Latest / The DEX Show: A Show for IT Change Makers / AI, Risk & Reward at Aon w/ Simon Sankey & Laura Reeves

Transcript

AI, Risk & Reward at Aon w/ Simon Sankey & Laura Reeves · The DEX Show: A Show for IT Change Makers

0:02
Speaker 1: Hey it change makers and welcome to the Deck Show
0:05
Speaker 1: with Tom McGrath.
0:07
Speaker 2: Let's get into it. Hello, change Makers, Welcome back to
0:11
Speaker 2: the deck Show and Tom McGrath. It's lovely to have
0:13
Speaker 2: you all with us today. Hopefully some of you were
0:17
Speaker 2: able to join us last month back in June in
0:21
Speaker 2: London for the Masters of Experienced road show. I was
0:26
Speaker 2: actually able to present a whole sort of section of
0:29
Speaker 2: the day and the theme was a I thought a
0:31
Speaker 2: really really interesting one, and it was about a relationship
0:34
Speaker 2: between risk and reward in EUC today and I think
0:39
Speaker 2: in like in anyone's career more generally, my personal rule
0:44
Speaker 2: with regards to these two forces of risk and reward
0:47
Speaker 2: is that if there's no risk, there there's little reward.
0:51
Speaker 2: You know, whenever you're doing something in your work professionally
0:55
Speaker 2: that makes you a little bit nervous, that gives you
0:57
Speaker 2: a little bit of tention. It's quite possible you're doing
1:00
Speaker 2: something very wrong, but it's maybe more possible, hopefully more possible,
1:04
Speaker 2: but you're doing something meaningful and you're doing something new.
1:07
Speaker 2: And I think that whole nexus is so relevant when
1:12
Speaker 2: we think about AI transformation and we think about how
1:14
Speaker 2: many incredible opportunities there are for us, for our teams,
1:18
Speaker 2: for us as individual professionals, for our organizations, and with
1:23
Speaker 2: that the leaders of the people who step forward and
1:25
Speaker 2: are willing to take that kind of a risk. And
1:28
Speaker 2: I got to speak to an amazing leader on this stage.
1:31
Speaker 2: I got to speak to a couple of amazing leaders
1:34
Speaker 2: on the stage that day in London. One of them
1:36
Speaker 2: is with us today for the first time. He's Simon Sank,
1:39
Speaker 2: Senior director of User Experience at AON Delighted you could
1:43
Speaker 2: come on the show as well as well as do
1:45
Speaker 2: the road show last month. Simon, Welcome to the deck show.
1:49
Speaker 3: That thanks a lot, Tom, Yeah, Greg, Great, great to
1:51
Speaker 3: be here, Great to have the opportunity to speak to
1:53
Speaker 3: you guys. And I think you're absolutely right that there
1:56
Speaker 3: is so much opportunity but so much risk that go
2:00
Speaker 3: who's along with AI and I think it is a
2:03
Speaker 3: fascinating combination and a real type road to walk.
2:07
Speaker 2: One hundred percent. And you couldn't come from a more
2:09
Speaker 2: ideal organization to talk about risk and reward. And we
2:12
Speaker 2: will get to that momentarily. Before we do, let's welcome
2:16
Speaker 2: our other guest returning guests. We waited a long time
2:20
Speaker 2: to have her on, and now we have her on
2:22
Speaker 2: twice in the same in the space of a few months.
2:25
Speaker 2: She's my friend, Laura Reeves, Senior Client director here and
2:28
Speaker 2: Next Think, Hi, Laura, welcome back to the Deck show.
2:30
Speaker 2: Lovely to welcome you back, as it was to welcome
2:32
Speaker 2: you on for the first time.
2:33
Speaker 1: Hi Song, great to see you, and yes, thank you
2:36
Speaker 1: for having me back. It's great to return. So and
2:39
Speaker 1: I'm sorted to have Simon join us this time too.
2:42
Speaker 1: And yeah, I mean I think, gosh, a lot's happened
2:45
Speaker 1: since you know we last spoke, and things are busy
2:48
Speaker 1: and exciting at Next Think with our launch of Spark
2:51
Speaker 1: and the release of the Gardner Magic Quadrant for Decks,
2:54
Speaker 1: and of course you know we're leading up to the
2:56
Speaker 1: Experience Conference in Orlando in October, which no doubt will
3:00
Speaker 1: mentioned later. And on a personal funt, just a few
3:03
Speaker 1: days ago, my Films and I set a date for
3:04
Speaker 1: our wedding. So an exciting time on North fronts.
