#39 - Dr. Olaf Groth - 'Solomon's Code: Humanity in a World of Thinking Machines'

The focus of this week´s podcast is product strategy, and in particular, what we can do to not only make jobs more productive, but also more enjoyable. I discuss this with my guest, Olaf Groth. He is a professor, adviser and executive for the evolving global innovation economy with 20 years of experience in corporations, consulting firms and academia. He has helped build new ventures and change management initiatives for employers and clients in energy, technology, telecommunications, aerospace and transportation sectors in 30+ countries.

The topic of his book triggered me, hence I invited Olaf to my podcast.

Here are some of his quotes:

“We believe that AI is here to stay, and that we as human beings, and certainly we, as business decision makers, need to get used to what we call symbiotic intelligence. So symbiotic intelligence between humans and machines.

We have an opportunity here to shape these jobs such that they are not more not just more productive, but also much more enjoyable

We should get engaged and shape it and not over-regulate too early, but rather say: in a perfect world, what would that world look like? And what do we need to do to get there?

What the work is that is being done, where the value is being added, and then try to understand where humans and machines could collaborate much more elegantly, and in a much more integrated fashion.

We will find out as humans that there is so much more fun to be had once we get used to this transition, right? The real fun is when we, as humans, see images of what we want evolving, emerging from the current picture.”

By listening to this interview, you will learn three things:

1. Why a design goal for solution should not just be increased productivity, but more importantly how it shapes a more enjoyable work experience.
2. That to create the solutions of the future you should anticipate the job profiles of the future
3. Why choosing augmentation over automation will give you golden opportunities to deliver not only unique value for your customers, but also the highest adoption rates.