WEBVTT - The Future of Work 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:07.800 Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 0:00:12.039 --> 0:00:14.760 Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 0:00:14.880 --> 0:00:18.240 Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with iHeart Radio. And 0:00:18.280 --> 0:00:21.759 how the tech are you today? I want to talk 0:00:21.800 --> 0:00:26.319 about how small businesses are leveraging tech and how the 0:00:26.360 --> 0:00:30.280 intersection of small business and tech is shaping the future 0:00:30.360 --> 0:00:34.280 of work. But before we jump into that, let's talk 0:00:34.400 --> 0:00:38.720 a bit about the recent past. And we all know 0:00:39.280 --> 0:00:42.840 that COVID nineteen caused a level of disruption that your 0:00:42.920 --> 0:00:48.199 typical Silicon Valley startup founder would only dream of. We 0:00:48.360 --> 0:00:52.120 use that word in tech a lot, disruption, and and 0:00:52.200 --> 0:00:56.960 typically it's shorthand for we're doing this thing that's been 0:00:57.000 --> 0:00:59.880 done by other companies for ages, only we're doing it 0:01:00.080 --> 0:01:06.280 different and better. But COVID nineteen wasn't entirely different level 0:01:06.360 --> 0:01:11.320 of disruption. By the summer of twenty twenty, of small 0:01:11.360 --> 0:01:15.000 businesses had closed due to the pandemic, and some of 0:01:15.040 --> 0:01:20.000 them would never reopen. More would close over the following months, 0:01:20.040 --> 0:01:22.360 and a lot of small businesses happen to be ones 0:01:22.440 --> 0:01:27.280 that are disproportionately affected by requirements like social distancing. I'm 0:01:27.280 --> 0:01:30.840 talking about your restaurants, your nail salons, your barbershops, your 0:01:30.840 --> 0:01:34.399 tattoo parlors, and what have you. But we also saw 0:01:34.600 --> 0:01:38.920 communities rally around local small businesses that we saw an 0:01:38.920 --> 0:01:42.920 outpouring of support that buoyed businesses that otherwise would have 0:01:42.920 --> 0:01:47.480 been struggling to remain open. And we saw innovation. In fact, 0:01:47.520 --> 0:01:51.760 we saw tons of innovation. And I'm sure you have 0:01:52.080 --> 0:01:57.280 all heard the saying that necessity is the mother of invention. 0:01:58.000 --> 0:02:01.080 And if you need any proof that that saying is 0:02:01.120 --> 0:02:03.840 absolutely true, just look at the massive trends we saw 0:02:03.960 --> 0:02:09.840 over the last two years. Companies embraced digitization. Even companies 0:02:09.960 --> 0:02:13.280 that happened so much as dipped their corporate toe into 0:02:13.320 --> 0:02:17.560 the digital landscape found ways to pivot and to adapt. 0:02:18.400 --> 0:02:20.919 I can't even tell you how many stories I heard 0:02:21.080 --> 0:02:24.760 about how companies found ways to keep doing business and 0:02:24.840 --> 0:02:29.320 what I would call beyond difficult circumstances. But let me 0:02:29.400 --> 0:02:33.800 share my own experience, and I realized anecdotal evidence isn't 0:02:33.800 --> 0:02:36.720 really evidence, but I think like it's a it's a 0:02:36.840 --> 0:02:41.239 use case kind of. So obviously I podcast for I 0:02:41.360 --> 0:02:44.760 Heart Radio well before the pandemic. The way that worked 0:02:44.840 --> 0:02:48.160 is I would go into our office in Atlanta. I 0:02:48.160 --> 0:02:50.360 would book one of our studios we have four of 0:02:50.400 --> 0:02:53.000 them in the office, and I would record one or 0:02:53.040 --> 0:02:56.079 more episodes sitting in a sound booth while my producer 0:02:56.120 --> 0:03:00.520 Tari sat outside the sound booth monitoring the recording in 0:03:00.520 --> 0:03:03.720 real time, marking down all the little moments where I 0:03:03.800 --> 0:03:06.520 made a flub so that she could edit them out later. 0:03:07.000 --> 0:03:10.560 Some episodes had a lot of those markups in them. 0:03:10.600 --> 0:03:15.440 And then March twenty happened. That was a Friday, the thirteenth. 0:03:15.520 --> 0:03:19.800 Fittingly enough, that was the last day our office was 0:03:19.880 --> 0:03:23.280 open before we went into lockdown. Now, I know that 0:03:23.840 --> 0:03:27.840 because for the longest time, all the desk calendars in 0:03:27.880 --> 0:03:30.160 our office, the ones that require someone to you know, 0:03:30.280 --> 0:03:34.680 physically change them. Anyone who had a desk calendar, it 0:03:34.760 --> 0:03:38.680 was stuck on March thirteenth. I know that because on 0:03:38.880 --> 0:03:43.559 rare occasions, I had to go to the office pretty infrequently. 