Technology Revolution: The Future of Now

The buzz: "We'll never know our full potential unless we push ourselves to find it" (Travis Rice). Career stretch opportunities – temporary work assignments for expertise outside regular job duties – are embraced by companies and by their workers eager to showcase new skills and passions. Is this the right thing for you? Hear more insights on how each gender can accept and negotiate stretch assignments on your own terms. The experts speak. Selena Rezvani, Be Leaderly: "Never think of yourself as 'finished'; otherwise you really will be finished" (Thomas L. Friedman). Robert Solomon, NEW: "…criticism without a viable solution is nothing more than an arrogant show of words laced with barren self-importance (Stanley Tookie Williams). Shuchi Sharma, SAP: "Work hard to seem infallible and others will work to find our flaws. Admit our shortcomings and others will work to help us be infallible" (Simon Sinek). Join us for Career Stretch and Readiness: Gender Lens Differences? – Part 2.

The buzz: "It's easy to forget that for centuries – for millennia – the 'workforce' was all of us" (Peter Diamandis). Businesses today are drawing on multiple talent sources – full-time employees, contingent workers, SOW-based consultants, freelancers, contractors, gig workers – to get work done. This new employment model reality, influenced by new technologies and changing consumer preferences, requires developing strategies to shape new talent and create a culture that reimagines, enables and motivates the total workforce of tomorrow. Are you ready? The experts speak. Nicholas Whittall, Accenture: "Part of being optimistic is keeping one's head pointed toward the sun, one's feet moving forward" (Nelson Mandela). Dr. Autumn Krauss, SAP SuccessFactors: "Who is wise? He that learns from everyone…." (Benjamin Franklin). Jim Brozny, SAP Fieldglass: "The meaning of life is just to be alive..." (Alan Watts). Join us for Total Workforce Management: The Good, The Bad and The Possible.

The buzz: "Robots have already taken over Wall Street, as hundreds of financial analysts are being replaced with software or robo-advisors" (theconversation.com). Machines are beginning to do the work of Finance professionals, using AI and ML technologies. Beyond automating transactional processes, they are beginning to augment value-based activities like analytics, forecasting and performance management. As AI and ML use grow, they may eliminate some human roles and create entirely new jobs.The experts speak. Nilly Essaides, The Hackett Group: "We've been merging with tools since the beginning of human revolution, and arguably that's one of the things that makes us human" (Franklin Foer). Anders Liu-Lindberg, Maersk: "Fail fast to succeed sooner" (David Kelley). Vanessa Keating, The Hackett Group: "…the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do" (Rob Siltanen). Join us for Finance Talent in the Machine Age: Human or Bot?

The buzz: "While upgrading all 160,000 streetlights in Los Angeles with remote monitoring and smart controls will cost about $14 million, the city is saving $8 million per year by switching to more energy-efficient LED bulbs (CNN Money). Digital communications and energy-efficient LED lighting are revolutionizing and transforming urban lighting infrastructures into information pathways with the capacity to collect and share data and offer insights that enable and drive the smart city. Is your city "bright" enough yet (pun intended)? The experts speak. Susanne Seitinger, Philips Lighting: "You can't think seriously about thinking without thinking about thinking about something" (Seymour Papert). David Graham, City of San Diego: "This is an adventure" (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou). Marlyn Zelkowitz, SAP: "A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle" (James Keller). Join us for You Light Up My Life: Smart Cities, Smart Lighting – Part 4.

The buzz: "I'm late, I'm late for a very important date" (White Rabbit). Don't like sitting in traffic? No one does. More drivers around the world are enduring traffic delays due to soaring economic growth, residential housing closer to the urban core, and infrastructure that can't keep up with demand. Cities are looking at the costs: commuter stress, impacts on family and business, housing prices, demand for city services. Can smart citizens engage with governments and technology to get anywhere on time? The experts speak. Donovan Guin, IBM: "We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us" (John M. Culkin). Jesse Samberg, IBM: "You can't always get what you want, but if you try some times, you just might find, you get what you need." (Rolling Stones) Mike Eberhardt, SAP: "If you do not take an interest in the affairs of your government, then you are doomed to live under the rule of fools" (Plato). Join us for Smart Citizen Engagement and Transportation: Get Me There On Time!