3:07
Speaker 2: Wow, I can't turn you back on this company or
3:10
Speaker 2: this colleague for five minutes. Everyone, you know, time time
3:14
Speaker 2: plass is pretty quickly around me. But congratulations, right, and
3:20
Speaker 2: so Simon, So as the first time. Guess maybe introduce
3:24
Speaker 2: yourself a little more fully to the listeners and with
3:26
Speaker 2: it tell us something about a ON I mean is
3:30
Speaker 2: when we as we discuss risk and reward, it is
3:34
Speaker 2: a uniquely appropriate business.
3:36
Speaker 3: Right, yeah, a hunder percent to So yeah, I've been
3:40
Speaker 3: at a ON twenty six years now, so I've seen
3:43
Speaker 3: a ON go through various changes over that period of time,
3:48
Speaker 3: and my role in particular has always been related to
3:52
Speaker 3: end users in some way. When I first started, I
3:56
Speaker 3: was running around trying to fix people's issues on their
3:59
Speaker 3: desk side, and then have gone through, you know, various
4:02
Speaker 3: iterations of taking on more seniority and responsibility, which which
4:07
Speaker 3: I think has been great to you know, affect sort
4:09
Speaker 3: of more influence over over the shape of our organization
4:13
Speaker 3: and the way it's headed. And I think, yeah, that's
4:17
Speaker 3: that's come really to to to where we sit today,
4:19
Speaker 3: where you know, I've got really a dual role, which
4:23
Speaker 3: which is somewhat unique, I think, you know, between influencing
4:28
Speaker 3: where we're going from an AI standpoint, but also influencing
4:32
Speaker 3: our deck strategy at the same time, and I think
4:35
Speaker 3: the linkage between those two again is quite interesting. As
4:39
Speaker 3: as as we evolve those and I think you know,
4:43
Speaker 3: Aon is in the risk business, and we help our
4:48
Speaker 3: clients really to better understand risk. You know, what we're
4:52
Speaker 3: looking to do is to help them identify areas that
4:56
Speaker 3: they might not have even thought about before so that
4:59
Speaker 3: they can properly assess them. A risk assessment isn't always
5:03
Speaker 3: about going out and buying a big insurance policy. It
5:07
Speaker 3: might be just about having knowledge of it, having awareness
5:09
Speaker 3: of it, and putting mitigating steps in place. And I
5:12
Speaker 3: think that's really what we're here to try and help
5:16
Speaker 3: shape our clients and really and really give those those
5:19
Speaker 3: levels of insight.
5:22
Speaker 2: We're going to get into this in a more specific
5:24
Speaker 2: way later, Simon, But how do you see the dynamic
5:27
Speaker 2: at large between what it is that AON does and
5:31
Speaker 2: its strategy in general around experience and UC.
5:36
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think you know, we we've we've been, like
5:40
Speaker 3: most companies on on a journey with experience. But but
5:44
Speaker 3: I think you know, this year has been a real
5:46
Speaker 3: turning point for us in terms of really really taking
5:51
Speaker 3: it on and putting it front and center. So I
5:54
Speaker 3: think before it's always been a bit of a sideline.
5:56
Speaker 3: It's been something that's been bolted on around our service
6:00
Speaker 3: wrappers and our service designs.
6:02
Speaker 2: But I think.
6:02
Speaker 3: We've started to do something a lot more fundamental now,
6:05
Speaker 3: which is really have it as a strategic pillar within
6:10
Speaker 3: our end user space. And so I think that's meant
6:14
Speaker 3: in reality, we've really changed the way that we think
6:17
Speaker 3: about experience and really trying to embed it within the
6:20
Speaker 3: culture of our team, you know, Like I say, I
6:25
Speaker 3: think traditionally much more of a bolt on, much more
6:28
Speaker 3: of an afterthought, now really moving into the realms of
6:32
Speaker 3: being involved in the very first design conversations, you know,
6:37
Speaker 3: really sitting down and thinking about customer journeys and mapping
6:41
Speaker 3: them out before we just start going off and selecting technology.
6:45
Speaker 3: Those things are all starting to change. Moving an organization
6:51
Speaker 3: like aon isn't quick and it's not easy, and particularly
6:55
Speaker 3: when it comes to culture, we know that's always the
6:57
Speaker 3: thing that is lagging behind often. But I think, you know,
7:00
Speaker 3: we've made those sort of important first strides to really
7:03
Speaker 3: start taking it in and thinking about it really at
7:07
Speaker 3: the center of things that we do.
7:10
Speaker 2: Laura, to bring you into this, maybe explain the context
7:13
Speaker 2: in which you and Simon are collaborating together.
7:17
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, so, I mean I really see this as
7:19
Speaker 1: a genuine partnership and I'm excited about what we're building together.
