Technology, the Business Dilemma - in Conversation with Troy T. Taylor
“Technology, like art, is a soaring exercise of the human imagination.”
We are in conversation with Troy Taylor, a business-oriented global leader and strong believer in the power of technological innovation. Troy’s background in aerospace engineering coupled with his intellectual curiosity for technology, allow him to help companies achieve strategic objectives. Troy shares how technology will aid human beings to evolve to the next level and how we will drive technology forward.
One of the areas in which you have built broad expertise, is in using, or understanding, technology to transform and scale businesses. This relates to many aspects of growing business in a sustainable way, as well as the need to be culturally aware. Can you elaborate on this notion?
“This is a huge topic. The world is currently in a stage of technology transformation, which is exponentially faster and more impactful than the industrial revolution. In terms of what does that mean for those of us tasked with leading corporate enterprises, not every company is going to be a technology company, but we’re all going to be users therefore we all need to understand it. There is a lot of conversation around technology leading to more machine learning, augmented reality (AR), and artificial intelligence (AI) which will result in a reduction in the number of people we need to do certain tasks. Yes, some human tasks will be reduced however the successful companies are going to be the ones that allow more of the human-machine interaction, getting that right will be the key.
“I think the next phase is going to be around technology and how it allows us to enhance the experience of the customer, the employee, the supplier and the community in which we operate. I see there’s a symbiotic relationship between technology, AI, AR, machine learning, and human interaction.
“At the end of the day I think for a lot of companies and a lot of boards, there’s a whole lot of conversation around technology and digitization. I don’t know that there’s a strictly simple answer. I think it requires the ability to understand the world of technology; its trends, its capabilities, its applications, its evolution, and then break it down into individual pieces, while trying to figure out what’s applicable for you.
“I’m a big believer that B-to-B businesses can get some insights into the impact of technology by really understanding how the consumer sector is utilizing technology. Today, every consumer that interacts with a piece of technology (phone, computer, apps, social media, the internet, online shopping, etc) has a cyber profile, a graph of your who, what, when, where, and why. There are all sorts of analytical tools that are applied to the cyber you to predict and influence the real you. They can influence what we like and can curate an experience specific to you. As businesses become more digitized, utilizing similar technology in their daily transactions, and become more transparent, they too will develop cyber profiles that will create a graph of the who, what, when, where, and why they operate.
“Just as we have a cyber presence as individuals through social media, I think businesses are beginning to realize that they’re going to have a cyber presence too. The challenging side of it is as individuals, we have given up our privacy for the allure of having a more efficient, curated and fulfilling experience as we go through life. The question is as a business what will I get in return for becoming more transparent and digitized in how I do business. There are the obvious answers about efficiency, productivity, analytics, etc. however, I think the big bang is in your decision-making speed. Your ability to make changes, predict outcomes, and absorb unforeseen events will be vastly improved. The days of the monthly reports and postmortem will be a thing of the past. You will no longer react to your customer’s needs or be held hostage to suppliers’ shortfalls, your ability to be proactive and deliver on future demands will increase in accuracy at a vastly reduced risk level.
“I think these are some of the key aspects to think about when talking about technology, strategies, and how boards need to evaluate the long- and short-term impact.
“Humans will drive technology, not the other way around — I firmly believe that. Some fear that we will become subservient to machines, but I don’t think that’s the path we are going down. We as human beings are very resilient and multifaceted and will make sure that technology migrates toward helping humans, not replacing humans. Of course, they will replace us in some tasks however, at the end of the day, there is a level of sophistication and complexity that will always be in the domain of the human species.”
Thanks for sharing those interesting points, Troy.
Technology, the Business Dilemma — in Conversation with Troy Taylor