The buzz: "…it's clear that AI (and robotics) will change the face of sales" (www.i-scoop.eu/). Reality check: Buying and selling have changed dramatically in the Digital Age. Traditional sales methodologies will not work the way they used to. How to solve this selling dilemma? Picture this: The world of digital leaves data-point breadcrumbs of a buyer's behavior. The world of AI never gives up, never sleeps, never errs, never misses opportunities. When these worlds collide, their synergy could solve your challenges. The experts speak. Mario Martinez, Jr., Vengreso: "Don't persuade, defend or interrupt. Be curious, be conversational, be real. And listen (Elizabeth Lesser). Paul Teshima, Nudge.ai: "No stop signs, speed limit, nobody's going to slow me down" (AC/DC). Kirsten Boileau, SAP: "Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible" (Francis of Assisi). Join us for Digital Sales Meets AI: Two Worlds Colliding – Part 2.

The buzz: "The blockchain does one thing: It replaces third-party trust with mathematical proof that something happened" (Adam Draper). Yes. Blockchain is redefining how we transact in the digital world where digitized trust is required. According to WEF research, 58% of tech execs expect 10% of global GDP ($5.3t) to be stored on the blockchain by 2025. Are you on board? The experts speak. Drew Hingorani, Ai-BlockChain: "Behind every cloud is another cloud" (Judy Garland). Peter Ebert, CryptoWork: "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication" (Leonardo da Vinci). Andreas Fichter, SAP: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" (Sir Arthur C. Clarke). Jonathan Bourgeois, Ai-BlockChain: "The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short, but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark" (Michelangelo). Join us for Blockchain, Trust and Startups – Part 2.

The buzz: "…We are all looking for the magic formula. Well, here you go: Creativity + Iterative Development = Innovation" (James Dyson, 2005). Welcome to the Digital Era, where new technology terminology, hype and interpretations bombard us daily at work and at home. What do IoT, ML, Big Data, and Blockchain really mean? How will they impact your organization, customers, business partners, and lifestyle? The experts speak. Tom Raftery, SAP: "I want to die on Mars – just not on impact" (Elon Musk). Dion Hinchcliffe, Constellation Research: "Everything flows and nothing abides, everything gives way and nothing stays fixed" (Heraclitus). Tamara McCleary, Thulium: "Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep" (Scott Adams). Join us for The State of Innovation 2018: Fluff vs. Fact – Part 2.

The buzz: "Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life" (Confucius). Few things impact employee productivity, engagement, and well-being as compensation. But as definitions of work and workforce change–diversity, telecommuting, contingent labor–traditional pay-for-performance formulas could cost you the ability to engage top talent. The experts speak. Dr. Gabby Burlacu, SAP SuccessFactors: "I think the definition of a book is changing" (Jeff Bezos). Lauren Pytel, SAP SuccessFactors: "After a certain point, money is meaningless…The game is what counts" (Aristotle Onassis). John Weldon, Baylor University: "You must be ready to give up even the most attractive ideas when experiment shows them to be wrong" (Alessandro Volta). Chris Seifert, Baylor University: 'People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity…" (Andrew Carnegie). Join us for Getting Serious About Getting Paid: Your Company's Compensation.

The buzz: "The golden rule for every business man is this: 'Put yourself in your customer's place" [Orison S. Marden]. Yes, the rule still applies in our Age of Social Selling. Do you stalk prospects to get in their Facebook newsfeed vs. being a patient buying journey advisor? Tune in for our ongoing discussion of social behavior do's and don'ts. The experts speak. Viveka von Rosen, Vengreso: 'Leadership is not about men in suits. It is a way of life for those who know who they are and are willing to be their best to create the life they want to live" (K. Schafer) Barbara Giamanco, Social Centered Selling: "Behavior is the mirror in which everyone shows their image" (Johann W. von Goethe). Charrele Robinson-Brown, SAP: "A brand is the set of expectations, stories, memories and relationships, that taken together account for a customer's decision to choose one product or service over another" (S. Godin). Join us for Mind Your Manners: Social Selling Etiquette and The Golden Rule–Part 4.