New productivity technologies that enter the workforce often make their debut in the consumer world. If you’re an early adopter of tech innovations that promise to enhance your life or business, you naturally feel the pull to experiment.

That’s exactly what happened to me.

I began working with OpenAI’s ChatGPT to assist with my writing, having already used AI tools in various business ventures. When ChatGPT launched in the fall of 2022, it revolutionized the way I approached writing with generative AI.

I realized this powerful tool could enable me to explore forms of writing I had always dreamed of—screenwriting, songwriting, plays, you name it.

A few weeks ago, I started using the tool to experiment with writing songs. My initial attempts at songwriting were clumsy. I used the AI mainly to help with rhymes. Then, I stumbled upon Suno, the AI music startup.

Out of curiosity, I uploaded one of my young adult poems as lyrics to see what the platform could create. When Suno generated two versions of a song from my deeply personal love poem, I was stunned—completely. It was the first time AI left me speechless.

So, how does this tie into Sequoia’s David Cahn’s $200B question, “How is it going to change people’s lives?” For me, the answer hit home– hard. I kept describing my experimentation with Suno like I was stepping into a Time Machine—an innocent venture that soon turned into an emotional rollercoaster. The songs Suno created brought those long-buried, intense feelings back to life, in vivid color, as if I were transported back to my days as a young NYC ad exec, head over heels for an indie Boston bass player.

Within a week from when I started, I learned how to edit the songs when Suno went off the rails, and then uploaded the MP3 files to my Apple Music, Spotify, and eventually SoundCloud accounts. I shared those songs with my former flame, because, of course, I never quite let go.

We started communicating again and he told me (gulp) he’s getting divorced next month. In response, I wrote him a 2024 song titled, “921 Miles”—the exact distance between where he is now and where I am in Austin, TX.

So, how is AI going to change people’s lives? It could be as mundane as a fax machine in the ’90s, or it could become the answer to a lifelong unrequited love.

Now, try measuring that ROI. 

Because I was an early adopter for OpenAI, I got access to the GPT builder when it first came out. I experimented with it and quickly built this handy custom chatbot for this blog.

The bot searches the ITSinsider blog before it goes out to the web. So, anything you want to know about the era of Enterprise 2.0, Social Business, Social Collaboration, etc., that I’ve written about is found easily. The chat provides a neat summary of the answer to your question (unlike simple search). I moved domains, so I’ll probably keep it up for a few more years.

I used it this week, in fact when one of my earliest sources, Simon Revell, announced he was retiring from Pfizer after 25 years. Here is the inquiry and the response:

Anyway, try it. It’s kind of fun.

ITSinsider AMA

If you want to create your own custom GPT, here is where to do it. Anyone still supporting a long-running blog or content source on the internet (that you own) should probably do it.

Have fun! We might as well enjoy AI because it is here to stay.

Yep. Sounding the alarms.

Like most tech professionals my age, we lived through every remarkable step-change and wonderful advancement in tech over many decades. I literally learned computer programming on keypunch card decks we had to feed to the County mainframe overnight. (Fortran IV, thank you.)  As a side note, I was one of the only female students in my high school class to take the inaugural class in “computer programming.” That was 1977. It was a milestone in our high school’s history.

From there, I lived through the IBM-dominated mainframe computing era to the client/server revolution, to the more disruptive PC revolution.  Tech advances continued to the shift to mobile, SaaS, and both Internet revs 1.0 and 2.0. Everyone my age in tech lived through these transitions.

Although these shifts always move chess pieces on the game board, they were not viewed as dangerous or lethal. They simply realigned roles and positions. People employed in old skills, retooled and learned new skills.

But, dear friend of the ITSinsider blog, I’m telling you…as a friend, AI is different. It’s not the same as what’s come before.

This blog has been always been subtitled, “What’s Next in Tech.” I stopped writing here a few years ago. I’m rethinking that decision now with the pace and scale of AI advancements.

