Ep 132: Enterprise AI – Future Careers and How to Prepare

In today’s rapidly advancing technological landscape, the influence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has infiltrated multiple aspects of our lives, including the world of business and employment. As enterprise AI continues to shape the future of organizations, decision-makers and business owners must navigate the evolving careerscape to stay ahead of the curve. This article will delve into insights from the podcast episode, “Enterprise AI, Future Careers, and How to Prepare,” exploring the impact of predictive AI, the rise of generative tools, and the imperative need for collective preparation.

Predictive AI and its Implications for Businesses:

Predictive AI has already shown promising results in streamlining operations, enhancing inventory management, and delivering personalized advertising to customers. However, forward-thinking companies recognize the potential for further optimization. As the speaker astutely highlights, incorporating predictive systems will soon revamp company-specific Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), driving more informed decision-making processes.

Filling the Gap: Generative AI Tools in Focus:

One significant development in the enterprise realm is the emergence of generative AI tools designed to address repetitive and time-consuming tasks. These specialized tools can revolutionize operations across departments, including HR, by improving recruitment processes, optimizing resource allocation, and augmenting productivity. For instance, the cumbersome process of crafting detailed job descriptions, characterized by painstaking back-and-forth communication, can be streamlined with the help of generative AI, enabling time-saving efficienc

The Path to Personalized Assistance:

While the current focus lies in niche generative tools, the speaker speculates on the potential for personalized AI assistants, reminiscent of science fiction’s Jarvis. While not strictly Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), these assistants could provide tailored support to individuals, aiding in tasks and goals, significantly transforming the nature of work within organizations. These personalized assistants represent achievable milestones using existing AI technology.

Preparing for Future Careers in Generative AI:

For professionals seeking to seize the opportunities that lie ahead, collective preparation is key. Even if one lacks decision-making power within their enterprise, making policy recommendations and influencing their organization’s approach to future careers in generative AI can provide immense value. Evaluating how AI technologies can benefit specific roles, identifying areas where human creativity and expertise can thrive, and actively engaging with AI advancements will position us for success amidst the evolving employment landscape.

Conclusion:

The age of enterprise AI is upon us, presenting both exciting opportunities and challenging choices. As business owners and decision-makers, we stand at the forefront of this transformative wave. By embracing the potential of predictive AI, exploring generative tools, and collectively preparing for future careers in AI, we can chart a course towards a prosperous future. Let us seize this moment, harness the power of AI, and pave the way for a harmonious coexistence of technology and human potential.

Topics Covered in This Episode

1. Short-Term and Long-Term Impacts of Generative AI
2. Preparing for Future Careers in Generative AI
3. Advice for Future Careers in the Age of Enterprise AI
4. Technology Field Shift and Availability
5. Advancements in Technology Interfaces and Impact on Jobs

Podcast Transcript

Jordan Wilson [00:00:18]:

What do future careers look like in the age of enterprise AI? Are we all just gonna be Extensions of robots. Are we gonna be answering to chat GPT all day as it’s our supervisor? I don’t know, but that’s why I bring smart people on the show. So welcome to Everyday AI. My name is Jordan Wilson. I’m your host, and thanks for joining us. This is your daily livestream, Podcast and free daily newsletter where we help everyday people like you and like me understand AI and how we can actually use and Generative AI to to grow our companies and grow our careers. There’s always so much going on every day. So today, we’re gonna be talking about and Future careers.

Jordan Wilson [00:01:00]:

What do they even look like, especially, in and with enterprise AI? I’m fascinated To talk, about this today. I’m super excited for our guest. If you’re joining us live, thank you. If you’re joining us on the podcast, Always know that you can come and join the live conversation, ask questions, and get your questions answered as well. That’s something I love about the show. I I joke around. It’s the realest thing in AI. It’s real people Talking, hanging out, and learning AI together.

Daily AI news

Jordan Wilson [00:01:26]:

So before we get to that, let’s talk about what’s going on in the world of AI news. So first, how good is generative AI? Well, it’s so good that even Amazon is surprised. In an earnings call just Couple hours ago, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said he’s been, quote, unquote, surprised by the fast growth of the company’s generative AI business. The company’s cloud business, as an example, AWS, saw flat revenue growth, compared to last quarter, but at the same time, Overall profits tripled, so it’s safe to say that, generative AI, specifically Amazon’s generative AI business, has been booming. I’m not surprised, but, you know, who am I? I’m just a guy talking. Alright. Next piece of AI news. Phishing Emails are getting better.