7:24
Speaker 1: So you know, next think are honored that AON selected
7:27
Speaker 1: them last year as part of their ever developing dex journey,
7:31
Speaker 1: as Simon kind of just attested to, and in my
7:33
Speaker 1: capacity as senior client director, I was appointed as a
7:37
Speaker 1: sponsor for our mutual deck strategy, so we collaborate on
7:41
Speaker 1: vision and objectives around Aon's goals around the space that,
7:46
Speaker 1: as Simon said, is evolving fast around experience, especially given
7:50
Speaker 1: the advances around AI. But I guess I've actually known
7:53
Speaker 1: Simon for a few years now, gosh, I want to
7:55
Speaker 1: say about three and a half years now, yes, and
8:00
Speaker 1: I've always felt very aligned in terms of thought leadership
8:03
Speaker 1: in the space with Simon how we view experience, and
8:07
Speaker 1: I've always been very impressed by simon sort of big
8:10
Speaker 1: picture thinking and openness to collaboration and innovation and any
8:15
Speaker 1: indeed just an ability to kind of disrupt in the
8:18
Speaker 1: pursuit of excellence, which I think is why I think
8:20
Speaker 1: you mentioned it. Something You've got really quite a unique
8:22
Speaker 1: duel role and this is an exciting time with aim
8:26
Speaker 1: being very intentional about experience, So I'm excited or obviously
8:30
Speaker 1: still worries to be at the beginning of this journey,
8:32
Speaker 1: but GOT is evolving fast.
8:33
Speaker 2: Yes, And what about the organizational you fous, Laura, as
8:38
Speaker 2: you encounter it in the particularly in the commitment they
8:41
Speaker 2: have made around the UX office. You know what, what
8:44
Speaker 2: do you see as somebody who works with so many
8:46
Speaker 2: different organizations that's kind of specifically admirable about their commitment
8:50
Speaker 2: and their way of realizing it.
8:53
Speaker 1: I think, as I said on my one previous podcast
8:56
Speaker 1: with you, I feel very lucky that I get to
8:58
Speaker 1: meet and visit and collaborate with some of the most
9:00
Speaker 1: innovative and ambitious organizations. All love the world, and AON
9:04
Speaker 1: is no exception. What I love about AON is that
9:07
Speaker 1: delivering superior experience to colleagues to do great work is
9:12
Speaker 1: an organizational priority now, as Simon mentioned, and it's driven
9:15
Speaker 1: right from the top. So Aon recognized that people, talent, knowledge,
9:20
Speaker 1: work is what creates wealth and success for them in
9:23
Speaker 1: the industry, and so empowering their people is key. And indeed,
9:27
Speaker 1: the best organizations in every industry make experience a competitive advantage.
9:32
Speaker 1: So I think it's really paying off now, even just
9:35
Speaker 1: evidence by Aon's ability to innovate and invest, which which
9:39
Speaker 1: I'm assuming we'll touch on. So you know, AON have
9:42
Speaker 1: been on a transformational journey to build solid employee technology foundation,
9:47
Speaker 1: and it's a foundation that aon's leadership recognize and respect.
9:50
Speaker 1: So I've always been a fan of the phrase. I'm
9:52
Speaker 1: sure if Simon's heard me say it, which has earned
9:54
Speaker 1: the right to innovate? And this absolutely is what Aon's
9:57
Speaker 1: IT organization have done. So I think because they've established
10:01
Speaker 1: a stable and predictable IT operating environment baseline, their IC
10:06
Speaker 1: organization are far from the people that fix things when
10:10
Speaker 1: they break and react. They're a strategic organization that are
10:14
Speaker 1: trusted and looked upon for company strategy aligned transformation. So
10:19
Speaker 1: you know, I think aon's move to establish a more
10:22
Speaker 1: central function around experience with Simon at the Helm is
10:26
Speaker 1: a perfect illustration of this. AON are creating this space
10:30
Speaker 1: to build upon that foundation to really design experience and
10:33
Speaker 1: invest intentionally in technology like company wide AI, which is
10:38
Speaker 1: intended to empower and enable employees, not overstretch them.
10:42
Speaker 2: Talk to us, Simon then, about how you, as Laura
10:45
Speaker 2: put it, aren't that right to innovate it? Before we
10:47
Speaker 2: get onto that innovation piece. What would be some being
10:51
Speaker 2: some of sort of milestone achievements coming out of that
10:54
Speaker 2: investment and commitment to decks more broadly in recent years.
10:59
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think I think, you know, law is absolutely right.
