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Chief in Tech S1E2 - Leveraging AI for Competitive Advantage: CTO Insights (Honeywell, Wayfair, Slalom) · Chief in Tech Deep Dive Shortcast

• 0:00
  OK, so you want to know how these top CTOs are using AI
• 0:04
  to get a leg up on the competition?
• 0:06
  Well, buckle up, because we're diving into this women tech
• 0:09
  panel discussion with Fiona Tan from Wayfair,
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  Michelle Grover at Slalom, and Sheila Jordan over at Honeywell.
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  And get this, they all agree that it
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  starts with the customer.
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  Yeah, what's so interesting is how they each
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  approach customer experience.
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  Like take Fiona Tan, for example.
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  At Wayfair, she's tackling this unique challenge
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  of selling furniture online.
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  Which, let's be real, it's not as easy as ordering a book
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  from Amazon.
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  It's true.
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  It's tough trying to put what you want in a sofa into words.
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  It's like describing a dream.
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  Totally.
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  You just know it when you see it.
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  Exactly.
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  And Fiona nailed it when she said,
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  it's hard to describe what you want.
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  But here's the cool part.
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  Wayfair is using AI to solve that.
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  Imagine typing in blue sofa, right?
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  But instead of getting this generic list,
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  you get options that actually match your style.
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  What?
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  Really?
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  Yeah.
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  And maybe even your budget, like based on past purchases.
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  It's like having a personal AI design consultant.
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  OK, that's next level.
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  But how does it even work?
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  Is it reading our minds or something?
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  Not quite mind reading.
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  But AI is getting crazy good at understanding
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  what customers want, even if they don't
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  know the right words for it.
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  Fiona was saying how search optimization has gone way
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  beyond just basic keywords now.
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  Oh, interesting.
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  It's about intent.
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  So you're searching blue sofa.
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  AI might figure out you're actually looking
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  for something modern, minimalist.
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  For a small apartment.
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  And then it shows you exactly that,
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  even if you didn't type those words in.
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  It's like having a conversation with the search bar.
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  Totally.
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  And then there's AI powered recommendations on top of that.
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  Say you are looking at that blue sofa.
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  AI can look at your past purchases,
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  what you've clicked on, even how long you've
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  looked at certain things, and then recommend other furniture
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  that fits your style.
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  And it's not just about how businesses are using AI
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  to connect with us customers.
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  They're using it behind the scenes too.
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  Oh, absolutely.
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  To totally change the way they operate.
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  It's like giving every department a superpower.
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  Yeah.
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  Michelle Grover from Slalom had this great example.
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  She was talking about how they're
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  using AI for these internal processes, right?
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  And get this.
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  They actually try it out on their own teams first.
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  Oh, interesting.
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  Before even giving it to clients.
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  So it's like they're perfecting the recipe in-house
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  before they serve it up to their clients.
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  Exactly.
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  And she said one of the biggest areas
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  is just automating all those repetitive tasks.
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  That everybody hates.
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  Think about being a lawyer having
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  to go through pages and pages of contracts.
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  Summarizing everything.
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  Or a developer stuck analyzing lines of code.
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  Hours.
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  Yeah.
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  AI can just knock those tasks out super fast.
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  Huge time saver.
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  Right.
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  And what's interesting is how Michelle
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  was talking about the effect on employees.
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  When AI takes over those tasks, it frees them up
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  to do more strategic work.
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  More creative work.
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  So it's a win-win.
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  For everyone, it makes you wonder,
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  what could you do if AI took over some
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  of your more mundane tasks?
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  Right.
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  And this is just the beginning.
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  Another area where AI is making a difference
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  is in knowledge management.
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  Michelle and Sheila Jordan from Honeywell both
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  talked about this.
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  Just think about all the times that you're at work searching
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  for, like information.
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  Oh, constantly.
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  Right.
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  Company policies, project details, technical specs.
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  It never ends.
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  Yeah.
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  And it's always urgent when you need it.
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  Of course.
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  And AI can make it so easy to find what you need right
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  when you need it.