Jordan Wilson [00:02:15]:

Thanks to ChatGPT. I don’t know if they’re getting better or worse. I guess people writing phishing emails are getting better at it. So a recent study by IBM showed that AI chatbots such as ChatGBT are becoming increasingly sophisticated and and can create convincing content specifically when it comes to phishing emails. So this study conducted by IBM showed that ChatGPT could generate a phishing email In a matter of minutes compared to 16 hours from a human team. And and the human team kind of they they they went head to head. And the human team only had slightly higher, success rates, but, 16 hours versus a couple of minutes for, you know, pretty much Similar performance, but then I also thought about this. I’m curious what what took the team 16 hours, to create the phishing email.

Jordan Wilson [00:03:03]:

I’m sure I’m sure they can answer that. Alright. Our last piece of AI news for the day, is OpenAI is bracing For catastrophic risks. So OpenAI has established a new preparedness team to address potential catastrophic risks associated with powerful AI models. So this new team will focus on capability assessments, evaluations, internal red teaming, and then develop a risk based development policy for accountability. OpenAI is also launching an AI preparedness challenge to prevent misuse, awarding API credits, and seeking talented individuals for this team. Obviously, critics are questioning, why OpenAI is kind of, relying on An internal team and why there aren’t kind of more outside or separate teams to do this. So, I guess, you know, part of me is like, oh, okay.

Jordan Wilson [00:03:56]:

This is great. But also, OpenAI is openly working toward, artificial general intelligence or AGI, but at the same time, creating a catastrophic, or, You know, preparedness team for what they are probably going to help us discover. So kind of a brain teaser there. Right?

About Christian and Vala AI

But we didn’t come to Talk, hypotheticals on, OpenAI. We actually came to talk about enterprise AI, and talking about future careers, what they are and how we can prepare. So so let’s let’s do that, shall we? Let’s bring on our guest for today. I’m extremely excited to have on the show, Christian Hammer. And Christian is the CEO of Vala Inc.

Jordan Wilson [00:04:37]:

Christian, thank you for joining us.

Christian Hammer [00:04:38]:

Jordan, so glad to be here. I I actually do have a hot take for you.

Jordan Wilson [00:04:42]:

Oh, let’s go. Can’t wait. Let’s start it out. Let’s start out with a hot take.

Christian Hammer [00:04:45]:

Yeah. We are already Puppets to the technology. Most of our careers, people listen to this show, my wife’s career, which has nothing to do with technology, All she’s doing is managing the the the various pieces of software and the vast various technology that that enables her to do her job, but her job is really managing the technology. So we’re already puppets to it. It’s so true.

Jordan Wilson [00:05:08]:

Yeah. And and and and there was, I see these these news stories all the time, but there was another company, I think this time in Poland, that, appointed a robot AI CEO. I don’t know if you saw that one, but, you know, that one is is taking it quite literally. You know? But, Christian, maybe let’s start out. Tell us tell us a little bit, you you know, your background and a little bit of what you do, at Bala.

Christian Hammer [00:05:30]:

Oh, my background goes back quite a ways. I I was involved in the free web Internet, doing, like, CGI Pearl application development for distance learning and Document collaboration way, way, way back. But, went through a series of startups, then went into large enterprises where I was doing this transformative executive coming in and giving them a digital DNA, helping them become, you know, innovative and applying modern technology. And, most recently, I decided to go back to my roots. I’m, back in the startup game focused on enterprise AI, interestingly enough. Right? Of all AI is trying to solve some of the most difficult problems in technology that large enterprises deal with. We’re trying to actually get rid of the mundane, the grungy, gross things that many technology organizations struggle with and, Freeing the humans to actually do the fun parts, to do the parts we actually went to school because we’re passionate about to go and do. So getting rid of the tech deck, getting rid of all the the nasty gross parts of

Jordan Wilson [00:06:35]:

the technology. Yeah. Uh-huh. I love it. So and, you know, I always like, bringing on people that have extensive backgrounds in the industry because then when we talk about the, the the the future, you know, it’s It’s important that you are have a background and you have the chops to support it, and Christian, definitely does, FYI. I’ll vouch for him. Very, very

Christian Hammer [00:06:56]:

Oh, thank you.

Future of careers with enterprise AI

Jordan Wilson [00:06:57]:

Clear in the space. So let’s let’s maybe start at the end. Let’s start at the end here, Christian. What is the future of of careers in enterprise AI? I kind of, you know, went on a little, you know, hypothetical in opening of the show. I mean, are we gonna be just in working for robot like this company is doing. But what’s what’s the future career look like with with AI now?