11:03
Speaker 3: You know, I think you know, we we we see
11:06
Speaker 3: really you know, that foundational capability as table stakes, right,
11:11
Speaker 3: you know, we we see that ability to deliver our
11:14
Speaker 3: you know, reliable, stable platforms to the business as the
11:19
Speaker 3: thing that enables that right to to get involved in
11:23
Speaker 3: those more strategic conversations, get the right to take those
11:27
Speaker 3: investment opportunities when when they arrive. You know, if you
11:31
Speaker 3: don't have that firm foundation, it is very very difficult
11:35
Speaker 3: to you know, go back and convince senior leadership they
11:38
Speaker 3: should be investing in that innovation. So, you know, and
11:42
Speaker 3: that and that's been a journey that that's taken a
11:45
Speaker 3: long time to get to. You know, I think, you know,
11:47
Speaker 3: we're talking about, you know, a journey that's been going
11:50
Speaker 3: on for a couple of decades now. But I think,
11:53
Speaker 3: you know, over the last few years, probably about the
11:55
Speaker 3: last three or four years, I think we've seen that
11:58
Speaker 3: seed change. I think you know, we we made original
12:01
Speaker 3: investment in a dex platform, which I think, you know,
12:04
Speaker 3: really surfaced you know, some of the challenges that we
12:07
Speaker 3: had in the environment, but further really event allowed us
12:10
Speaker 3: to you know, make purposeful improvement plans which which really
12:16
Speaker 3: did enable those foundations to be much more secure. So
12:20
Speaker 3: I think you know that that that's definitely a core
12:23
Speaker 3: part of of what we've been building towards. And I
12:26
Speaker 3: think over the last year eighteen months, we've seen that
12:29
Speaker 3: change where we are able to get involved in in
12:32
Speaker 3: conversations about how we're deploying AI across the firm and
12:37
Speaker 3: really influence that that that journey, making sure that we're
12:41
Speaker 3: looking at the way that you know, colleagues are adopting
12:44
Speaker 3: the technology and and really make the most of it.
12:50
Speaker 2: Internally. Thinking about those two elements, risk an opportunity, What
12:54
Speaker 2: does AI represent to aon and to your team?
13:00
Speaker 3: You know, I think I think ultimately it's it's an
13:03
Speaker 3: amazing opportunity. But but but it's only an opportunity if
13:07
Speaker 3: we take people on the journey with it. I think,
13:11
Speaker 3: you know, as we think and like Laura says, as
13:13
Speaker 3: our CEO thinks about the way that AI should be viewed,
13:19
Speaker 3: I think we're really talking about something that has to
13:22
Speaker 3: be people centric in its approach. I think, you know,
13:25
Speaker 3: if we're thinking about AI being a technology that's just
13:29
Speaker 3: going to drive efficiencies, I think we're thinking about it
13:34
Speaker 3: in the wrong way. I think we should be thinking
13:36
Speaker 3: about it in the way that enhances what people do.
13:40
Speaker 3: And I think I think you know that that's really
13:42
Speaker 3: our vision around it is is how can we get
13:45
Speaker 3: the people that we've got to be able to do more?
13:48
Speaker 3: How how can we help them envisage things that are
13:52
Speaker 3: really going to help them from a day to day perspective.
13:55
Speaker 3: And I think, you know, beyond just the organizational side
13:59
Speaker 3: of this, you know, I think if you think about
14:01
Speaker 3: it from a personal perspective as well, you know, people
14:04
Speaker 3: from a career development perspective, you know, need to be
14:08
Speaker 3: able to understand AI tools to be able to get
14:10
Speaker 3: on in the new way of working. So, you know,
14:13
Speaker 3: that's an important part of what we're doing at the
14:16
Speaker 3: moment is making sure that we enable our colleagues to
14:20
Speaker 3: understand AI and really get the most out of it,
14:24
Speaker 3: So not only from that career development perspective, but also
14:27
Speaker 3: well being perspective. You know, this is one of the
14:29
Speaker 3: big talk tracks that we have internally at the moment
14:32
Speaker 3: is making sure that actually, as we enable this technology
14:36
Speaker 3: for people, it gives them more time back. So it's
14:39
Speaker 3: not just about squeezing more out of more out of
14:42
Speaker 3: people or having less people. What it's actually do is
14:47
Speaker 3: shift in that dynamic so they've got more time to
14:50
Speaker 3: be able to, you know, go out and walk the dog,
14:53
Speaker 3: or you go and see the play at the kid's school. Right,
14:58
Speaker 3: it's about giving a much more pleasurable work experience at
15:01
Speaker 3: the same time. And I think I think with that viewpoint,
15:06
Speaker 3: rather than the nervousness and and and the apprehension about
15:11
Speaker 3: taking on AI technology, I think it should enable people
15:14
Speaker 3: really to start to embrace it because there is quite
15:18
Speaker 3: rightly this fear and we're seeing it, you know, as
15:22
Speaker 3: we deploy this on a global scale. But I think,
15:25
Speaker 3: you know, it's people that at the center of this,
15:28
Speaker 3: and getting people on that journey is the thing that's
15:30
Speaker 3: gonna you know, number one, get get the best out
15:34
Speaker 3: of it, but also be a differentiator.
