time to take back control and let technology serve us, not the other way around.

Matt Fornito, founder and CAIO at the AI Advisory Group, has over two decades of experience in AI and data science. Previously a CDO, Head of AI, and Data Scientist, Matt built AI practices for two firms, earning accolades such as NVIDIA’s Partner of the Year Award. He has worked with Fortune 500 companies, developing strategic AI roadmaps that drive significant business outcomes. With billions in managed spend and generating hundreds of millions in revenue, Matt is a seasoned consultant and keynote speaker, known for his ability to blend theory, practicality, and storytelling to inspire audiences about AI’s future potential. His thought leadership has been featured in CIO/CDO Roundtables, Evanta events, podcasts, and various news outlets.

Our final speaker, Travis Frisinger spoke on “Myth and Reality of Generative AI in the Wild.” He will share insights from the frontlines of those building generative AI solutions. This overview will illustrate how generative AI is enhancing creativity and productivity through both large-scale innovations and small, impactful enhancements to existing systems. We will explore the current state of generative AI, highlighting practical applications. The discussion will also touch on the future potential of this transformative technology, showcasing its ability to drive innovation and change across multiple sectors.

Travis Frisinger is a seasoned software engineer with over 20 years of global experience, from mainframe operator to CTO. As Technical Director and AI Adventurer at 8th Light, he leverages AI to drive innovation in product and software development. Travis is a thought leader in AI, dedicated to solving complex problems and promoting technological advancements. Connect with him on LinkedIn for AI insights and visit his blog at aibuddy.software for more on software engineering and AI.

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Notes

This meeting covered various topics related to AI adoption in business. Brett spoke to CEOs’ differing reactions to AI, from resistance to excitement about opportunities. Matt discussed using AI to automate mundane tasks so employees can focus on meaningful work. Travis outlined current uses of generative AI like conversational interfaces, augmented productivity tools, and enhanced user experiences. Speakers emphasized the importance of change management in AI adoption and focusing on incremental improvements. They also debated issues like job disruption and the need for continuous education. Overall the discussion provided insights into how companies are leveraging AI today and perspectives on challenges and benefits in this evolving field

Key Takeaways

Some of the key takeaways from the meeting:

Brett Schklar

  • Brett speaks to CEOs across the country about AI and helps them harness generative AI to grow their businesses
  • There are different types of CEO reactions to AI: those who see it as cheating, those resistant but want to use it in their organizations, those who see it as an IT issue not a change management one, and those excited to leverage AI initiatives
  • CEOs’ biggest competitors (e.g. McKinsey) are making AI their top initiative, forcing others to pay attention
  • AI is already replacing about half of marketing functions through increased efficiency, scalability and faster/stronger results than human-led efforts
  • Brett shares an example of a faucet company CEO who started leveraging generative AI to explore new product design concepts
  • CEOs want to know how AI can provide competitive advantages through better communication, data analysis and helping their organizations evolve

Matt Fornito

  • Matt’s company takes a people-centric approach to AI adoption focused on innovation, culture change and cohesive strategic planning
  • He shared experiencing a concussion that made him reevaluate constantly working 80+ hour weeks and prioritizing meaningful vs mundane work
  • Automating routine tasks through AI can provide 10-20 hours of weekly time savings for employees to focus on more impactful work
  • Matt outlined building an internal prospecting workflow using tools like LinkedIn, Hubspot, Apollo, Zapier and an LLM to streamline connections, CRM integration, scoring and personalized outreach
  • The goal is to have more impact working less by being smart about workload allocation rather than just increasing work hours
  • Case studies like Kalana show AI reducing costs and jobs in some customer support and marketing roles while increasing productivity

Travis Frisinger

  • Travis discussed generative AI from an engineering perspective, focusing on how it is currently being applied in products rather than hype/potential
  • He identified 3 main “lenses” – conversational interfaces like ChatGPT, augmented productivity tools integrated into workflows, and enhanced user experiences
  • Examples of conversational interfaces included ChatGPT, Claude and Perplex while augmented productivity included GitHub Copilot, Excel, Google Sheets and Oakowl
  • Enhanced experiences included digital twins of retired scientists at NASA and Walmart’s targeted advertising campaigns created with generative AI
  • He sees the future trending towards “sentient design” with interfaces that intuitively adapt to user needs through contextual awareness
  • Travis emphasized starting with incremental improvements rather than replacement, ensuring seamless integration and trust, and not assuming generative AI can solve all problems

Q&A

During the Q&A portion:

  • Matt discussed their tech stack including LinkedIn, Hubspot, Apollo, Zapier and nas.ai for their internal workflow automation. He said they may offer this as a product.
  • Speakers debated the impact of AI on jobs, with Matt noting predictions of no displacement by 2029 but concerns about retraining displaced workers.
  • Travis recommended resources like OpenAI docs and asking ChatGPT for AI overviews rather than a single source.
  • Brett shared that few CEOs are evangelists but they want competitive advantages, and generative AI is helping with communication styles.
  • Matt emphasized the importance of change management and addressing fears in adoption through frameworks and incremental improvements.
  • Questions also covered CEO reactions, the percentage who are evangelists, quantum computing opportunities in CS, and managing failure/uncertainty in new technologies.

Click here to see a full transcript/recording.