Christian Hammer [00:07:17]:

Oh, I think that, like I We we are already doing that. It’s not that we’re working for an AI CTO or CEO today, but many people, especially large are nothing but, like, meat puppet extensions of the technology. They’re they’re taking the human desire, the human need, the human wants, And translating it into a form that the technology understands. And I’m not just talking about the programmers who do that. Right? The programmer takes a, We need the business to accomplish x, and I’m gonna translate that into code the computer understands. But the the HR rep who’s Taking the needs of the company, we need to hire somebody who does this, translates it into something an algorithm can understand that they feed into LinkedIn or Indeed or whatever platform they’re using to do hiring, that’s what a vast majority of white collar professionals in the United States and the rest of the developed world do today. What I think AI actually gives us is a freedom from that because now the technology actually understands us in our own language. We can chat with it and say, I’m looking for this.

Christian Hammer [00:08:19]:

I want this. I need this. And so what it gives us the ability to do and what our future careers all look like is taking that humanness, you know, in the world around us and our own wants, needs, desires again, And being able to radically accelerate our ability to to solve for it and to, you know, to get the results we desire Without having to translate it into technology.

Jordan Wilson [00:08:44]:

Yeah. It’s, okay. That’s reassuring. Okay. I’m glad I’m not gonna be working for a a robot at least At least tomorrow. You you know? And, hey, everyone. Thank you for joining us live. You you know, I I always love to bring smart guests on like Christian so we can talk about these things.

Jordan Wilson [00:08:59]:

So So make sure to get your questions in now. And if if you are listening on the podcast, always check the show notes. You can come back and join the conversation after the fact and join us for, you know, future future live shows. You you know, one thing I I always try to, liken AI to, Christian, is is thinking back on how the, how the Internet’s, you know, impacted, you know, the world, but also the workforce and and careers. Are we gonna see kind of a similar impact, how the Internet kind of changed roles, you know, from the c suite, from the c suite, You know, down to entry level, or is this going to be completely different when it comes to generative AI, how it impacts the workforce?

Christian Hammer [00:09:41]:

That is a fantastic question. I think it’s one that we’re all grasping to to understand. Right? The Internet in particular was the real introduction of information as a As a currency within the business, data was not considered all that powerful or important prior to it, and now everybody is you know, we all understand the value of data to any large company. So what what does that change look like coming around this time? I think that’s honestly almost impossible to really understand, is how large it’s going to be. But I do put this 1 on the order of, like, wheel, fire. You know, this is a big change. Agriculture, this is one of the major major ones. The Internet was probably exactly on the same scale.

Christian Hammer [00:10:24]:

It fundamentally altered every business. Right? I don’t know. I my career started barely before the Internet, as we all understand the web, as we all understand it, started to exist. So I have a inkling of what that world looked like, but I couldn’t tell you, like, the the huge change other than, information became the currency. And now information is so easily accessible. Our ability to automate against that that, information, that data is Anybody can do it, and anybody can, like, get themselves, 10 times more productive. Anybody can accomplish of, at least 10 times as much, And that that, spreading out of that power, wherein it used to be in the hands of people Like myself, the technologist that could sit down and write code, now it’s in everybody’s hands. Who knows what that’s actually going to do to society as a whole? The Sorry.

Christian Hammer [00:11:20]:

I could go off on this particular topic for about 4 hours, and I’m trying to get the big stuff.

Will AI show up in all roles?

Jordan Wilson [00:11:24]:

Let’s let’s follow-up there because I I like what you said there, Christian. Like, this is, like, Spreading out the power. You know, because I do think, like, early on, right, like, just as an example, and, you know, 10, 15 Years ago, you know, the the the IT department as an example were thought of as as wizards. You know? They still are. Right? But but now With with generative AI, it’s it’s not necessarily like that. You don’t have to be a, you you know, super dork, like me. In order in order to to to use and leverage kind of this next wave and and and so so maybe let’s talk about this. And What does that mean? Like, does that mean every single role? Do we think almost every single role is going to have a heavy generative AI, components.

Jordan Wilson [00:12:09]:

Like, are we all going to have, you know, AI assistance here in the coming months? What’s Yes. What’s kind of your take on that?

Christian Hammer [00:12:16]:

No. I I actually think that’s exactly what’s going to happen. I do think that there’s still power in being a technologist because you can you’re you’re you’re behind the curtain. You’re you’re still a wizard. You can do things that aren’t necessarily easily addressed with generative AI, but The access you have with this technology to unblock yourself from whatever’s hindering you to move forward, it’s unparalleled. We just haven’t had it in the past. So is everybody going to have technology that it that helps them? Yes. And there’s some great, and Great new companies coming out that are trying to to solve these problems for individual roles in the large organization.