0:03:43.680 --> 0:03:48.560 But it did happen, so our whole operation had to 0:03:48.600 --> 0:03:53.320 shift to remote work. Now my show publishes daily, so 0:03:53.480 --> 0:03:57.960 there was no real gap in publication. We secured microphones 0:03:58.160 --> 0:04:02.240 for all the hosts. We established cloud storage solutions to 0:04:02.320 --> 0:04:04.960 upload all the audio files because you know, we're no 0:04:05.000 --> 0:04:09.800 longer recording them directly to studio computers. Our producers adapted 0:04:09.920 --> 0:04:14.400 to edit and publish shows offsite while they were working remotely. 0:04:14.760 --> 0:04:20.520 The whole operation changed from this centralized arrangement to a 0:04:20.600 --> 0:04:24.520 distributed one. March thirteenth, we're in the office. March six 0:04:25.080 --> 0:04:29.279 we're recording from home. And here's the amazing thing. Nearly 0:04:29.320 --> 0:04:32.920 every show on the network did this without an interruption 0:04:33.000 --> 0:04:36.200 in production. Now, there were kinks that had to be 0:04:36.240 --> 0:04:38.640 ironed out. Of course, not everything worked perfectly out of 0:04:38.680 --> 0:04:41.800 the box, but we adapted. To this day, our office 0:04:41.839 --> 0:04:45.680 tends to be pretty quiet. Even as things have opened up. 0:04:46.080 --> 0:04:49.960 People have adapted their work styles. We use digital collaborative 0:04:49.960 --> 0:04:54.039 project management solutions to work together. We use online video 0:04:54.120 --> 0:04:57.680 conferencing services in order to have meetings. We even have 0:04:57.880 --> 0:05:02.080 web based studio solutions to record episodes with multiple hosts. 0:05:02.480 --> 0:05:05.440 You know, when we first started, everyone was recording natively 0:05:05.520 --> 0:05:07.920 on their own devices, and a producer had to mix 0:05:07.920 --> 0:05:11.479 it all together. Now we're actually using tools that allow 0:05:11.600 --> 0:05:14.200 us to do like a studio recording, but it's a 0:05:14.279 --> 0:05:18.279 virtual one. Uh Me. I don't have to worry about 0:05:18.320 --> 0:05:22.120 that very often because I'm a solo host, but you know, 0:05:22.440 --> 0:05:24.560 I've got it. I do use it whenever I do 0:05:24.640 --> 0:05:27.279 interviews and things like that. Now, the way we do 0:05:27.320 --> 0:05:31.159 work in our office has fundamentally changed, and I believe 0:05:31.200 --> 0:05:34.080 at least some of that change is permanent. I think 0:05:34.120 --> 0:05:36.920 I'll see people in the office more regularly in the future. 0:05:37.560 --> 0:05:40.599 But I really do believe that a hybrid approach is 0:05:40.640 --> 0:05:44.120 how will work from here on out for most of us. 0:05:44.839 --> 0:05:48.599 And that's true for tons of other businesses as well, 0:05:48.960 --> 0:05:53.239 even for those businesses that cannot adopt a hybrid approach. 0:05:53.560 --> 0:05:58.159 We've seen some massive moves toward digitizing work processes, whether 0:05:58.320 --> 0:06:04.640 it's adopting online payment strategies or instituting digitized payroll services. 0:06:05.040 --> 0:06:08.440 Small businesses have evolved more in the past two years 0:06:08.960 --> 0:06:11.560 than they had in the previous decade. Now there is 0:06:11.560 --> 0:06:14.600 a lot of technology that has made all of this possible. 0:06:15.440 --> 0:06:17.440 I've been in the workforce for a long time, so 0:06:17.520 --> 0:06:20.719 I've seen some big changes in tech. When I first 0:06:20.720 --> 0:06:24.200 started in the workforce, which was not at how Stuff 0:06:24.240 --> 0:06:27.719 Works or Stuff Media or I Heart Radio, it was 0:06:27.760 --> 0:06:31.280 in a consulting firm. Well, when I first started, your 0:06:31.279 --> 0:06:36.080 average employee workstation was a desktop computer, typically a tower 0:06:36.600 --> 0:06:39.039 that was connected to a big old monitor. I'm talking 0:06:39.040 --> 0:06:43.600 about the CRT monitors, not exactly a portable solution. That's 0:06:43.600 --> 0:06:45.359 where your workstation was, That's where you had to do 0:06:45.400 --> 0:06:49.440 your work. If COVID nineteen had hit back in those days, 0:06:49.560 --> 0:06:53.480 I'm honestly not certain how or even if companies could 0:06:53.480 --> 0:06:55.640 have adapted in the wake of it, at