According to the research firm, CBInsights, there are 117 AI startups right here in Austin in various stages of growth. Yesterday’s “duty to warn” letter from leading tech, political, and academic luminaries probably won’t stop progress, but it shot an important red flare distress signal out to the world.

I’ve been checking in with friends around the techosphere, to take their temperature on how AI is sitting with them.

Yesterday, for instance, I caught up with my old  friend, colleague, and thought leader on Future of Work, Dion Hinchcliffe.  I’ve always known Dion to be a techno-optimist like I am. Dion has been experimenting with GPT-4 on his own and has been unsettled with the results.  “I tested it using knowledge it can’t possibly know, and it does what I asked.” he said. “I will say to myself, ‘It will never pass this [test],’ and it does– in a couple of seconds.”

He told me there’s no putting AI back in the can. He shared that he’s most concerned about the Python runtime AI that is fully firewalled. The AI can not only write the code to answer questions, but it can execute that code as well. The fact that the AI can reason with fully working knowledge of a subject is what’s most alarming, he said.

Net, net

The era of AI is upon us. As someone who’s been openly optimistic about using technology to improve life on the planet, this has my full attention. I will be checking in with more friends around the globe, and looking into some of the companies making moves in this space. Feel free to tell me your thoughts here or on social channels where we are connected.

This year, the show is nearly 100% centered on the 5G opportunity. Considering the event is going to be here in Orlando in May 2019, I raised my hand early and asked if I could be involved in some way. There is so much talent and innovation here in Central Florida that I’d like to see have more visibility on the national scene, I couldn’t help myself.

For instance, off the top of my head, all these initiatives will benefit from the evolving wireless ecosystem driving the future of our communications:

• • The Beep autonomous transport
  • The Voyage self-driving taxi service
  • The technology behind Luminar
  • Innovations at the UCF Research Incubator
  • Lake Nona Smart Home
  • Siemens Smart Buildings

I know there’s a lot more too. I’ve heard about the SunTrax out at Florida PolyTech too, and other initiatives underway with teams from the University of Central Florida (UCF) working on National Science Foundation (NSF) proposals on Smart City funding.

We’re working on putting together an Orlando Technology Pavilion in the showcase exhibit hall. I’m trying to recruit a few great speakers too, like Chris Castro, who’s become a leading voice for change on all things sustainability and smart city planning.

The show is international; it just happens to be in Orlando this year. At the event last year, the FCC Chairman, Ajit Pai, was one of the keynote speakers. It will draw over 3K attendees from every corner of the vital infrastructure community involved in delivering on connectivity solutions.

I’ll be writing more about who’s speaking and what to expect in future posts, but I wanted to get this conversation started because I am eager to start filling up that Orlando Tech Pavilion!

Ping me on Twitter or leave a comment if you want to know how to get involved. You can follow the conference on Twitter at @ConnectX_USA.

Last week at CES, everyone was talking 5G. The vision speak by the super groovy Verizon CEO was one of the best. It kicked off the massive event. You can watch the entire keynote here:

Growing up in N.J. and majoring in computer science, the goal for most of my fellow student grads was to secure a highly coveted job offer from the famous N.J. research facility: Bell Labs. Before the “phone company” was dismantled by the federal government, Bell Labs was its world-renowned research arm. Perhaps this is the attraction now for me– to circle back to the telecommunications sector– as I wind out this final phase of my tech career. I’ve always been drawn to tech creators and invention, and the Cambrian explosion of invention that is coming in every industry as a result of this next wave of infrastructure backbone is awe-inspiring. 

To that end, here is what I’ve been up to. My longtime friend Keith and I started a communications strategy firm where we are using the power of storytelling to connect to audiences. It’s an interesting mix of what we both love to do (write), coupled with the savviness of years of understanding how innovation cycles work in tech. We created this Story Cube Method as a guide to help clients get started. Our goal is to capture real-life stories in this fast-growing sector as these innovations begin to emerge.