15:35
Speaker 2: At the same time. Simon, when when I was writing
15:39
Speaker 2: these questions, I wrote the word complementarity. That is that
15:46
Speaker 2: even actually a word. I'm not going to I googled it.
15:48
Speaker 2: It's actually a word which was a relief. But you know,
15:52
Speaker 2: meaning via the way that the principles of decks that
15:55
Speaker 2: you've you've invested so much on and this kind of
15:59
Speaker 2: period of aggressive IT transformation that we're going through at
16:01
Speaker 2: the moment really complement one another, right, is what I
16:05
Speaker 2: was trying to get at. Where do you see that
16:07
Speaker 2: relationship as most pronounced And is there a degree of
16:13
Speaker 2: gratitude as you've seen the way AI is sweeping through
16:16
Speaker 2: the organization, sweeping through our industries that you have got
16:19
Speaker 2: this background of many years of investment and focus on
16:22
Speaker 2: people's experience.
16:24
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think I think we have to be mindful
16:27
Speaker 3: around the experience, you know, when it comes to AI.
16:31
Speaker 3: I think, you know what, one of the great opportunities
16:36
Speaker 3: we've got is to enhance experience with AI. So we
16:40
Speaker 3: need to view it in terms of you know, actually,
16:44
Speaker 3: you know, I see as in quite a privileged position here.
16:48
Speaker 3: We are bastions. We're guardians of the experience for colleagues.
16:52
Speaker 3: AI being this great disruptor as it is, if we're
16:56
Speaker 3: not careful, could end up disrupting those experiences we worked
17:00
Speaker 3: so hard to build and maintain. So I think it's
17:04
Speaker 3: again and and this is the same you know story
17:07
Speaker 3: repeated over many innovations and new technology types. You know,
17:12
Speaker 3: we need to be mindful about the way we're utilizing it,
17:15
Speaker 3: and we need to be mindful about the experiences we're delivering.
17:20
Speaker 3: And I think that, you know, that's where all those
17:22
Speaker 3: dex principles come into play. It's making sure as we're
17:26
Speaker 3: deploying things, we're actually talking to people. You know, we're
17:29
Speaker 3: not just deploying agents and bots for the for the
17:32
Speaker 3: sake of it, because you know, we sat there and
17:35
Speaker 3: designed something in the sandbox that we thought looked really
17:38
Speaker 3: cool without actually having that connection to is it solving
17:43
Speaker 3: a business challenge? Is it? Is it helping us to
17:46
Speaker 3: create revenue? But with all of that, is it actually
17:50
Speaker 3: still creating the experiences that people engage with? And I
17:55
Speaker 3: think you know that that is often abstracted in the
17:58
Speaker 3: sense of, you know, how people comfortable are interacting with AI,
18:05
Speaker 3: and I think you know, we need to understand that,
18:07
Speaker 3: you know, in a multi generational organization, you know, we
18:13
Speaker 3: need to make sure we're taking all of those people.
18:16
Speaker 2: On the journey.
18:17
Speaker 3: And that's a challenge. But I think, you know, coming
18:22
Speaker 3: back to those dex principles, if we're still doing the
18:25
Speaker 3: same things that we've learned over many years and applying
18:29
Speaker 3: it to the same AI lens. I think we stand
18:32
Speaker 3: a much better chance of protecting and hopefully enhancing those
18:37
Speaker 3: experiences we've already developed.
18:40
Speaker 2: And Laura, this is something Simon and I are able
18:42
Speaker 2: to touch upon on stage in London last month, but
18:46
Speaker 2: enter AI drive right and its ability to give that
18:50
Speaker 2: kind of a very kind of specific insight into into
18:53
Speaker 2: the way different generations of users are using the tool,
18:56
Speaker 2: into different kind of levels of users are using the tool.
18:59
Speaker 2: Then then to watch into what tools are being used
19:02
Speaker 2: in the first place. Maybe set the scene for us
19:05
Speaker 2: in terms of did it occur to you as somebody
19:08
Speaker 2: who's kind of looking at the technologies that next thing
19:11
Speaker 2: are developing, thinking about the different businesses where they might flourish,
19:14
Speaker 2: why this would be a good fit for a or
19:17
Speaker 2: what was the background of that kind of collaboration specifically.