Christian Hammer [00:12:54]:

One of my favorites is a and Stealth startup, called ClearPath that is trying to figure out all the various ways that, generative AI can be used within the large enterprise to solve, like, and Discrete problems that are repeat. I’ll give you an example of one of the places that I’ve always found frustrating in a large company, writing job descriptions When you’re trying to hire a large team, because, you know, we do it all the time. We write hundreds of we’ve got a large org. You’re you’ve got hundreds of jobs that are open and being open. Right? And there’s a template for it. It’s something that I just need to give it a little bit of detail, and it it should be able to you know, it should be solvable. You spend A a ridiculous amount of time doing it. You spend a lot of time either going back and forth with the HR team, with the recruiting team, or somebody’s proofreading your doc because you wrote some and Horrible, you know, first draft of it, but that’s not necessary.

Christian Hammer [00:13:44]:

Right? The there are generative tools right now that you could sat down with, like, Hey, Pai or Chat GPT or anything like that, and actually get a 1st draft that’s probably better than anything you produce. And as those become more and specialized for all the different parts of our, of the org, like HR having a specialized tool that helps them with Finding people and helps the the hiring manager with writing the job description and all that. I think we’ll see a lot of that in the very short term. In the longer term, I actually think it goes even further. And I I, like, I know that this is gonna sound silly because anytime you mention a sci fi movie or or, you know, Marvel Universe, people just kinda scoff at it, but, like, the Jarvis like world where everybody has a personalized assistant that is Helping them do what they care to do, what they wanna do, what they’re trying to accomplish, I think that’s just around the corner. It’s, you know, it’s Not necessarily AGI, but that assistant in in the, you know, the current form of AI that we have is doable.

Jordan Wilson [00:14:44]:

Yeah. Yeah. And I think that’s literally around the corner, like, in a couple of days. Right? Because one thing, even when we talk about enterprise, You know, Microsoft 365 Copilot, is is going to start being rolled out, November 1st to to enterprise companies. And I think, you you know, you will see that that first iteration. Right? So now, kind of the big change and, you know, anyone that listens to the show knows that I’m Extremely excited about this, but maybe we can even talk about that. Like, do we think that Microsoft Copilot and the biggest change, if you haven’t heard of it, this is with and Generative AI being baked into the operating system, of of, you know, Windows machines or companies that, enable, kind of, 365 copilot. So you don’t have to log in to, you know, 5, 10 different websites.

Jordan Wilson [00:15:29]:

Generative AI is going to be on your desktop essentially in In working with all the programs, is that gonna be the 1st kind of big step that that we see enterprise, making in Gen AI, or do you think that’s just gonna be a a blip on the radar?

Christian Hammer [00:15:44]:

I I well, I that could actually be profound, that particular change. I’ve been using it already. We had early access to it, at Valla, and so we’ve been using it, and it’s it’s amazing, when it’s just baked into your operating system, like, how much impact it can have on you. I I think it is. It so I said it’s gonna be a profound change, but it is just that first piece. Mhmm. One of the parts of technology I’ve always found frustrating was our interface with it. I don’t think that, You know, when I was a kid growing up and we were talking about techno you know, what would happen with computers and technology as an advance, I don’t think any of us thought we’d still be sitting down at a computer with a keyboard and a mouse in front of a monitor.

Jordan Wilson [00:16:27]:

Mhmm.

Christian Hammer [00:16:28]:

I I think that we all envision something a lot more like the Star Trek universe where we might be talking to the computer or we might, It might be embedded in our classes or or something like that, that it would be more attuned to us and not us sitting down with it. So I I often wonder, and I and I’m hopeful for tools that were close, but just weren’t quite there such as, like, Alexa, Where the interface itself becomes something more comfortable for us to interface with, something more, we’re we’re more human, And text works very, very well for or sorry. Text. Voice works very, very well for that. I just think that the technology that’s been implemented as it is today is just It missed the mark. It wasn’t quite far enough in the direction of being a comfortable interface for us as humans. So I think that we start to go that way. I think what that starts this this goes to the topic of, like, what do jobs in the future look like.

