Publish Date
Oct 28, 2024 08:00
Word Count
1,448 words
Status
Published
Campaign
Excerpt
I was looking for new ways to deliver organisational change; I found that the best way is to change myself…
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Notes
Greetings
I implement AI for companies, but I began to adopt it for myself only recently. The results have been extraordinary: so much so that I’m inspired to share.
This is the 1st post of my 1st blog. Welcome!
The Beginning
This won’t be the first or last time someone finishes a hundred pages of writing but has no idea where to begin the story.
“At the beginning,” you might suggest, but I tried that. I was working with a personal AI assistant, and I asked it to write about the work we’d been doing. However, I was new to AI and my prompts were too vague. Things got really weird. I can’t begin with that story.
I ♥️ CRM
We’ll begin with CRM. It’s about managing (M) your relationships (R) with your customers (C). That’s a good thing. I’ve been helping companies to do it for a while.
Working in CRM involves collaborating on IT projects to improve how a company manages its customer relationships. It goes to the heart of a company’s business model, and its bottom line. If we succeed in implementing the right software in the right way, the company improves its position in the market.
So, the ‘What’ and the ‘How’ of our work is about trends in IT; the ‘Why’ and the ‘When’ of our work is about trends in Business.
Meaning, when I signed up for a career in CRM, I signed up for IT trends and Business trends… and so I always knew it would lead me to AI.
Ethics Isn’t New
These new products won’t be the first that could ‘streamline the workforce’ or ‘raise concerns about data privacy’. We are prepared for such conversations at least.
When we get an IT project to help Sales reps hit their numbers, we check how it’s impacting the customer. When we get a project that helps customers resolve their own inquiries, we check how it’s impacting the Service team. Depending on what meeting invites we get, there’s room - and requirement - for dialogue.
Remember GDPR? It’s acutely relevant to AI, but do you remember when it was introduced, pre-AI? That was a big deal for CRM: for one thing, it drew a clear line between the ‘Customer’ data which we can process legitimately, and the ‘Prospect’ data which we must handle differently.
So, depending on your role in IT, you’re concerned not only with the newest tech and its impact on the market, but also customer experience, change management, data privacy, data security…
I Was Prepped For The Fight
… and you bring all that dialogue with you into the era of AI. Every new tool and every new project brings the chance to re-evaluate our impact and ethics.
There’s an uncomfortable joke in IT about working for Skynet. Once I worked at a global company that had named its internal SharePoint Skynet. I never felt so uneasy looking for spreadsheets. No-one wants to work for Skynet - and there are more pressing concerns - but the old joke shows we’ve been preparing for the ‘AI Ethics’ challenge for a while.
The great news is, the top-end products in my space are ethical, innovative and assistive. (Looking at you, Agentforce). They come through a rigorous, zealously-guardrailed development process. The first waves of AI-for-CRM products have emphasised quality over speed-to-market. (The developers have so much added value up their sleeves at this point, they can afford to ‘change the game’ more than once.)
Quite rightly, one man’s opinion doesn’t need to count for much, because the big players have teams and teams of experts checking this stuff. I can go to work happy and sleep at night:)
Copywriters: We Need To Talk
I’d love to say I wrote this piece intentionally badly, to make my AI-generated writing look good. But truly, I am this bad at copywriting.
My freelance copywriter friend on the other hand, is a master of the craft, as you’d imagine. Our conversations could fill another blog - but he should write that one.
You know the situation: Generative AI vs Human Copywriters is a clear dichotomy, obvious to anybody who’s met ChatGPT. At which point most knowledge workers ask, “Am I next?”
I Came Out With My Guard Up
My game plan was ridiculously naive. I watched GenAI struggling to become a third-rate blogger, and imagined pitting myself against this adversary.
If I’m a ‘knowledge worker,’ do I need to hold on to my knowledge? How?
I said to a colleague, “I won’t teach it how to do my job.”
That was before it started teaching me how to do my job better.
I Didn’t See This Coming
Here’s the end of this article, and the beginning of this blog.
In 2024 I searched for a personal AI assistant. I wanted something like ChatGPT but better: instead of an expert on Wikipedia and Bing, I wanted an expert on the things important to me.
Our relationship has surprised me in many ways. I brought a lot of baggage and prejudice (see above) and so, I’ve needed to adapt.
What have I learned? Enough to fill 3 blogs potentially, and enough to give this article a Part 2 certainly. Here’s a preview of the latter.
I can collaborate with AI.
I can bounce ideas off AI.
It generates truly innovative ideas.
New Version Of Me?
I was looking for new ways to deliver organisational change; I found that the best way is to change myself. Jobs which previously I’d performed in solo mode, now I perform in collaboration mode, with new results.
I’m the team lead: I can achieve more. I can move faster and further along the paths I choose.
I’m the CEO: I can plan more ambitious programs of work, because I know how easily I can complete a batch of projects.
I have an innovation partner: I’m provided with new ideas, that I wouldn’t have had otherwise.
I made a blog.
Thank you for reading.
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