least not 0:06:56.279 --> 0:07:01.159 without potentially putting their employees in danger. But today we 0:07:01.279 --> 0:07:06.440 have portable solutions. Lightweight laptops are commonplace. In fact, in 0:07:07.040 --> 0:07:12.280 our office pretty much everyone has one, and improvements in 0:07:12.320 --> 0:07:16.440 battery technology and more to the point, power management with laptops, 0:07:16.880 --> 0:07:19.680 I mean that a laptop can last a lot longer 0:07:20.720 --> 0:07:23.080 on a battery, even if you know you don't have 0:07:23.320 --> 0:07:25.760 an outlet to plug into at the moment. They can 0:07:25.840 --> 0:07:28.400 last a lot longer than the clunky, heavy things I 0:07:28.520 --> 0:07:31.280 used to work on back in my college days. Uh 0:07:31.680 --> 0:07:36.000 way back then, I remember having a laptop, although I 0:07:36.000 --> 0:07:38.040 wouldn't call it a laptop because if you were to 0:07:38.040 --> 0:07:40.560 put on your lap you would crush your legs. It 0:07:40.640 --> 0:07:43.640 was a portable computer that was like a very heavy suitcase. 0:07:43.880 --> 0:07:46.800 I almost think of it as like like one of 0:07:46.800 --> 0:07:49.520 those things you would see in a spy movie, except 0:07:49.520 --> 0:07:53.280 not as cool. Now, modern laptops make it possible for 0:07:53.320 --> 0:07:55.640 you to do your work from anywhere, right, I mean, 0:07:55.680 --> 0:08:00.360 that's their purpose. And before the pandemic, anywhere usually meant 0:08:00.400 --> 0:08:02.920 wherever I was traveling for work, like if I was 0:08:02.960 --> 0:08:05.400 going to c E s or to eat three or something, 0:08:05.440 --> 0:08:09.160 I would bring my laptop with me. But today it 0:08:09.280 --> 0:08:12.360 really does mean anywhere, and as things open up, working 0:08:12.400 --> 0:08:14.880 from anywhere can actually be really nice. For a couple 0:08:14.880 --> 0:08:19.000 of years, anywhere really just meant my office in my house, 0:08:19.120 --> 0:08:22.360 like it's actually a spared room. It's a guest room 0:08:22.400 --> 0:08:25.480 that we turned into an office slash studio for me. 0:08:26.200 --> 0:08:30.520 But now now that things are opening up, anywhere can 0:08:30.560 --> 0:08:33.520 also include stuff like the patio at a local coffee 0:08:33.520 --> 0:08:35.800 shop if I want to go there to research and 0:08:35.840 --> 0:08:40.160 write an episode. Patio culture in Atlanta is serious business. 0:08:40.200 --> 0:08:43.520 We love al fresco dining during that sweet spot in 0:08:43.559 --> 0:08:47.079 the spring just before the weather gets too hot. We're 0:08:47.120 --> 0:08:49.880 starting to creep toward the too hot right now, so 0:08:50.320 --> 0:08:53.480 get those patio days in why you can at Lantern's. Now. 0:08:53.480 --> 0:08:58.080 On top of that, in the old days, the computer 0:08:58.400 --> 0:09:01.240 was really where all the power was like your computer 0:09:01.400 --> 0:09:03.840 was where all the power was. And by that I 0:09:03.880 --> 0:09:08.120 meant we had to depend upon our PC to provide 0:09:08.200 --> 0:09:10.679 all the processing and all the storage that we were 0:09:10.720 --> 0:09:14.920 relying upon. Some companies had their own servers that would 0:09:15.000 --> 0:09:18.040 let you save documents to a company network drive, so 0:09:18.600 --> 0:09:22.000 you were saving your files to a server rather than 0:09:22.080 --> 0:09:25.920 your work computer. But you know, your computer was really 0:09:26.080 --> 0:09:29.840 your enabler and also the limiting factor on what you 0:09:29.960 --> 0:09:33.880 could do. But the emergence of cloud and edge computing 0:09:33.960 --> 0:09:38.960 services have completely changed that as well. Cloud services, whether 0:09:39.200 --> 0:09:43.080 it's storage, or it's compute, or it's a mixture of 0:09:43.120 --> 0:09:47.480 the two, mean that businesses can partner with providers in 0:09:47.559 --> 0:09:51.480 order to handle all that heavy lifting, and the businesses 0:09:51.520 --> 0:09:55.959 can then rely upon more nimble computer systems for employees. 0:09:56.559 --> 0:10:00.720 That is an enormous change. It creates value bull options. 0:10:00.880 --> 0:10:04.240 In some businesses, it might make sense to secure powerful 0:10:04.320 --> 0:10:08.479 laptops or other computers for employees, but in many businesses 0:10:08.760 --> 0:10:11.560 that kind of computer just isn't necessary as long as 0:10:11.559 --> 0:10:16.400 the employee has a reliable Internet connection, and we've seen 0:10:16.440 --> 0:10:19.840 a huge surgeon small businesses taking advantage of the cloud. 