Christian Hammer [00:17:26]:

I think a lot of it stops being in front of the computer. I think a lot of it stops being in front of these monitors and keyboards. I think that we start to. I had a conversation with my grandfather shortly after he retired when my career started, and neither one of us understood each other. I was trying to understand what he did every day. He, you know, he worked in a world before computers were in the office, and I worked in a world where only everything was on the computer. And I couldn’t understand how an executive A large organization could possibly do their job if they didn’t have a way to send out an email blast to be able to jump on a Zoom conference and chat, you know, the whole team. And he couldn’t understand how that worked at all and how you would interact you know, how you could have human interactions with it.

Christian Hammer [00:18:09]:

And And I’m starting to really understand that now and to say, like, it is about getting back to the human aspect of it. How do we motivate and inspire people to be the best version of themselves to accomplish, You know, the most that they can, and it doesn’t happen well in front of a computer monitor. It happens in person. And so if our technology interface can become more like us, and I think chat’s a step in that right direction, all of a sudden, we’re free to go spend time with each other and and to help each other out.

Making the future of work collaborative

Jordan Wilson [00:18:39]:

Interesting. Okay. I gotta follow-up on this one. So You’re you’re suggesting then, the future of work is maybe not like like probably me and you are right now. Right? Like, I’m glued in front of my big 2 monitors every day. Like, monitors follow me around like like, you know, the phone in my pocket, like the wallet in my pocket. There’s always monitors. So so you’re saying maybe future of work is is is not glued to monitors.

Jordan Wilson [00:19:05]:

No. It shouldn’t be.

Christian Hammer [00:19:05]:

Okay. I never I mean, I don’t think that we’re I think that it causes a lot of Problems for our health, for our mental well-being. I I don’t think we were meant to do this. And, being freed To interact in a in a very human way. In person, a collaboration, and having the technology become Almost background so that it’s it’s helping us and we’re not, you know, we’re not, just an extension of the technology, which is I honestly think that’s all we are today, everybody listening to this is probably sitting at a computer, and their job is probably sitting at a computer. That’s not The best way to interface with the world around us is not the best way to accomplish anything. The technology requires it today. I don’t think it does soon.

Christian Hammer [00:19:53]:

I think that we’re on the Precipice, wow, that was tough to say, of, that transformative moment when the technology becomes Just just part of our world, not not the thing that we have to interact with.

Jordan Wilson [00:20:08]:

Okay. So are we going full Ironman then? Are we saying, Uh-huh. Like, maybe maybe maybe I’m just, like, very nervous, Christian, because I’m I’m worried. I’m like, where are my monitors now? Right? Where am I seeing all my screens? So are you saying, like, more the future of work might be, like, wearables? Are you, like, you know, like, oh, you you know, Facebook or Meta, You know, has the the the Ray Ban glasses, you know, that have AI baked into them and, you know, in the display, and then you have, the Apple has their headset, which I don’t know how that thing’s gonna work when it’s, like, $20,000. But is so is that what you’re saying? Are we talking more Are we talking more wearables, or is the future of work literally just 2 humans talking in a room and and doing work? Because that sounds fun too.

Christian Hammer [00:20:51]:

The seamless interface between multiple different ways of interacting with the technology. So today, I I sit down, and, like, Apple’s actually not far away from this. When I sit down, if I have my iPad, my phone, or my laptop, they can I can share information between them? I can almost work between the different devices. This is very similar to, like, the Jarvis view of he’s got the helmet on, and then he’s sitting in his, you know, his lab, and he’s creating something new. I don’t think that that was far away from what we all desire is to have our data, our work, our, you know, all that stuff Come with us, and when we’re in a place where all I have with me is an audio, something that can listen and say, oh, Christian said, I’ve got a we should schedule a meeting for Tuesday. I’m gonna look through his calendar. I’m gonna connect up to Jordan’s calendar. I’m gonna find, You know what time it works for both of us in the background seamlessly.

Christian Hammer [00:21:43]:

I don’t I think that we’re not far away from that type of reality, And we already carry with us, all of us, I know, have a device with us that can listen to us. Now I personally I don’t like it listening to me today, But I but I think there’s a there’s a trust issue there. I don’t trust the providers to not, you know, sell my data to potentially a negative bad actor, but at the same time, I also don’t trust the technology to do, but I really want it to. If it was listening specifically to help me with things I want, I, you know, I do want it to listen and say, hey. Christian needs a meeting with Jordan. Let’s Schedule it, but I don’t want it to, like, listen to my conversation with my wife and make it you know, and to, like, share that with the world. So it it’s often the that desire and that need piece and then the protection of privacy and giving it the right levels of access to our world. And here’s where I think we have a big gap.

