The Innovation Ultimatum: Six Strategic Technologies That Will Reshape Every Business in the 2020s by Steve Brown
Steve holds a MSc in Microelectronic Systems From The University of Manchester UK. Today he is a self employed AI Futurist. Previously in marketing roles at Intel and DeepMind.
My organization considered bringing Steve to speak at our annual employee development day. Since his book is available in our Learning Management System, I took the time to understand his position and learn potential impacts upon our organization.
Steve is outlining a guide to six key technologies that promise to reshape society and businessin the coming decade: artificial intelligence (AI), distributed ledgers and blockchain, the Internet of Things (IoT), autonomous machines, virtual and augmented reality, and 5G.
As usual the first to embrace any one will reap the rewards. However this is no longer a hard truth.
Steve does in fact start strong in the first section addressing AI and blockchain. Then the remainder of the book is repetitive and disappointing.
Balance is collaboration
At the same time there is a hype cycle to all six technologies. There is not an honest examination of the dangers and to skip this would be taking a limited view for any reader.
As with most books that I read about the future, the author is rarely accurate in predicting exactly how the specific rollouts will occur since they do not have any solid evidence. Perhaps the most telling example is the rapid adoption of technologies to exploit systems with ransomware since the pandemic. The world actually fundamentally shifted faster they most would have predicted.
In conclusion, I was not thrilled to read this book as it did not seem accurate for our organization. Furthermore there was a lack of detail after the opening chapters, weakening the overall impact. If the book is targeting leaders, board members, or executives, they can benefit from other titles which better align with their organization’s objectives.