How can Corporates stay competitive in the Digital Transformation Era (VivaTech Part 1)
Last week, VivaTech, one of the biggest tech events in Europe took place in Paris. As the Anova team, we analyzed one of the main themes of the year “Tech for Good” as well as the implications of digital transformation to corporates. Here are the main takeaways for corporates from VivaTech Conferences;
Next step in digital transformation is about scaling Artificial Intelligence and ensuring participation
Ginni Rometty, CEO of IBM, pointed out that digital transformation is already at the heart of the corporate strategy. Corporates are competing to employ the latest technologies, such as Hybrid Multi-Cloud solutions, to stay competitive and relevant.
As new technologies create unfair advantages to early adopters, corporates have a responsibility to ensure that no one is left behind. The importance of scaling AI and ensuring greater participation is important for the fair usage of the technology. Ms. Rometty emphasized that companies should see corporate responsibility, not as an add-on but one of their core responsibilities. She has mentioned that at IBM, they take participation to technology as their core responsibility and she called other corporates to join the movement to scale AI and increase participation.
Check out the new initiative of IBM, P-tech, a public-private collaboration for inclusive education and workplace learning model.
Trust will be the new differentiator due to increasing privacy concerns
Technology itself will not be the differentiator for companies anymore when AI is scaled and democratized. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada said that it is not companies role to protect the public interest, and regulations are necessary for certain technologies. For instance, privacy concerns are increasing due to recent scandals and luckily the circumstances push corporates to differentiate themselves on the basis of trust.
Kai-Fu Lee, Chairman & Ceo of Sinovation Ventures, provided an alternative approach on privacy issues. Every customer has a different level of sensitivity and “one size fits all” is not a convenient way to create a better future. Given the difficulty to address the concerns of each customer, personalized privacy settings can be a solution for different needs. If the model is adopted, customers will be able to choose the right compromise between privacy and convenience for themselves.
Corporates should invest in the soft skills of their employees
One of the main concerns about AI is job displacement. However, this year conference attendees of VivaTech provided a better outlook for the future; it is unlikely for AI to completely replace the workforce. However, AI and humans will be collaborating (Hybrid AI). While most of the analytical and repetitive tasks are being replaced, the future will rely on soft skills. Corporates should focus on training their workforce for more human-to-human jobs to prepare for the digital future.
Smart regulations will shape the industries, and corporates (as well as startups) should be agile to adapt
President Emmanuel Macron emphasized the importance of forming Smart Regulations. To regulate tech solutions, there should be a permanent dialog with public and private actors, specifically, the government should focus on working with tech players. Adaptation of regulations to different sectors (ex: medical and retail sectors can not have the same regulations) and data privacy are included in Smart Regulations. Companies that are agile to adapt to these new regulations will be the winners of tomorrow.
Collaborative innovation will help to build the future
Ken HU, Deputy Chairman & Rotating CEO at Huawei emphasized the importance of collaboration and one of his advices for companies was “Do what you do best and collaborate on the rest”. Corporate-Startup collaboration can be challenging due to different operational speeds and mindset.
In the panel “Acceleration: Big Companies and Startups”, attendees discussed different ways to work together. Consensus was that there is no one special formula to collaborate and corporates should always keep their eye on competitor startups to not to miss the newest innovations in their sector (while being aware of innovators dilemma: “Often new technologies are too new and weak for the more advanced and mature value networks that incumbents operate”).
In Corporate-Startup collaboration, it is important to have a precise roadmap and analyze whether the strategies and timing of each party match. This unique collaboration gives corporates an access to technology and agility that they do not have within their company.
Reach out to us, if you would like to learn more about Corporate-Startup collaboration for corporate innovation.