19:22
Speaker 1: Yeah, and as Simon said, it is a tremendous opportunity
19:26
Speaker 1: and it does kind of augment the case for decks
19:29
Speaker 1: in its entirety. So, you know, I think you're kind
19:33
Speaker 1: of referring back to Masters of Experience on stage, you know,
19:37
Speaker 1: a few weeks ago. It also reminds me of something
19:40
Speaker 1: that rco Pedro said as well on stage, which is,
19:43
Speaker 1: you know, as AI tools become part of daily work,
19:47
Speaker 1: the old signal the industry used to rely on the
19:49
Speaker 1: support ticket really isn't at all effective. It's telling you
19:53
Speaker 1: what's really happening. You know, his line was the data's
19:56
Speaker 1: in the conversation, not the ticket. So you know, I
19:59
Speaker 1: guess you ask me about AI drive. That is the
20:01
Speaker 1: blind spot AI drive closes, so turning visibility or the
20:05
Speaker 1: visibility problem into evidence. It leaders know they're short on
20:09
Speaker 1: visibility in this area broadly, and AI driver is built
20:12
Speaker 1: specifically to close that. So as you know, as Iimon
20:15
Speaker 1: attested to, it's actually quite quite people centric and human
20:18
Speaker 1: in this approach because it shows engagement and sentiment and
20:21
Speaker 1: we're usage is happening even outside sanctioned tools entirely. So
20:25
Speaker 1: for businesses like Aon where everything is built on evidence
20:28
Speaker 1: risk decisions, that's a technical fit that makes complete sense.
20:32
Speaker 1: And the timing matters too. You know, this AI wave
20:35
Speaker 1: is now and companies like Aon are making huge investments
20:39
Speaker 1: to enhance and enable employees and gaining the fast clear
20:43
Speaker 1: actional insight is a strategic comparative and a perfect fit.
20:48
Speaker 1: You know, the conversation between you know that we're having
20:50
Speaker 1: with Aon certainly it's been really interesting to see how
20:53
Speaker 1: they're instrumenting AI drive to really help that enhancement of
20:58
Speaker 1: employee ability to utilize technology or a and in ded
21:01
Speaker 1: a IT tools right across the generations and you know,
21:04
Speaker 1: and levels of digital dexterity.
21:07
Speaker 2: Anything you'd add there about AI drive specifically Simon and
21:11
Speaker 2: the difference has been able to make to that picture overall.
21:14
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think you know, we've just finished a large
21:17
Speaker 3: deployment of co Pilot and you know, AI drive really
21:22
Speaker 3: helped us get the insight of how that initial enablement
21:26
Speaker 3: was going really to get that temperature check on you know,
21:32
Speaker 3: is it hitting people's endpoints and are they starting to
21:35
Speaker 3: get that initial use? But but now we need to
21:39
Speaker 3: start taking it to the next level, which is how
21:43
Speaker 3: people are truly embracing it and enabling it and what
21:48
Speaker 3: does that dynamic look like? But what are the numbers?
21:51
Speaker 3: Where are their hot spots? You know, where are people
21:54
Speaker 3: struggling and more importantly, where are people doing some great work?
21:58
Speaker 3: I think you know that that's one of the things
21:59
Speaker 3: that we've really desperate to get hold of and I
22:02
Speaker 3: think we'll see AI drive helpers more on this is
22:05
Speaker 3: actually find those areas where people are doing some really
22:07
Speaker 3: good things. Trying to find those and help spread you know,
22:12
Speaker 3: some of those ideas around the business. I think is
22:15
Speaker 3: going to be a lot of the secret source in
22:17
Speaker 3: terms of doing this enablement. Well, so, yes, we need
22:21
Speaker 3: to help the people that are struggling, and we need
22:22
Speaker 3: to make sure that we bring them up, but we
22:24
Speaker 3: need to find those pockets of excellence because that within
22:27
Speaker 3: that we can really help grow the real business value
22:31
Speaker 3: that's that's there.
22:33
Speaker 2: And coming back to that theme of leadership, Simon, I mean,
22:38
Speaker 2: what does it need to do to really lead on
22:41
Speaker 2: AI transformation? How does it earn that privilege? I mean,
22:45
Speaker 2: do you see it as the natural leader in this
22:47
Speaker 2: kind of era of AIK.
22:51
Speaker 3: I think leadership is going to be broader. I think
22:55
Speaker 3: it plays a really significant part in terms of the
22:58
Speaker 3: way this happens. But actually, you know, we're partnered really
23:02
Speaker 3: heavily with our people organization as we've looked to do
23:06
Speaker 3: this in enablement phase. But but I think that's just
23:10
Speaker 3: the start. I think, you know, really where we need
23:13
Speaker 3: the leadership to come from as we start to see
23:17
Speaker 3: you know, this really transcend into the business. Is we
23:21
Speaker 3: need the business to be really helping us lead this.
