A New Lighthouse is On!

On People, Robots, and Love. All new Lighthouse!

Welcome to your NEW Lighthouse!

Friends, I’m excited to unveil a new Lighthouse! Redesigned by our team to keep you at the forefront of innovation and career growth in pursuit of true innovation unlocks in the Age of AI.

Each edition will now be organized into three dynamic sections: People, Robots, and Love.

In People, we'll spotlight remarkable achievements and share insights that empower you, the innovation champion.

Robots will dive into the latest in tech, including essential tools and transformative processes.

Finally, Love will explore themes of personal growth and learning. With technology becoming abundant, people, their ability to change and grow become the true unlock.

I believe this package will truly provide a set value not found in any other newsletter.

Join us as we explore these new dimensions together.

— Matt Leta, CEO Future Works.

In today's lineup:

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 People

  • Innovation Champion: Ted Chiang, acclaimed science-fiction writer.

  • OpenAI Co-Founder Launches His Own Start-Up.

  • NASA Partners with SpaceX on $843 Million ISS Deorbit Initiative.

🤖 Robots

  • AI Boom's Surprising Early Winners are “Consulting Firms”

  • 10 Breakthrough Technologies of 2024: MIT Technology Review

  • 1 Process & 1 Tool: Width AI and Atlassian Rovo.

❤️ Love

  • Hero’s journey: NVIDIA, a journey of Taiwanese immigrant.

  • Personal development: Good Negotiations.

  • Personal Growth: SHU HA RI - A learning Japanese model.

Reading time: 9 min.

PEOPLE 🧑‍🤝‍🧑

Innovation Champion 🏆

Introducing Ted Chiang, the acclaimed science-fiction writer whose meticulously crafted stories delve into profound questions about technology and humanity. Recently, he's gained attention for his incisive critiques of AI and its societal implications, challenging the metaphors used to describe complex technological phenomena. Chiang's unique perspective not only enriches our understanding of AI but also prompts us to rethink its ethical and societal dimensions through his thought-provoking narratives.

Ilya Sutskever, co-founder of OpenAI, has started a new company, Safe Superintelligence. This venture aims to create AI that surpasses human intelligence without posing risks. This move follows his controversial role in the removal of OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman. Safe Superintelligence is committed to developing advanced AI technologies that are both safe and beneficial.

Why This Matters 
Ilya Sutskever's new venture highlights a significant shift in AI leadership and priorities, emphasizing safety and ethics. For innovation leaders, this move highlights the importance of ethical considerations and responsible AI practices. Staying informed about these developments can help leaders navigate potential risks while seizing new opportunities in AI advancements.

NASA has awarded SpaceX a contract worth up to $843 million to develop the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle, designed to safely deorbit the International Space Station (ISS) at the end of its operational life in 2030. This vehicle will ensure the controlled disposal of the ISS, facilitating a smooth transition to planned commercial space stations.

Why This Matters 
This partnership with SpaceX marks a key moment in space operations, signaling a shift from government-led initiatives to commercial space ventures. For innovation leaders, it underscores the growing role of private companies in space exploration, highlighting new opportunities and collaborations in the expanding space economy. Understanding these dynamics is essential for strategic planning and investment in the rapidly evolving space sector.

ROBOTS 🤖

Consulting giants like Boston Consulting Group, McKinsey & Company, and KPMG are emerging as unexpected early winners of the AI boom. These firms are experiencing significant revenue growth as they assist businesses in navigating the complexities of adopting generative AI technologies.

Why This Matters 
The growing demand for AI expertise underscores the importance of consulting firms in helping businesses integrate advanced technologies. Managers, executives, and founders can benefit from understanding the critical role these firms play in overcoming challenges and seizing opportunities for innovation and transformation through AI.

MIT Technology Review has unveiled its list of ten groundbreaking technologies set to make a significant impact in 2024. Highlights include Apple's Vision Pro mixed-reality headset, advanced computing chiplets, exascale supercomputers, and thermal batteries for clean energy storage. Spanning fields from biotechnology and artificial intelligence to climate tech and robotics, these innovations are poised to shape the future.

Why This Matters
These emerging technologies have the potential to drive transformative change across various industries. For managers, executives, and founders, understanding and leveraging these advancements is crucial for strategic planning, investment decisions, and identifying new growth opportunities, ensuring they stay ahead in the fast-evolving tech landscape.

One Process 💡

Specializes in consulting and developing machine learning and data science software solutions. It helps businesses gain a competitive edge with ML & AI by automating large parts of their workflow, enhancing product capabilities, or creating AI-based software solutions.

