Kodak Or Power Tools?

What does the new wave of AI mean for your business? Is it more of a “Power Tools” moment OR a “Film” moment?

Despite the firehose of AI prophecies flooding our feeds with

“Convert your whole business to AI or watch it wither and die.”,

I’m going to play the contrarian and recommend simply asking whether the influence of AI on your business is more like the historic transition of:
– film -> digital

OR

– hand tools -> power tools (hint - this is most of us).

For Kodak, the introduction of digital changed everything because their revenue stream, supply chain, distribution, etc. were based on film. Not only did the introduction of digital relegate the use of film to niche projects, it also eliminated wait times, made consumption/sharing trivial, and enabled endless, cost-free experimentation and multiple shots (for quality). For Kodak, the arrival of digital camera technology was an apocalyptic, four-horsemen event.

By contrast, in the housing industry, the introduction of power tools enabled faster, more efficient execution of their existing business model. That model not only persisted, but was strengthened due to the improved tooling. Further, those improvements served to shine a light on other parts of the business that were slow, but which had historically escaped attention due to the snail’s pace of physical construction. Result? Even more strengthening of the existing business model.

Yes, there are a few businesses that are having to deal with their own Kodak moment right now, but for the vast majority, this is a power tools moment. Your business fundamentals will remain unchanged while some of your employees take advantage of some cool new tools.

But also recognize that these early power tools (LLMs) are currently nowhere near the maturity of your favorite Dewalt out in the garage. The current AI tools are still like those first-generation power tools that your rich friend always bought before the manufacturers had the kinks worked out and the prices came down due to manufacturing efficiencies.

By all means, enable and embrace what makes sense, but also encourage your senior staff (especially the engineers) to exercise discernment on:

• 3rd party cloud (paying for metered tokens) vs your company hosted vs locally run. This is changing, and fast. What benefits an AI company over their skis financially doesn’t necessarily benefit your business.
• Backup/restore strategies. Experimentation with early tools should always necessitate this.
• Security and predictability that protect both your customers and your brand
• BONUS: For Pete’s sake, resist bolting on “AI” as a feature to your products. Is it an enabler of a real feature? Maybe. Be wise. Your customers will thank you.

Unless you are Kodak (you would know if you are), you have plenty of time to figure out this new power tools world without making rash, costly decisions.

Have fun with it!