Christian Hammer [00:22:46]:

I think for that to work, you almost need your own AI agent that that exists with you on your technology that can make that determination, that can say, oh, Christian actually would be okay with that because I gave it and understanding of that. And until we have that, my view of how the technology becomes seamless in the background, Still requires our input. We would still have to say, hey. Turn on. Listen to me right now because when I’m talking to this person, I need notes about the meeting. I need to, you know, follow-up with a calendar invite, etcetera.

How are enterprises using predictive AI?

Jordan Wilson [00:23:20]:

Okay. Good. Like, so so what what I got out of this, which I’m Extremely excited about is I am going to turn into Ironman and just have my have my data follow me around everywhere. I’ve been waiting for this for a long time. So so let’s let’s actually peel it back though and and get back to enterprise AI because, Mike here has a great question. So, Mike, thanks for joining us. So Mike is asking, Christian, how are the enterprise AI teams utilizing a predictive AI? Because I think that That piece even goes to what we were kind of just talking about. Right? Because if, you know, kind of if the future if our work is kind of following us Everywhere we go on multiple devices, presumably, it’s going to know.

Jordan Wilson [00:23:59]:

Right? Like, if me and you have a meeting, it’s going to know what is required. So I guess, how does predictive AI, specifically in enterprise teams, come into play?

Christian Hammer [00:24:10]:

Well, Most predictive AI today in the enterprise is not being used for that type of use case. Generally, it’s being used To do things like, forward positioning of inventory so that when you do a, I order something from Amazon, it shows up next day. Or, it’s used to determine, your intent when you’re clicking around on the web to show you what ad that you’re going to see next. Right? Like, that’s typically where predictive systems are used today, where it starts to spill over into a future world where, you know, it starts to benefit us, in in more direct ways. And what companies are starting to look for is how do we somebody Somebody just wrote ambient computing, I love that, by the way, in the chat. That was a that was a great statement. Where predictive systems are gonna start to actually Start to have impact in the very near future is more, I think, around, The company has its own KPIs that are usually put in place to track against how are we doing as a company. And the 1st place we’re gonna start to see it is Most KPIs, most of the data that we’re actually using to make decisions is lagging.

Christian Hammer [00:25:23]:

And what we don’t have is how does that look going into the future. And so some of the very basic things I’ve seen already are like sales figures. How are we doing? What do we need to do to to improve? How do we need to you know, what do we, how are we tracking against our goals? And that’s the 1st place we’re starting to see it. You don’t see a tremendous amount in a in a lot of the, things that we’re talking about right now because there’s a large degree of distrust Within the especially in the very large enterprises around AI, and it’s a combination of factors of, like, promises not kept in the past. Like, web 3 was this huge thing. Everybody everything’s gonna be crypto. Everything’s gonna be edge compute. Right? Like, that didn’t happen.

Christian Hammer [00:26:05]:

And, I I think it’s so there’s a there’s a standing amount of distrust that sits there. Plus, we’re all grappling with that same question of what does this mean for me and Individually, but also what does it mean for the organization. And there aren’t a lot of great answers yet. So there’s not a lot of predictive AI that’s been implemented in anything outside of the the traditional I say traditional, like, this has been around forever, but, like, in the places we’ve been traditionally using it for the last decade.

Preparing for future AI careers

Jordan Wilson [00:26:35]:

You know, Christian, I I think so many people probably listening are in the position where number 1 like me, When you talk about this, I’m like, this is awesome. I’m excited. I want this. Right? But I think there’s a lot of people that work in enterprise companies, and they’re, decision makers. They’re they’re leaders in their department. So, you know, they may they may not necessarily, be able to make decisions on where the large company goes in terms of generative AI, but maybe they can help, you know, make policies or make recommendations on how to prepare. So as we look toward, you know, this this future careers, How can we actually all prepare for them? You know? Maybe if we can’t make the final decision, how can we at least make sure that us, our coworkers, you know, when everyone else can prepare for for these future careers.

Christian Hammer [00:27:28]:

I think it’s true no matter what. We’re in a age of Rapid change, and that change itself that is accelerating at a pace that’s hard to keep up with. And so my all my advice and Always has have a learning mindset. Look at what’s, you know, look at what’s happening and ask hard questions of yourself. Like, don’t take anything for granted on where you stand today. One for example, one thing I’ve told a great many young people in my life, including my nephew, is, There will always be software engineering jobs. There’s always gonna be more of them than you know, more need than there is avail, available people to do it. And I have to ask the question today, like, is that actually true? If all of a sudden the interface between the technology and ourselves isn’t in code, it’s in chat Or something like that.