23:24
Speaker 3: And I think, you know, again, you know, coming back
23:26
Speaker 3: to some of the you know principles about decks, I think,
23:31
Speaker 3: you know, this is more about bringing communities of leadership
23:35
Speaker 3: together rather than it's solely being led out of it
23:37
Speaker 3: or the people organization or anywhere else for that matter.
23:41
Speaker 3: Because you know, AI is so transformative and it transforms
23:45
Speaker 3: so many areas, I don't think that you know, it
23:48
Speaker 3: could ever do that alone. So you know, our phase
23:51
Speaker 3: at the moment is enabling you know what we're calling
23:54
Speaker 3: activators that represent all the lines of the business, all
23:59
Speaker 3: the areas of shared services, so that we can really
24:03
Speaker 3: get those champions out there. And of course it needs
24:06
Speaker 3: you know, ultimate you know, leadership and governance and our
24:11
Speaker 3: ability to make sure that we're also weighing the negative
24:16
Speaker 3: side of that risk and managing it through governance and
24:19
Speaker 3: all those other things. But through this community, we're really
24:23
Speaker 3: trying to enable that value. So I think it plays
24:27
Speaker 3: a really significant role, and and He's really central to
24:30
Speaker 3: that role. But I think a lot of it is
24:32
Speaker 3: around empowering and enabling and that that that's really how
24:39
Speaker 3: we're looking to get the value, whilst on the other
24:41
Speaker 3: hand still yet and maintaining that guardianship and stewardship around
24:47
Speaker 3: you know, the necessary controls so you know that the
24:51
Speaker 3: risk is still maintained.
24:53
Speaker 2: I understand, Laura. What would you add to that if anything?
24:57
Speaker 2: I mean, you're just working with a as a partner
25:00
Speaker 2: of course, but a lot of amazing organizations across the industry.
25:05
Speaker 2: Where are you seeing it most successfully reacting to and
25:09
Speaker 2: anticipating the future of AI in their organizations? What actions,
25:13
Speaker 2: what investments put teams in the best position to become
25:17
Speaker 2: more remain leaders in the coming years.
25:20
Speaker 1: I'm going to be picky because it shouldn't be reacting
25:23
Speaker 1: to eight AI at all, but yeahs, as Simon attested to,
25:28
Speaker 1: there's a tremendous opportunity for AAI to strategically drive this
25:32
Speaker 1: wave in terms of insight and governance. You know, a
25:36
Speaker 1: can prove impacts, not just enable access and as Simon said,
25:41
Speaker 1: partner with the people organization as well. It's incredibly powerful.
25:44
Speaker 1: I think I was reading a I was reading a
25:46
Speaker 1: report from Forrester this morning. Actually I said that I
25:50
Speaker 1: might butcher the quote, but it was fifty three percent
25:53
Speaker 1: of employees already used generative AI weekly, so the tools
25:58
Speaker 1: are already in daily use. So my message would be
26:02
Speaker 1: very simple here, which is, you know, measure it now
26:06
Speaker 1: like companies like aon, make sure you have that visibility
26:09
Speaker 1: or you may be explaining the later why you didn't.
26:13
Speaker 1: You know, Gartner as an example, are very clear on
26:16
Speaker 1: this as well, which is through twenty twenty eight, more
26:19
Speaker 1: than half a venuser service as leaders will be replaced
26:22
Speaker 1: if they can't measurely a measurably improve employee experience. So
26:27
Speaker 1: AI is a tremendous opportunity to you know, become that
26:32
Speaker 1: strategic partner and enhance employee experience in a very very
26:35
Speaker 1: clear way and in a way where this is unprecedented.
26:38
Speaker 1: This is a very new time of we're all trying
26:40
Speaker 1: to figure it out as well. So you know, if
26:43
Speaker 1: you're able to at least have visibility and partner with
26:45
Speaker 1: the organization on something very transformational, you're going to really
26:49
Speaker 1: be setting you know, not only you know yourself up
26:52
Speaker 1: for success as well. I think Simon attested to kind
26:54
Speaker 1: of career development. This has much career capitals for IT
26:58
Speaker 1: leaders if they embrace this.
27:01
Speaker 2: And you actually flagged at the beginning of the episode,
27:06
Speaker 2: Laura of it. This is this is an Experienced teaser
27:09
Speaker 2: and taster as a discussion. It's not just an episode
27:12
Speaker 2: in its own right. Simon. You're going to be on
27:15
Speaker 2: the main stage at Experience in Orlando this year, as
27:20
Speaker 2: regular listeners know. It's October the fifth, of the seventh.
