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Okay, so today we're diving into AI for business leaders.

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And you know, everyone's talking about AI,

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but we wanna cut through the hype

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and get to the practical stuff.

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What does it actually mean for you?

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So to help us with that, we've got some great insights

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from Linda Yao, COO of Lenovo's Solutions and Services Group.

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Yeah, and what's really interesting about Linda

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is she's actually seen like three different AI booms

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during her career, so it's not her first rodeo.

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Right.

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And every time, it wasn't just hype,

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there were actually real changes,

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you know, practical applications that came out of it.

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Yeah, it's not theoretical for her, right.

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Exactly.

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She's seeing it actually impact businesses,

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and she actually connects it back

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to something I thought was really interesting.

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Remember the whole Flash Boys thing with high-speed trading?

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She said that was AI too, you know,

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quietly revolutionizing Wall Street.

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Interesting, yeah.

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But now she sees it like expanding even further.

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Like every industry is gonna be touched by this

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in ways we're just starting to figure out.

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Yeah, and the important thing to remember here

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is it's not just about the tech companies like Lenovo

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that are building this stuff.

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It's about how AI is actually changing the playing field

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for everybody else.

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Yeah, and speaking of Lenovo,

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something I thought was really interesting

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about her approach is she's all about, you know,

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that saying eating your own cooking.

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Right.

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They're very much about testing these solutions

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internally first before they even think

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about bringing them to clients.

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Exactly, they wanna make sure that it works.

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And they have a great example,

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using AI to make their own supply chain more efficient.

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They actually cut shipping costs by like 10% just from that.

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So, you know, they're not just talking the talk.

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Yeah, it's reassuring.

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It's not just a concept, right?

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They're actually using this stuff themselves.

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Yeah.

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But okay, so with all this talk about practical AI,

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where do you even begin?

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Like as a business leader,

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it's like how do you even wrap your head around all this?

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Yeah, it can be overwhelming for sure.

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That's where Linda's four pillars come in.

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Okay.

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So it has this framework and it starts

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with a really powerful duo,

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security first and people next.

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Okay, so security first, people next.

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So it sounds like it's not just about the tech itself,

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it's about making sure that your systems

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and your team are ready for this whole AI driven future.

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Yeah, you have to have a really solid foundation.

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So robust security is obviously critical

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because you are gonna be dealing with a lot of data

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and you wanna protect that.

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And then the people aspect is huge too.

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You need to make sure that your workforce is, you know,

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comfortable and prepared for all these changes

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that AI is gonna bring.

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That resonates so much because you could have

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the most cutting edge AI tool in the world.

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But if your data is not secure

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or if your employees are afraid to even use it,

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you're kind of shooting yourself in the foot

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before you even begin, right?

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Exactly.

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And to help navigate that whole people aspect,

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Linda has this question that she says every business leader

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should be asking about every single task.

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And it's a good one.

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Will AI automate it, augment it or replace it entirely?

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Wow.

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And the answer to that has huge implications for,

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you know, your talent strategy, your training programs,

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how you manage your people in this age of AI.

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That's a big question, right?

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Because it gets to the heart of this whole like

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job security thing that everyone's worried about.

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But it sounds like Linda's not saying

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AI is coming for our jobs.

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It's more like how can AI help us be better

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at what we already do?

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Right, exactly.

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And it's interesting because once you've got

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that foundation in place, like you said,

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with the security, with the people,

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she says the other two pillars kind of fall into place,

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technology and process.

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You've built that foundation.

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And now you can actually start building with AI as a tool.

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It makes sense when you think about it that way, right?

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You've taken care of like the really important stuff,

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the security, making sure your people are on board.

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And now you can actually focus on,

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okay, how do we implement this in a way

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that actually makes our processes, our workflows better?

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Yeah, and by putting security first and people next,

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you're not just like mitigating risk.

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You're actually putting yourself in a position

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to actually really succeed with AI.

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Setting yourself up for success.

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Yeah, and not just from a tech standpoint,

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but from that human element too.

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But speaking of success,

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you know, one of the things that Linda talks about

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that I thought was really interesting is how AI

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is changing the way we use data to make decisions.

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Oh, absolutely.

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Data is everything, right?

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Right.

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She really believes that to unlock the potential of AI,

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you need good data.

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And it's all about creating this positive feedback loop

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where AI and data quality actually reinforce each other.

