Great article by Katelynn Santiago about the AI Innovation Discovery services that I provide in partnership with Zweig Group. Thank you, Katelynn! 

Successful adoption requires effective communication, testing, and involvement of all potential users.
Has your firm been struggling to implement a new process or new tool throughout the org chart? You may think you’re having a hard time because the new shiny thing just isn’t a good fit for your firm, or maybe your idea-vetting process isn’t working, or maybe the rollout wasn’t clear. No matter your reason, new ideas have always been hard to accept. Humans are not accustomed to rapid changes, and the world around us is evolving quickly. We are coming up with new ideas every day on how to improve our workplaces, advance ourselves technologically, or just communicate better. All of these are forms of innovation, and innovation is how we improve ourselves and our collective lives.

“Innovation” has become a buzzword. Leaders in firms are trying to find the next best innovation – whether they call it that or not. But they are often thinking of solely technological innovations. This type of thinking can limit the potential of a firm. Innovation, according to Everette Rogers in his book Diffusion of Innovations, is “an idea, practice, or object that is perceived as new.” You can look at the most recent Apple unveiling event to see how far technological innovations have come with the introduction of their new virtual and augmented reality headsets. But you can also see where they’ve plateaued – when will the MacBook not have a bevel and when will its web cam quality finally catch up? You can also look to AI and its rapid expansion into the workplace for how innovations can diffuse into new contexts. Zweig Group has been a part of starting the conversation around integrating AI into the AEC industry because we know it has the potential to change the industry from all sides.

But, as mentioned above, we are not accustomed to change. With rapidly developing technologies like AI, no one can know how well an innovation will be integrated from the start. If you want an innovation to stick, you must begin by communicating the advantages to the groups that will use them. In this way, innovative communication has the potential to have the biggest impact on any idea. This means leaders need to understand how information is being shared across a company through its different business groups. Ideas spread fast in likeminded groups, so identifying the most influential people in each business group and getting them bought in to a new idea should be one of the first steps taken when fielding a new idea to your company.

If leaders are the only ones fully in the know of what new ideas, products, and processes are coming down into the rest of the org chart, that’s inviting pushback and could have a negative impact on adoption rate. Pushing new ideas onto a group will create reluctant adoption which in turn can build resentment and ultimately push people out if they don’t feel like they have a choice. This can be avoided if those deciding – or even the ones creating – innovations include the users in the creation and adoption process.

Again, from Rogers’ book, if an innovation is to be effectively adopted by a group, its relative advantage of use must be clearly stated without being overly complex. The innovation must be thoroughly tested and observed as being compatible with the needs of the potential users. For example, if an innovation is brought forward by an employee in a firm and understood to be useful, but that benefit is only explained once to leadership before being established as a new standard practice without being tested by other parts of the company, that innovation is likely to fail. It wouldn’t fail because the innovation was poorly designed or hard to use, but because the advantage was not tested or communicated effectively with all potential users. Without communication, innovations cannot be adopted. If innovations are not adopted, we cannot elevate our industry.

If you are looking to elevate your firm, the AI Innovation Discovery service now offered by Zweig Group is designed to help identify areas of your firm that have the potential to adopt innovative ideas: a new process, a new product, a new way of communicating. We will walk you through exercises in a workshop format that will center your firm’s and employees’ needs around the problem, so that the final solution fits your firm’s unique situation. Click here to learn more. 

AI Innovation Discovery 
We provide valuable insight into how to best understand and seamlessly merge and adapt AI into your organizational structure. Let us guide you and optimize the impact of AI on your operations, identify areas where AI can be implemented, and develop a roadmap for successful AI adoption. Click here to learn more!

Zweig Group, three times on the Inc. 500/5000 list, is the industry leader and premiere authority in AEC firm management and marketing, the go-to source for data and research, and the leading provider of customized learning and training. Zweig Group exists to help AEC firms succeed in a complicated and challenging marketplace through services that include: Mergers & Acquisitions, Strategic Planning, Valuation, Executive Search, Board of Director Services, Ownership Transition, Marketing & Branding, and Business Development Training. The firm has offices in Dallas and Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Excerpt from: https://www.acec.org/news/last-word-blog/post/ai-the-future-is-now/​

ACEC hosted today the first in what will be a four-part webinar series on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its potential implications for the AEC industry. Today’s session, “An Intro to AI in the AEC Industry,” featured JAM Idea Agency’s Kristin Kautz sharing an overview of what AI is (and isn’t), how it works, and why it matters.

Kautz opened the session by assuring the more than 100 live webinar attendees that her presentation was “human generated,” which she then noted will likely become a routine disclaimer as AI improves and grows. To demonstrate that constant evolution, Kautz also said her presentation was 27 hours old – and that in the one day and three hours since she developed the presentation, AI had changed. “At some point,” she said, “you have to stop updating.”

That drove home the exponential growth of AI, which Kautz called “a marathon you can’t sit out,” and one that has no finish line. She went on to say that AI will create a seismic shift in our workplace and our industry, noting that the technology will enable businesses to automate tasks, freeing up time and resources to focus on what technology can’t accomplish. “I want AI to help humans get to really good stuff,” said Kautz.

Kautz cited a McKinsey study that determined AI and other technologies have the potential to automate activities that today absorb 60 to 70 percent of workers’ time. The same study also found that AI could add the equivalent of $2.6 to $4.4 trillion annually to the global economy.

Ironically, despite fears that AI will “replace humans,” Kautz contends that AI actually has the potential to up the “happiness quotient” in workplaces. She cited as one example AI’s ability to both streamline and speed up the onboarding process. By making new employees feel more connected to an organization, and doing so more quickly, employers can reduce attrition and increase engagement. With studies showing that suboptimal onboarding can leave new hires uncertain about their new roles, and as our industry continues to contend with workforce shortages, orienting new employees is one immediate benefit AI could bring to firms.

But beyond that, the sky is the limit. “Think about what you hate to do every day [in your work],” said Kautz, happily noting as an example an AI program that can eliminate the need to attend meetings. “Think about what you like. What problems need solving? Start with that.” This is technology that is here to stay – and is only going to get bigger, better, and more effective. “AI is not perfect,” Kautz said. “But I promise you; it’s going to get there.”