While we’re at the early stages of planning for this 5G-inspired future, there are many adjacent areas of interest that have captured my attention. Because of exploratory work I did working on big data while working on Big Mountain Data, I was fortunate to join the University of Central Florida’s (UCF’s) Master of Science Data Analytics program board. As a result of that work, I’m now contributing to the UCF Data Science Board, as well. Massive data is at the heart of the currency of the “everything” that 5G will connect, as explained by Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg. As such, all these areas of interest are converging for me. 

One of the initiatives I’m pleased to be help bring to UCF again this year is the Women in Data Science 2019 (#WiDS2019) program. UCF will be one of the Ambassador hosts for the event, along with over 150+ other locations throughout the world, led by the team from Stanford University. I was able to recruit Daphne Kis, CEO of WorldQuant University, to be our keynote speaker for this event. Daphne is an icon in the women in tech and investor community. It’s a tremendous honor to have her travel to Orlando for our event, and we are pleased to have her join us on campus. We are in the process now of planning a terrific agenda for the students, faculty, and local employers.

I’m also assisting the producers of the Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA) who will be hosting their annual spring Connect X conference here in Orlando get to know the innovators on the ground here in Central Florida. It’s a great opportunity to put our local teams in front of these national audiences while they’re in town and to showcase our local talent. A special thanks to Rob Panepinto for the introduction to the Orlando Economic Partnership that got the ball rolling out at CES.

Finally, I’ve been kicking around the idea of starting up another new and improved “Adoption Council.” This time, for enterprise customers* interested in understanding how they can prepare for the oncoming opportunities and challenges associated with the 5G transformation. I’ve been reaching out to former Council members and have received interest in this idea. If you want to be part of the exploratory group looking into this, sign up here. It feels like deja vu all over again. But in a really good, really fun way.

The future is so bright, I gotta wear VR goggles…

*Just like The 2.0 Adoption Council, this is an early adopter community for large enterprises. No vendors, consultants, media, analysts, etc.

When 5G is fully implemented, it’s going to enable the underlying infrastructure we’ll need to build the smart cities, homes, autonomous vehicles, robotics, virtual and augmented reality systems everyone’s been designing and daydreaming about for the past decade. Think of it as one of the magic ingredients needed to bring the Internet of Things  (IoT) market– with its estimated projected 21 billion devices– to life.

Today, I listened to the AT&T 3Q earnings call.  Haven’t done that in years, and it was pretty interesting:

John Donovan, CEO of AT&T Communications said, “AT&T’s on track to be the first wireless carrier to introduce mobile 5G services in the United States in the next few weeks.”

He went on to explain that the company would introduce 5G in parts of 12 cities by the end of the year. He also talked about how “fiber is the backbone of 5G” and that “we have one of the nation’s largest fiber networks.”

On the business side, Donovan said the company plans “to be in more than 400 markets by the end of this year with nationwide coverage by mid-2019.” He reported customers are seeing a “dramatic lift in speed with theoretical peak speeds reaching 400 mbps.”

Well, all that sounds exciting, no?  I think I will leave you with this dancing robot to anticipate the future now at your disposal.

Spot the robot dog dancing to UpTown Funk is simultaneously both terrifying and hilarious. pic.twitter.com/UNPsXZrXvh

— Gavin Sheridan (@gavinsblog) October 16, 2018

The event opened with a partnership announcement by longtime partner Siemens. The technology company committed to over $1 million in in-kind hardware, software, and expertise to build out capabilities to the UCF Smart Infrastructure Data Analytics Lab and will incorporate the existing Siemens’ Digital Grid Lab.

“There’s a definite synergy between buildings and the grid, as seen with energy becoming more decentralized and buildings assuming more of a prosumer role,” said Mike Carlson, President of Siemens Digital Grid – North America. “The opportunity to take what we are already doing with UCF related to grid digitalization and combine supply and demand in coordination with technology for building automation will make this a benchmark program for Siemens.”