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  It's like having your own personal research assistant
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  available 24-7.
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  No more digging through endless files
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  or sending those emails, like, does anyone know where to find?
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  Right.
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  I love that.
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  It's a game changer.
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  And then there's this whole world
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  of predictive analytics.
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  That's where things get really cool.
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  No, tell me more.
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  So companies are using it to forecast their sales,
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  find new opportunities, even kind of predict
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  risks before they happen.
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  So it's not just about working faster.
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  It's about working smarter.
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  Exactly.
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  Sheila had this amazing example.
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  Honeywell is using AI to predict shipping delays.
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  Wow.
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  With like crazy accuracy.
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  They're looking at weather patterns, historical data,
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  even port congestion in real time.
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  So they can see into the future almost.
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  Yeah.
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  And before we move on to the whole ethics side of things,
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  maybe we can switch gears and talk about how companies are
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  actually putting these AI solutions into practice.
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  OK, so we've talked about all these amazing things
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  AI can do for customer experience
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  for internal operations.
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  But where do you even start with implementing it?
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  It seems like a huge undertaking.
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  Totally.
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  It can definitely feel overwhelming.
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  But one thing all three CTOs agreed on
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  was the importance of starting small.
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  Sheila Jordan from Honeywell had this great analogy.
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  She talked about finding those big bets in AI.
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  Oh, I like that.
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  Don't sweat the small stuff, those incremental improvements.
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  Find those areas where AI can make a real difference
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  for your business.
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  And then really go for it.
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  So it's about picking your battles,
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  finding those high impact areas where AI can really shine.
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  Exactly.
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  And speaking of battles, they were all
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  in agreement about one crucial thing for success.
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  Data quality.
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  Of course.
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  Yeah.
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  Fion Tan said it best.
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  Feeding AI bad data is like teaching a chef
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  with spoiled ingredients.
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  You can't expect a Michelin star meal.
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  It's true.
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  Garbage in, garbage out, right?
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  Exactly.
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  And you need that good data to train effective AI models,
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  obviously.
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  And Fion has actually talked about how AI itself
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  can help improve data quality.
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  Wow, interesting.
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  Yeah, it's like AI being a data detective,
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  uncovering those inconsistencies, errors
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  that you might not even know are there.
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  So it's like AI is auditing itself in a way.
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  Yeah.
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  Making sure it has the best information to work with.
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  To make those Michelin star meals.
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  Exactly.
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  Exactly.
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  Now, of course, there's the question of,
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  what about the humans in all of this?
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  That's sad for sure.
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  And all three CTOs were very clear.
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  AI is about augmenting human capabilities, not replacing us.
• 6:00
  OK, good.
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  It's about working together, collaborating.
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  Michelle Grover, she really emphasized this.
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  Upskilling and reskilling your workforce
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  for this new AI-powered future.
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  And it's not just tech skills either, by the way.
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  Yeah, it makes sense.
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  It's about critical thinking, problem solving.
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  It's very typical.
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  All those human skills that are going
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  to be even more important as AI becomes more powerful.
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  Because we're the ones who have to guide it and stuff.
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  Right.
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  We have to know how to use it effectively, ethically.
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  So there's a lot of exciting opportunities on the horizon.
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  And we've only just scratched the surface of what AI can do.
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  But what really struck me was what
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  Michelle said at the very end.
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  She said, AI is going to amplify our capabilities,
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  both good and bad.
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  Oh, wow.
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  It's a tool, right?
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  And like any tool, it can be used to create or to destroy.
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  So the question for all of us is,
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  how are we going to use this powerful technology?
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  What will we choose to build with it?
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  It's a big question and a lot to think about.
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  So for anyone listening, if this all
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  sounds a little intimidating, don't worry.
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  You don't have to become an AI expert overnight.
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  But maybe start by asking yourself,
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  what are some of those big bets in your own work or industry
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  where AI could really make a difference?
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  Because one thing's for sure, AI is here to stay.
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  And it's only going to become more important in the years
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  to come.