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So it's not even just about using AI.

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It's about AI kind of forcing us

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to get better at data in general.

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Like a lot of companies,

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that might seem like a huge undertaking.

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Yeah, it can be, but she sees it

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as like this positive challenge.

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I love this analogy she uses.

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She says, it's like a rising tide lifts all boats.

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Right.

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Even if you're not building like the next chat GPT.

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Right.

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Just the fact that there's this focus now

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on data quality.

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Yeah.

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Everyone's gonna benefit from that.

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It's a good way to look at it.

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Okay, but here's the question

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I think is on everybody's mind, right?

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Like does AI have the power to like totally disrupt

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business models as we know it?

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Her answer is basically, it has to.

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Right.

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If you think about the investment that's going into this,

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both in terms of like resources and people,

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for that investment to make sense,

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it has to lead to these like fundamental changes

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in how businesses work.

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So it's not even just about adopting a new technology.

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It's about changing how we work, how we think,

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how we solve problems.

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Exactly.

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And she really emphasizes that skill development

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is gonna be critical for people to,

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navigate this successfully.

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Yeah.

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And it's not just about like coding

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or understanding algorithms.

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It's about being adaptable, being able to problem solve,

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think critically, learn new things

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as this whole AI landscape changes.

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And she uses a good analogy to kind of illustrate this point.

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She talks about how, think about electricity, right?

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The internet, even mobile phones.

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Like every time we've had one of these big technological

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shifts, there's this fear that like,

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oh, it's gonna be the end of jobs as we know it.

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But what happens?

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We adapt.

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That's right.

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History repeats itself, right?

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Yeah.

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And just like those things led to all sorts of new

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opportunities and industries and ways of life,

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AI is gonna do the same thing.

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Right.

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It's about finding the opportunity and the disruption,

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but we gotta acknowledge the elephant in the room here,

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which is, will AI take our jobs?

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It's a fair question, right?

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Like it's the one everyone's wondering about.

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It is.

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And Linda actually says, it's an opportunity, not a threat.

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Instead of thinking about AI taking our jobs,

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we should be thinking about how we can use AI to,

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you know, learn new things, specialize.

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So almost like it's pushing us up the value chain.

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Exactly.

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Think about it, like a few years ago,

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nobody was talking about prompt engineers.

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And now that's a real job, a high paying job.

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So AI is creating these new opportunities,

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even as it changes existing ones.

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So true.

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It's like, yeah, some things might become obsolete,

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but there's gonna be this whole new landscape of jobs

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that we can't even imagine yet.

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And Linda actually makes the point that AI could even make

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our work more enjoyable, which I thought was interesting.

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It's like, what if it takes over all the boring stuff,

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the repetitive stuff, and then we get to actually focus

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on the things that are, you know,

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more creative, more strategic.

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Right.

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Working smarter, not harder.

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And I think that's a perfect segue into one of our other

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big points, which is,

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you gotta have realistic expectations.

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Okay, so no magic bullets.

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Right.

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AI is not gonna solve all your problems overnight.

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It's a tool, a powerful tool, but it's not a magic wand.

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Yeah.

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And to really get the most out of it,

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you have to be smart about how you use it.

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So it's about finding those specific use cases, right?

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Like what problems can AI actually solve for my business,

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not just jumping on the bandwagon

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because it's the cool new thing.

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Exactly.

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Find the right tool for the job.

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And that's where she says,

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experimentation is really important.

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Don't be afraid to kind of get your hands dirty.

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Try things out and see what sticks, see what works for you.

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So if you're listening to this, think about like,

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what are your biggest pain points at work right now?

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Could AI be part of that solution?

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Maybe it's automating something.

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Maybe it's helping you analyze data better.

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Maybe it's, you know,

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personalizing your customer interactions,

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or even just freeing up your team's time

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so that they can focus on more strategic stuff.

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Right, the possibilities are really endless,

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but you gotta start somewhere.

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Exactly.

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And you know, I love how Linda puts it.

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She says, this AI journey is just beginning

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and your involvement is crucial.

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Don't be a bystander.

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Jump in, ask questions,

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and you know, really be a part of shaping

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how this technology is gonna transform our world.

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It's an exciting time to be in business.

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It really is.

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Well, on that note, this has been an awesome deep dive.

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Thanks for joining us today,

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and we'll catch you next time

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for another look beyond the buzzwords.