It is said that the age of AI and automation is driven by relentless, systemic digital change. But unlike the many separate waves of innovation that helped spread the Industrial Revolution — gradually — across different industries and geographies, today’s technological change seemingly touches on all areas, globally, at precisely the same moment.
It could also be said, then, that the world’s economy is now subject to ‘Moore’s Law.’ In 1975, American engineer and businessperson Gordon Moore theorized that the density of transistors in integrated circuits would, in fact, double each year, along with the increase in computing power. Granted, trends around transistor density have slowed down, but general computing performance has most certainly risen.
“Indeed, the most powerful insight from ‘Moore’s Law’ may be the simple idea that digital machines continue to improve and increase in capability over time,” Marco Iansiti writes in his 2020 book, Competing in the Age of AI. “Gradually, relentlessly, digital technology keeps getting better, more powerful, and more broadly applicable — with no slowdown in sight. Accelerated by advances in software technology, AI and ML algorithms, and computing architecture, successive generations of digital technology will continue to enable improvements in performance across a broad range of application areas.”
In that way, digital technology could be viewed as an “inexorable engine of systemwide transformation,” according to Iansiti.
The ‘Whole Truth’ About AI and Automation
Interestingly and somewhat surprisingly, investment in AI “paused during the pandemic,” as Fortune’s Jonathan Vanian reported in April 2021. IBM CEO Arvind Krishna told Fortune that “restrictive factors … reared their head in a significant way.” Some of those factors were limited AI expertise and knowledge, and a shortage of AI talent, as well as data complexity and data silos.
All the same, many companies have indicated that digital transformation projects have accelerated dramatically in recent years. And legal technology, in particular, has been especially advantageous during global lockdowns. In its own 2021 Global AI Adoption Index, which surveyed several thousand IT decision-makers in seven countries, IBM revealed that 31 percent said their company “has actively deployed A.I. as part of its business operations.” In a similar survey in October 2019, 34 percent said more or less the same. And slightly more leaders (41 percent) said they are “exploring, but have not deployed, AI in business operations” — up slightly from 39 percent in 2019.
Whatever level of AI investment is made, today’s artificial Intelligence is changing the way businesses operate in fundamental ways, according to IBM’s Global AI Adoption Index 2021. Just think about how they help companies automate key workflows, communicate with customers through virtual assistants, and manage network security. The report goes on to highlight the top three factors a company considers when evaluating AI providers:
*Automates processes to empower higher value work (47%)
*Provides trust in business outcomes (40%)
*Can be deployed anywhere, anytime — on any public cloud, private cloud, or on-premises (40%)
So perhaps the relative slowdown in AI investment is the “pause before the storm,” Vanian explains. Given that significant investments are reportedly planned by companies — especially around enterprise automation, customer experience, and natural language processing — AI now looks to be entering its ‘second wave.’
Hallmarks of AI and Automation Projects
In 2017, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella wrote about his company’s own digital transformation — within the context of AI — in his book, Hit Refresh. It is a narrative captured in his statement that “AI is the runtime that is going to shape all of what we do going forward.” A year later, Nadella elaborated on this very point, explaining that “every organization will need to have what I describe as tech intensity … to be a fast adopter of digital technology … to build their own proprietary digital capability.” He, very clearly, has embraced a mindset that is centered around leveraging data, to make better business decisions.
Indeed, AI is quickly becoming the universal engine of execution and the foundation of organizations’ operating models. Simply stated, it is redefining how companies execute tasks. It dictates how they operate, deliver value, and compete. This is the very “runtime” to which Nadella refers.
In recent years, Microsoft has supported large-scale transformations across many industries, according to News.Microsoft.Com. And to date, the company has “delivered real, measurable results.” There is a number of outcomes that can be realized when data is fully leveraged with AI. But digital transformation is not about individual and separate achievements. Basically, it is about “recalibrating the entire organization around collecting, analyzing, and using data — it is about becoming an organization with the ability to learn and evolve.”
More specifically, companies — like IBM and Microsoft — that have their eyes on digital transformation projects should:
*Possess a growth mindset — and identify employee attributes that allow this mindset to flourish
*Become intelligence-driven — by guiding digital transformation and applying enterprise technology to everyday business problems
*Redesign business around data (and have digital feedback loops) — so data is collected and used by AI-enabled applications to optimize processes (No more data silos!)
Conclusion
Moving forward, then, organizations will require a deeper, philosophical shift when it comes to AI and automation. They will need to move beyond traditional concepts of competition to a more progressive idea of intercompany dynamics. That is to reach their full organizational potential, digitally speaking.
“As digital networks and AI increasingly capture our world, we are seeing a fundamental transformation in the nature of [companies],” Marco Iansiti writes in Competing in the Age of AI. “This removes historical constraints on scale, scope, and learning, and creates both enormous opportunity and extraordinary turbulence.”
He continues: “… Leading through these changing times will require a new kind of managerial wisdom, to steer organizations from full-scale firms to new ventures, and from regulatory institutions to communities.”
To be sure, this intelligence will generate new ways of thinking and inform debates on intercompany dynamics. And the implications are important in a variety of areas, including reshaping the mindset of today’s legal and corporate leaders.
Anurag Malik is the Chief Technology Officer at ContractPodAi. Anurag’s focus is building the next generation of an AI-driven dominant technology platform in the contract management space. Read his executive bio here.