One significant improvement you can achieve with Width.ai is automating your invoice processing and extracting data from invoices in 6 easy steps:

  1. Plan the Integration: Incorporate the new system into your current invoice processing workflows.

  2. Configure the Software: Set up the invoice capture software to read your invoices.

  3. Refine the Architecture: Optimize the system for processing your specific invoices.

  4. Set Up Data Storage: Configure where and how the extracted data will be stored.

  5. Process Invoices: Begin processing your invoices with the new system.

  6. Monitor the Process: Continuously measure and monitor the system's performance.

Tool Spotlight 🔧

Atlassian Rovo unlocks enterprise knowledge by leveraging generative AI to help teams make better decisions and reach goals faster. It supports integrations with popular SaaS apps to find, learn, and act on critical information efficiently.

Effortlessly locate relevant data, engage in intelligent conversations, and automate complex tasks with specialized virtual agents, all within a seamless interface.

  • Unified Search: Search once to find every answer across all your selected SaaS apps, bringing clarity to scattered data.

  • Intelligent Conversations: Use Rovo Chat to gain insights, connect with teams, and refine knowledge.

  • Rovo Agents: Deploy specialized agents for tasks like content creation and workflow automation, with no-code custom options.

  • Workflow Management: Automate tasks like drafting designs and progressing Jira issues.

  • Custom Agents: Use pre-built agents or create your own with a no-code interface.

Nerd Corner 🤓

Systemic AI

AI systems like OpenAI's GPT-4 and Google's Gemini respond to prompts using probabilistic models. These models learn patterns from vast datasets and use probabilities to generate responses.

In active inference, Systemic AI forms the initial development stage, providing probabilistic responses. Active inference builds on this by continuously updating beliefs, reducing uncertainty, and improving predictions.

Active inference refines the foundational probabilistic responses established by Systemic AI.

Key Characteristics:

  • Training-Based Knowledge: Responses are based on patterns learned during training.

  • Probabilistic Responses: Generates responses based on the likelihood of certain outcomes.

  • Static Knowledge: Knowledge does not update in real-time post-training.

  • Efficiency and Scale: Processes and generates responses quickly and at scale.

  • Black Box Nature: Decision-making process is often opaque and difficult to interpret.

LOVE ❤️

Hero’s Journey ☄️

Jensen Huang

Jensen Huang’s journey from a Taiwanese immigrant learning English to the CEO of NVIDIA epitomizes a hero's quest. NVIDIA, a pioneer in GPU technology, drives advances in AI, HPC, gaming, creative design, autonomous vehicles, and robotics. Recently, NVIDIA’s market capitalization surpassed $3.4 trillion, exceeding the stock markets of Germany, France, and the UK.

Huang’s early life was marked by perseverance, learning ten new English words daily with his mother's help. Excelling academically, he graduated from Oregon State and earned a master’s from Stanford. In 1993, he co-founded NVIDIA with $40,000, leading it to revolutionize the tech landscape with continuous innovation.

Today, Huang, married to his college sweetheart and known for his casual style, remains focused on navigating NVIDIA through the digital age. His story underscores the importance of ambitious goals, perseverance, and relentless innovation for achieving extraordinary success.

Personal Development 📚

Introduction to Negotiation:

A Strategic Playbook for Becoming a Principled and Persuasive Negotiator.

Offered by Yale, this course enhances your negotiation skills by teaching you to:

  • Make principled arguments that persuade.

  • Uncover underlying interests beyond surface conflicts.

  • Predict, interpret, and influence competitive behaviors.

By the end, you'll navigate negotiations with confidence and insight.

Personal Growth 🌱

Image source: management30.coom

Shu-Ha-Ri is a learning model from Japanese martial arts applied to Agile development and organizational learning. It enhances structured skill development and supports Agile transformation.

  1. Shu (Follow): Beginners strictly follow one master’s teachings to master basic tasks, focusing on imitation and absorbing foundational skills.

  2. Ha (Branch Out): Learners understand principles, explore other sources, and integrate new methods, encouraging experimentation and adaptation.

  3. Ri (Innovate): Experts innovate based on their experiences, creating their own approaches and continuously improving, fostering self-directed learning and mastery.

This model is crucial for Agile adoption, helping team members experience tools deeply and change their mindset. It creates learning organizations, encourages continuous improvement, and leverages collective intelligence for better performance and innovation.

In Culture 🤌

Before you go 🚦

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THAT’S A WRAP! 🚀

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— Matt and the Future Works team