27:23
Speaker 2: It's the only Experience event in the world this year.
27:27
Speaker 2: It's the leading dex event. It's a a JW. Marriott
27:31
Speaker 2: Grands Lakes Hotel in Orlando, Florida. Many of the world's
27:35
Speaker 2: leading digital workplaces are going to be there as well
27:38
Speaker 2: as you know, special guests and Gartner are going to
27:41
Speaker 2: be there and anybody you can think of, including yourself. Simon,
27:44
Speaker 2: your first time at Experience, you are you a regular?
27:48
Speaker 2: What's your backgroummer?
27:49
Speaker 3: Yeah, I absolutely told me it's it's going to be
27:53
Speaker 3: a fantastic, a fantastic opportunity. You know, I've been to
27:57
Speaker 3: Experience twice before in London, which you know, but both
28:03
Speaker 3: of those events are ups incredible, you know. But but
28:07
Speaker 3: actually you know, moving from you know, the the the
28:10
Speaker 3: observation deck to presenting is obviously a huge transformation and one,
28:17
Speaker 3: you know, I'm really looking forward to. I think you
28:19
Speaker 3: know that there's always you know, fantastic speakers, there's always
28:23
Speaker 3: fantastic insights. So yeah, I think it's going to be
28:28
Speaker 3: a tremendous event.
28:30
Speaker 2: You're going to be taking advantage of Orlando in any way, Simon,
28:33
Speaker 2: You're gonna you're gonna be taking any divergence to Universal
28:37
Speaker 2: Studios or anything like that.
28:40
Speaker 3: I think I'd love to take the opportunity if if
28:44
Speaker 3: I get the chance. But actually, you know, my focus
28:47
Speaker 3: has really been on making sure I'm prepared for the event.
28:51
Speaker 3: But you know, Orlando is obviously a great place, so
28:53
Speaker 3: if I get the time, while, I'll definitely definitely consider
28:57
Speaker 3: it superb.
28:59
Speaker 2: And Laura, what stands at to you about experience other
29:02
Speaker 2: than it being the biggest ever experience, of course and
29:05
Speaker 2: surely the best.
29:06
Speaker 1: Yet absolutely well, of course, you know, the obvious being
29:10
Speaker 1: Simon's appearance on stage being the main thing I mean
29:13
Speaker 1: looking forward to. I'll be in the front row listening
29:17
Speaker 1: to every word. And yeah, I mean I think, you know,
29:20
Speaker 1: experience for me brings something you can't replicate virtually, which
29:22
Speaker 1: is just being in person. And we're really excited about
29:26
Speaker 1: this one because it's it is the Global Deck Summit,
29:29
Speaker 1: and you know, being at next think, I do know
29:33
Speaker 1: we'll have even more exciting things to reveal on stage.
29:35
Speaker 1: The team have been innovating on some excited about that
29:37
Speaker 1: and you know, I've actually never been to Orlando, so
29:40
Speaker 1: I'm excited to visit a new city as well. So
29:42
Speaker 1: it looks amazing.
29:44
Speaker 2: Are you going to do the Disney thing? Laura? Are
29:47
Speaker 2: we too old? Though? Yeah? I don't.
29:50
Speaker 1: I just I don't know. I don't know if I
29:52
Speaker 1: if I've missed the if I've missed the boat, I'm
29:54
Speaker 1: going to Disney World.
29:55
Speaker 2: Now it's not it's not optimalized.
29:59
Speaker 1: Yes exactly, But I mean, I will say, Tommy, obviously,
30:01
Speaker 1: you and I've been working together a long time, and
30:03
Speaker 1: you know, I think our first experience your conferdence together
30:06
Speaker 1: was back in twenty nineteen. Oh my gosh, look at
30:08
Speaker 1: it now, you know, so excited for it to get
30:10
Speaker 1: bigger and better every single year.
30:12
Speaker 2: Well, I look forward to seeing you both in Orlando,
30:15
Speaker 2: and as a show, we certainly look forward to seeing
30:17
Speaker 2: our listeners in Orlando. If you haven't already booked your tickets,
30:21
Speaker 2: there are some left. Check the show notes, follow over
30:25
Speaker 2: link and book while you still can, and we will
30:29
Speaker 2: look forward to seeing you out there. Simon, Laura, thank
30:32
Speaker 2: you so much for doing this. It's been a pleasure
30:34
Speaker 2: to have you on.
30:34
Speaker 1: Thank you so much. Tom.
30:35
Speaker 2: Thanks. That's it for this week's Deck Show.
30:40
Speaker 1: We'll be back next week, and if you don't already,
30:42
Speaker 1: be sure to follow the show so you don't miss
30:44
Speaker 1: an episode until next time.