Christian Hammer [00:28:15]:

Right? Is that still a true statement? So always be learning, always be asking questions. Scientific method is a wonderful thing that came out of the Renaissance, right, and it’s been a huge power force. Apply it to everything. When you see A new technology come up. Okay. What do I do today? How can I apply what I’m seeing to that? You I I can’t give you specifics about any particular job because I don’t know it. I don’t know, you know, what you do today. I don’t know what you do today.

Christian Hammer [00:28:43]:

I don’t know the specifics of your job, But I can say that if you look at the technologies as they come up and say, how would this benefit me? How would this make it easier for me to be successful? What you’re also asking is how is the company I work for going to apply this technology to what I’m doing? And if the if the answer is it eliminates the need for me, then all you really were was an interface to the technology anyway. You were just Translating from the company’s needs to the technology’s needs, and that means, you know, Frankly, your your role’s at risk of this technology, but I don’t think that’s what usually happens. I think that we’re All brought into a company for specific purpose. I’ll use my wife’s career as a great example. My wife’s in environmental health and safety. She’s been doing it for a very long time, has the alphabet soup after her name of all the certifications and degrees. Right? And her career is largely systems Related. Because, you know, there’s legislation around safety, so you’ve got policies written around legislation.

Christian Hammer [00:29:50]:

So you create technology to enforce The policies. And then what does somebody in a large company do? Well, they manage the technology that enforces the policy that lets them meet the legislation That gives them the results they hope for, but it doesn’t really do that because the desire is for the people not to get injured at work. Mhmm. It’s for people to not lose their life because of a job. Right? That’s why you’re hired, but all you’re doing is the technology. So if you could get back to the how do we stop people from getting injured And the technology just becomes background. It’s just an enabling thing that I don’t have to manage anymore. Great.

Christian Hammer [00:30:24]:

And I think that’s what’s actually starting to happen. And Will jobs disappear? There are certainly jobs that are gonna be lost over it. I mean, the the most obvious one to me is that autonomous driving ever actually happens. Truck drivers, forklift drivers, taxi drivers. Like, there are a millions of careers that are just doing that. That type of job does disappear.

Will careers become more technical?

Jordan Wilson [00:30:48]:

You know, one one thing, Christian, in the beginning of that response there, you kind of talked about software engineering, which I’m fascinated by because it it seems like and I’m I’m I’m pretty sure you have a little background there as well. So it seems like there’s a divide on that. Right? So either people are saying, oh, there’s going to be way more software engineering jobs, or on the very other side of the fence, people are saying, oh, Those those jobs are gonna be gone. You know? Look at, you know, GitHub Copilot, and look at all these other, you know, great Gen AI tools that can, you know, spit out code and, You know, even self, self heal or self improve, self QA. Right? And then you have, I believe it was, you know, Google, Google CEO, Sundar Pichai. I I know I always get that name wrong. That said software development and software engineering is is gonna become accessible to everyone. Is this maybe one of those things that maybe, maybe, just maybe, careers are gonna start to blend together.

Jordan Wilson [00:31:46]:

And and maybe, you know, you used to be in a very nontechnical role, but now your role expands and, you know, you’re doing some software engineering through the use of a of a Gen AI tool, but maybe you’re also kind of prompt engineering. Like, are Are we gonna see some blending where everyone, because of the accessibility and the lowered level of entry, where just about everyone is taking on some of these these technical skills that maybe weren’t part of their job description today or 5 years ago.

Christian Hammer [00:32:13]:

I I well, yes, on both fronts. So, my crew’s been about 30 years, and at the beginning of it, I would say that most companies needed a couple Technology, it’s not soft necessarily software engineer, but they needed a couple. And over time, that number’s expanded to where almost every company needs any company of any scale Needs a lot of software engineers because they’ve got a custom automate or connect, a bunch of different disparate systems. Most of those jobs though, if you look at how much time a software engineer at a large enterprise actually spends generating something new Versus fixing broken old or, you know, like dependency hell is something we’re all familiar with. The average software engineer at a large enterprise spends 17 hours per week doing nothing but dependency management. So now Now there are tools that are gonna come along and fix that. I’m currently working on 1 Paul AI is actually solving some of these problems. So, hopefully, the mundane and Manusha garbage jobs that a lot of us that have been in technology have been focused on can be handled for us.

Christian Hammer [00:33:22]:

And a lot of the low hanging automation that a lot of the people that we serve in our businesses gets handled. Like, Think of, like, how many times you get asked to create a dashboard for a big data analytics system or or, Somebody I I just think about most recent role at, TradeLens and before that at Wayfair where we had large teams of people that were just managing containers of, Like ocean canaders moving around the world. Right? And how many times they just needed a different way of getting access to that data and how many software engineers were spent, you know, hours weeks doing that. I think a lot of that goes

Jordan Wilson [00:33:58]:

away.

