Skip to main content

is AI making your labor a commodity?


The year is 2028 and the leadership team was gathering for our annual "forward - back" meeting; a key component of our culture reinforcing the commitment to trust and transparency. Technocrat Tom starts off by reflecting on the impact of our decision to transition to conditions-based service delivery, leveraging IoT and intelligent systems. Tom reflects back over the last decade and shares his thoughts:



The fact is our customers have always trusted us, we have taken great efforts in building relationships and always doing the right thing.  Over the last decade, learning models leveraging the data which we facilitated by installing IoT devices, are shifting the "system smarts" from the service provider to the intelligence-based solutions (ironic).  We had to change the customer perception of us from being only the tuba player to the band leader, essentially anything they need to run their facility.  Here is how we transformed:



  • Trusted service hub:  we aligned ourselves tightly with the clients business objectives and relieved them of any activity related to the facility.  Our business model evolved to allow self-perform work and responsibility for service across trades
  • Solution centricity:  the OEM, armed with equipment (asset) data and in some cases the ability to lease equipment to customers,  has systematically edged the agnostic service providers out of the market.  Our focus on solutions and not products provided us the opportunity to push the manufacturers out of their comfort and profit zones, holding them at bay. 
  • Black Box syndrome:  years ago we went out of our way to show data coming from connected systems and how that data was influencing decisions. This move built trust both internally and with our clients. Having visibility , and pairing a human with the intelligence, allowed us to react in a way using empathy and intuition to advise our clients.  We imagine in the next few years, enough data will have been gathered to begin general intelligence, and our human edge will be diluted.



Some of our competitors got wrapped up in the technology and inadvertently distanced themselves from their customer, allowing them to become simply a labor provider.   Pure labor, based on skills required to execute a task, is a commodity in 2028.  Thinking that this will not touch your business?   Hang tight while I find a pay phone, look up my buddies number (ex-truck driver) on my rolodex, and dial him on my rotary phone.



-----

Next post:  who's data is it?
-----

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

resilience, do you believe?

Seeking out the closest spot to the door of the office was not a common practice; however, at 07:00 on August 24th, 2022 the temperature was already 96' and 98% humidity.   The building would have a hell of a time keeping up today, rolling black-outs and brown-outs would be inevitable.   It likely won't be an outright equipment shut-down, instead we will have to endure the impending "brown-out" conditions, a slow, low voltage and high amperage stressing of our electrical infrastructure and connected systems. Our deliberate and continuous leverage of Industrial IoT (IIoT) technology and the companion AI prescriptive models have positioned us well. It had to be around the year 2018 when we invested in IIoT.   Heck, most were comparing our endeavors to the "Nest" thermostat, a pioneer (yet very fundamental) entrée into home-based IoT.   Naysayers were laughing that we would never see the benefits; however, our fragile National infrastructure and Mothe...
Post a Comment
Read more

is your "score", you?

Avid Andy begins to wonder if he may be schizophrenic.   Or could it be a sign of true genius when he can see a problem from all sides? Andy was reflecting on a service meeting that happened last week.   Conversation was around our ability to objectively measure things and make better decisions. At the center of almost any measurement environment are the fundamentals of math. To determine priority or influence, it seems logical when dealing with inanimate objects like sensors, assets, and sites in a portfolio to move towards "point-based systems". The real dilemma for Andy seemed to comes when we begin scoring humans and letting pre-determined algorithms establish an individuals path. Our service meeting quickly changed from tactical to philosophical discussions and one of the technicians, Pragmatic Paul, made mention of a black mirror program (Netflix) named "Nosedive".    In this futuristic episode, an individuals score dictates their behavior and those ...
Post a Comment
Read more

In$pired

As the steam from Avid Andy's coffee fogged his glasses on this crisp January morning, he reflected on last year and thought enthusiastically about the year ahead.   Sometimes the noise of business is deafening, we rarely take the time to contemplate our moves, instead are often thrown one direction or another.   Hey, face it, if you are reading posts to gain perspective you fall in the group of folks who pride themselves as obsequious hoop-jumpers.   We live to help others and expect that all of those around us feel the same way.   I just love Influential Irene.   Okay, it is out in the open, she is an inspiration for me and so many others.   Irene reminds folks every year, without fail, these three statements which she fondly refers to as "the punchline" (although this is no joke).   Businesses, of any size, will be successful if they remember that it is people that make a company.   Put this advice into practice, today: Sincerity |...
Post a Comment
Read more