We all know about hype around new technology. This is why Gartner keeps publishing their "hype cycle" graphs about many topics. As I have spent a lot of time reading, studying and attending webinars with many AI, ML, RPAs, IoT and block chain start-ups over the past few months, I thought it was about time to share a few thoughts.
1/ Block chain is moving silently, but quickly: private investments and technology development have significantly advanced in 2018. As Gartner points out, it has entered the phase of disillusionment, which I totally agree with. Many fake ICOs are slowly running out of cash and will die (a good thing!), and regulators are starting to get a better understanding about this revolutionary and very disruptive new technology. Even POTUS is now concerned that Asia - especially China - has a significant advance over the USA about block chain... now THAT, is not an understatement...!
Of course, I have been particularly intrigued about block chain implementation in supply chain and procurement. What I am witnessing is nothing short of bluffing!
International Letter of Credits have started to be settled using Ethereum block chains and ERC 20 tokens. Mobile phone companies all over the world are about to start using selective crypto-currencies to... wait for it... allow customers to pay their mobile phone bills using cryptos...! Partnerships are already in place in Europe, Asia and Africa, and KYC are already very advanced. Such instant and highly secure crypto-payments, with FIAT settlements to avoid F/X spreads, has the potential to literally kill major credit card companies... If mass adoption happens for mobile phone bills, ANY other bill can be paid instantly bypassing credit cards and banks.... And banks know it! They are also very seriously looking into using block chains for very large inter-banks financial transactions, even with central banks... And get this: even casinos have started on-line games using crypto currencies. They are live NOW, and their winning rate is high while selective cryptos are cheap. The game is simple: earn these cryptos today, and as mass adoption for these games kicks-in, your winnings get de-multiply and you continue to win by capitalizing on your crypto holdings... It's like winning $1,000 today, holding on the crypto, and if it appreciates to $100 per coin or token, your $1,000 becomes $100,000... Do you think gamers around the world will like that...!? LOL! And think about supply chain crypto designed on block chain to facilitate supply chain monitoring and transactions. Companies and their suppliers who will get into that shift first will likely enjoy free logistic AND improved margins for years, as they hold on they supply chain crypto portfolio appreciating over time, and manage their FIAT F/X, which is really easy with block chain secure, ultra-cheap and instantaneous cross ledgers transactions... I could go on and on.
So if you still do not believe that block chain and crypto currencies won't change your supply chain, I invite you to think again...
2/ IoT is about to enter disillusionment: let's face it, the Oil & Gas and Chemical industry have been using IoT for decades in directional drilling and L/MWD applications, or to measure pressure and temperature all over refineries, petrochemical plants or pipelines. So nothing revolutionary there... well... not quite! Chances are, terabytes of directional drilling or plant data are sitting somewhere, maybe used by 10% of optimal user base. This new IoT wave with data lakes and latest visualization technologies should bring all this data to a much broader audience, hence exponentially increasing its value and facilitating accurate and faster management and executive decision making. Let alone that new computing power, AI and ML will also help digest and analyze all this data for faster consumption and decision making too. The journey will be hard and slow though, as all the smoke and mirror around IoT is vanishing. It is there to stay and to grow though, and your supply chain will be affected too. Gee... international freight-forwarders are already using ML on end-to-end supply chain processes to give real-time position of your shipment, and warns you in advance of potential delay due to bad weather in Singapore or strikes in Europe, texted to your mobile phone as it happens, and tracks your shipment has it moves... And that technology exists TODAY... I have seen it work for a multi-billion $ company a few weeks ago... A great start-up loaded with PE funding...
So get in the game before you are left in the dust...
3/ AI and robots will not replace humans: there seems to be this hysterical fear about robots taking over the world... People watched Terminator too many times I guess! The fact is: robots and AI will continue their development, and automation will continue its journey. Both started in the 60s...! And we are just waking-up...!? What changed is solid state memory and computing powers. MIT even created robots that a human can control with its brain! Try that for mind-blowing development! All that being said, robots will always stay robots until we can make them using atoms and molecules. So you can sleep tight and get in this game happily too. There will be hundreds of mind-numbing jobs taken over by robots though, so continuous learning and higher education is becoming even more critical for labor force. And if you don't like progress or do not want to learn continuously, move to a less developed country, and grow veggies!
Darwin is cruel and definitely not vegan...