Through the Smart Infrastructure Data Analytics Lab, Siemens will leverage data through machine learning, real-time analytics and artificial intelligence to help automate certain processes to be initiated by building systems whenever possible.

The UCF students and faculty will have the opportunity to experiment with various aspects of smart building infrastructure with real-world implications. For Siemens, the benefits are abundant in research, application, and ready-made talent pools.

UCF is known for its partnerships with industry. The relationship with Siemens goes back three decades, and has been a successful partnership resulting in Orlando’s national reputation as a leader in sustainability.

In the fall of 2017, Siemens provided UCF with an in-kind grant of product lifecycle management software with a commercial value of $68 million, one of the the largest grants in university history.

I remember saying to my friend that I was sure I was the oldest person on that block that day by ten years.

I snapped this photo to capture the memory. It was more than the warm, sunny day and the activity, it was the “tech community” that I wanted to preserve. It occurred to me in that experience, that there is something unique about the type of individuals who are drawn to tech.

Tech is a big tent that extends to every race, religion, gender, ethnic background, age, and sexual orientation. Yes, of course we can argue about how career opportunities, advancement, and access to capital is still subject to the same prejudices as other industries, but the basic mastery of the skills– when it comes to 0’s and 1’s– is blind to human differences.

Spending time walking around MIT, and recently attending events at UCF, as well as participating on our Data Science board, I realized I’m still as much in love with tech as I’ve ever been.  I attended a Data Science Summit yesterday on the UCF Campus where more than one panelist and speaker made the comment, “This is a great time to be alive.” The inference was that there is so much possibility right now with the technology we have at our disposal, it’s almost as if so many of us who’ve been in this field for our entire careers have been waiting for this exact moment.

For that reason, I decided to reclaim my time with the ITSinsider blog.  I’m going to start writing about the areas that I’m interested in. It’s where I started a dozen years ago here on the web, and it led to some interesting places. Hope you come with me for the ride.

I’ve often observed, quizzically, that a field so focused on “power and control” issues has so many power and control handicaps in addressing solutions associated with intimate partner violence.  One agency won’t share information with another for political reasons; one organization has a personal vendetta against another competing for funding; a national nonprofit has competing interests for exposure and support from a state and/or local nonprofits, etc.  Over the past two years researching how “things work” in this field, I’ve seen it all.  Power dynamics are at play that are counter-productive and antithetical to the mission of attempting to find real solutions to this social epidemic. But, I get it. The same fiefdom battles are present in corporate America.

Luckily, as an outsider to this work, I have a unique vantage point devoid of turf battles.  Also lucky for me, I have a decade’s worth of insight on how to engage a disparate community focused on a singular mission. Who knew my enterprise social expertise would serve me well in exploring innovative ways to make a difference on this thorny social problem?

Enter Yammer, the Microsoft Enterprise Social Network, and a risk-taking, progressive law enforcement agency comfortable working with partners to find solutions.

Serendipitously, I discovered the work the High Point Police Department (HPPD) was doing with its groundbreaking domestic violence program early into Big Mountain Data’s launch.  There were a number of programs and areas I wanted to explore with HPPD as an entrepreneur who had a lot to learn to get up to speed, so I invited the agency to join our Yammer network. I created an external network where we could focus on different projects and initiatives in a friction-free, egalitarian network. Over the past two years, about 40 different individuals have joined the network.  It includes law enforcement, film directors, university researchers, national experts on Domestic Violence, crime analysts, data scientists, producers, writers, and attorneys.  This unlikely team of allies came together to lend expertise to a number of projects we’ve been exploring.

High Point’s current Police Chief, Ken Shultz, worked with us day-to-day for the first year or so on our various programs and initiatives as Deputy Chief.  I asked him if I could interview him on his experience with “working out loud.”  He was happy to comply.  “We’re used to working in groups.  We try to be very transparent with our community,” he said.  He admitted they weren’t sure what it would mean in time and resources to work so closely with us, but in hindsight, he said, “The work has been very successful.  The initial work we put in answering your questions has paid off drastically.”  He spoke at length about how our involvement bringing so many players together has helped the department expand and develop even better relationships within High Point.