Christian Hammer [00:33:58]:

Does that diminish the number of software engineers that the large company needs? No. I I most of them need 10 times well, a year ago, needed 10 times as many as they had to really catch up to where they wanted to be. So maybe now it’s flattened out. Maybe now they can actually get to where they where they wanted to be because some of the stuff gets lifted by the the AI tools enabling anybody Solve their own problems. And some of the the grunge work gets taken out of it for the the software engineers that are in there, Thus freeing up the the the nascent and, you know, the talent that they’ve already got there to go do valuable and Value creation. Valuable value creation. That was great. They they could go actually start to do what they were really what they wanna be doing too.

Christian Hammer [00:34:42]:

I don’t think Anybody gets into software engineering and goes to school for all those years to sit down and worry about how dependencies interact and potentially break each other Or to dig through old code and figure out what it’s doing. I think they do it because they they enjoy the value creation or the the ability to create, this ingredient. So it’s a bit of both. I I do think that there’s a career still in software engineering, and I hope that it looks a lot more Like, why we got into it in the 1st place.

Christian’s final takeaway

Jordan Wilson [00:35:12]:

Yeah. And I I do think, yeah, future yeah. I I I mean, Christian, you mentioned, yeah, there’s definitely some jobs that AI is just going to negate the need for, but then I think there’s there’s roles that maybe we think, oh, yeah. This will be gone to AI, and maybe it just changes completely. And, You know, that’s that’s why I enjoyed having you on the show, and we’ve talked about so much, right, from from what does the future look like? Are we gonna have that Jarvis following us around To, you know, hardware, wearables, software engineering, you know, how we can automate things that maybe we don’t wanna do. So so we’ve we’ve talked about a lot here, and I I super appreciate your insights. But maybe what is that one takeaway that you want people to to to kind of, have from this conversation As we look at future careers in the age of enterprise AI, what is that one takeaway point, that that, you know, can really help people, be prepared for this and and and make the most, of this in their careers and in their companies.

Christian Hammer [00:36:07]:

Yeah. I I think that a lot of times we’re presented by these changes big or small, and we we wanna tackle it all at once. We wanna try and, say it, like, this profoundly changes everything, and how am I gonna adapt to it? And You don’t have to do that. If every day you can make today a little bit better than yesterday, if every day you could do a little bit more, you can free yourself to be more creative if that’s what you or you you accomplished more. First of all, that means that every day is the best day of your life if it’s a little bit better than the day before. Right? But second, it allows you to you can eventually climb a mountain if you if you plan each step and you take that step 1 at a time. We’re at a moment where the dystopian future that can happen from AI or the utopian future that can happen from things like AI are both possible, and what eventually comes of it is gonna come down to how we all respond to it. If we take a positive approach and look to solve the things that are painful and gross that we that, you know, as humans, we don’t really wanna do, We get closer to that positive outcome, but if instead we look for what’s in it solely for me, what is the you know, how how do I and Conquer the world with it.

Christian Hammer [00:37:20]:

If that’s what everybody’s doing, then we end up in the opposite path. So the more of us that can be focused on positive that can be trying to push in a good way to try and make the world a little bit better every day even if it’s just for us in a little way, The more likely we are to get that positive outcome. That’s what I’d leave you with.

Jordan Wilson [00:37:39]:

I love it. My gosh. I I am so excited to sign up for and utopian future. You got you you got me excited there. So so thank you, Christian. We we really appreciate, you sharing your insights on the future, careers, and enterprise AI. Thank you so much for joining the Everyday AI Show.

Christian Hammer [00:37:59]:

Thank you so much for having me. A lovely experience as always, Jordan. Love, chatting with you. Great to be here.

Jordan Wilson [00:38:05]:

Alright. And, hey, as a reminder, Hey. You wanna go sign up for team utopia with with me and Christian? Make sure to go to your everyday AI.com. And Sign up for the free daily newsletter. We always recap and go into even more depth. You think this was depth? We’re gonna even dig in deeper, And we always send out not just what’s happening in the world of AI news, but also breaking down our conversation each and every day, sharing with you more tips and more trends, how we can be and Team AI utopia together. So thank you for joining us, and hope to see you back on another episode of Everyday AI. Thanks y’all.

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Ep 132: Enterprise AI – Future Careers and How to Prepare