You’re an outsider, but you’re seeing people who might have solutions for us; you’re bringing people in from outside and getting them involved. That’s something we would not have been able to do on our own.  We didn’t know who these people were; we didn’t have that ability to connect so the more people that have been participating in Yammer, the more connections we’ve had and the more resources have been thrown at us and the more support we’ve been able to have. – Chief Ken Shultz, High Point Police Department. 

The magic of “working out loud” is the instantaneous access everyone has to the conversation, the explanations, the decision-making, and the answered questions that benefit everyone in the network.  In tech terms, we call it the “network effect” of the increased exponential value of the network’s shared knowledge with every added node.  In this case, the nodes are people with expertise to bring to bear on a difficult problem.  These are experts whose paths might not cross – ever in their careers.

What’s next?

The High Point Model has tremendous potential to make a serious difference on how communities address domestic violence. HPPD has going on six years of experience with this approach, and new sites are expressing interest in replicating what High Point has done, every day.  We’ve begun a “Replication Sites” group in Yammer where sites all across the country can join our network and learn from those already in some stage of progress.  Effectively, new agencies coast-to-coast now have access to the institutional knowledge already resident within our network with the added benefit of being able to ask direct questions to people on the ground making these changes in their communities. New nodes = greater intelligence and knowledge-sharing.

In an era where so many have become divided and intransigent, working out loud humanizes us.  It keeps the focus on the greater goal we all agree we want to achieve.  Solving the world’s toughest social problems will take a village of committed souls bound by a united interest.  Working out Loud provides a path and a way forward toward that end.

My friend, Bryce Williams of Eli Lilly, an inaugural member of The 2.0 Adoption Council and later a Change Agent as well, had attended a panel at the 2010 Enterprise 2.0 conference, and heard the term used loosely to describe this new phenomenon.  Bryce, a regular blogger, then remixed the phrase to create an entirely new way to look at working collaboratively in a large enterprise social network.  His original blog post describes his thinking.

Of course, the purpose of the Council in those days was to accelerate learning and sharing, so it wasn’t long before others started remixing and re-purposing what Bryce had started.  The most notable WoL champion today is my hero John Stepper who left his investment bank day job to strike out on his own mission to spread the love of Working out Loud to the ends of the earth.  John’s book, Working Out Loud: For a Better Career and Life has become the revered playbook for this fast-growing movement. (There’s a web site too.)

We’ve been saying in the Change Agents Worldwide network, that we can “feel the tide is turning.”  Last week was international #WOLweek, and while scanning the post-election news, I serendipitously stumbled upon this incredible photo on Twitter:

Today is the last day of our Int. WOL Week at @VirtusaCorp. Make your work visible @johnstepper @MaduRatnayake @prageeths @apwickrama pic.twitter.com/8A8z8isVU0

— Anjale Jayawardena (@AnjaleOfficial) November 11, 2016

This 8 x 12 foot sign was literally affixed to an office building in Sri Lanka. Who would have imagined in those early days, circa 2009, that this could possibly result from a group of like-minded, random people who came together to improve the world with enterprise social networking technology?  I could.  

The big story behind the phenomenon of this worldwide movement is just starting to unfold. Of course, talk of a possible Slack IPO doesn’t hurt. But truthfully, Slack was late to this game (2013) and had been working somewhat independently of the community that fueled the organic adoption of social tools. The way had been paved by many that came before Slack took off.  For instance, McAfee’s seminal piece in MIT SMR is already a decade old.

I’m just as excited as ever about the possibility of enterprise social tools to improve life on the planet.  In fact, I kicked off my social impact startup, Big Mountain Data, using Yammer. Part II of this post is next that explains that.

Welcome to the future.