0:10:20.040 --> 0:10:24.800 The circumstances of the pandemic really necessitated it. But beyond that, 0:10:25.280 --> 0:10:28.360 the cloud has created new ways for businesses to you know, 0:10:28.679 --> 0:10:33.160 do business. In many cases, it has expanded businesses ability 0:10:33.240 --> 0:10:37.400 to reach new customers, sometimes customers that they never would 0:10:37.400 --> 0:10:40.679 have encountered without the migration to the cloud. And of 0:10:40.720 --> 0:10:44.680 course we're still seeing cases in which businesses are keeping 0:10:44.760 --> 0:10:48.480 everything on premises or on prem as they say in 0:10:48.520 --> 0:10:50.800 the biz, and then some of them are going with 0:10:50.840 --> 0:10:54.839 a hybrid approach where they're keeping some servers on premises 0:10:55.120 --> 0:10:59.160 and they're relying also on the cloud. And in those cases, 0:10:59.200 --> 0:11:05.400 you're typically seeing businesses really keep mission critical, high security 0:11:05.720 --> 0:11:12.440 applications and storage on premises and then offloading everything else 0:11:12.480 --> 0:11:18.640 to the cloud. And it really expands your options. When 0:11:18.640 --> 0:11:21.719 we come back, i'll talk about some other technologies that 0:11:21.760 --> 0:11:26.280 have really enabled small businesses to continue working through the 0:11:26.360 --> 0:11:30.840 last two years and ways that it's going to create 0:11:30.960 --> 0:11:35.880 new opportunities moving forward. But first let's take a quick break. 0:11:43.640 --> 0:11:48.640 We're back now getting back to connectivity. That's something that 0:11:48.760 --> 0:11:54.120 also has changed dramatically since I began working. Not only 0:11:54.160 --> 0:11:59.120 have we seen broadband access increase, we've seen data throughput 0:11:59.160 --> 0:12:03.480 capabilities explode. You know what, we considered a fast back 0:12:03.520 --> 0:12:08.000 when I first started working in the workforce, wouldn't even 0:12:08.080 --> 0:12:10.920 qualify as slow. Today we would think of it as 0:12:10.960 --> 0:12:16.240 excruciating lee slow plus. Now we're seeing more options for 0:12:16.240 --> 0:12:21.000 connectivity than ever before, whether it's a fiber connection or 0:12:21.240 --> 0:12:25.480 a five G wireless solution, or you know, even satellite 0:12:25.520 --> 0:12:29.679 Internet services for people in remote locations. There are businesses 0:12:29.720 --> 0:12:35.000 I have gone to that aren't served by hardlined UH 0:12:35.080 --> 0:12:38.600 Internet connections, or they're not really in a place where 0:12:38.600 --> 0:12:44.120 they can get reliable five G service, so they use satellites. Well, 0:12:44.160 --> 0:12:49.200 satellite services even improved, so the connectivity component for small 0:12:49.240 --> 0:12:53.000 businesses has enabled new ways to reach and serve customers. 0:12:53.240 --> 0:12:58.120 Businesses that in the past relied entirely upon you know, 0:12:58.520 --> 0:13:03.520 in person UH interactions have had to adapt to this, 0:13:03.679 --> 0:13:06.480 and a lot of them have done it incredibly well. Now. 0:13:06.520 --> 0:13:09.920 I mentioned earlier that businesses can make use of servers 0:13:10.040 --> 0:13:13.440 for in house networks, and another big change we've seen 0:13:13.480 --> 0:13:16.800 since I started working is the cost and the availability 0:13:16.920 --> 0:13:20.079 of servers. I remember, like when I started that consulting 0:13:20.120 --> 0:13:23.000 firm in the nineties, it was the first time I 0:13:23.040 --> 0:13:26.800 had ever interacted with servers outside of an academic setting, 0:13:27.240 --> 0:13:30.920 and for a while only larger companies were really able 0:13:30.960 --> 0:13:34.360 to afford servers or even have a need for them. 0:13:34.400 --> 0:13:38.560 But today servers are much more affordable and they offer 0:13:38.640 --> 0:13:44.480 businesses some incredibly useful and powerful tools. For example, employees 0:13:44.520 --> 0:13:47.560 connected to the in house server can collaborate directly, they 0:13:47.559 --> 0:13:50.280 can share files, they can share other resources with each 0:13:50.280 --> 0:13:53.280 other without having to send that information over some other 0:13:53.360 --> 0:13:57.880 network like the Internet for example, where seeing lots of 0:13:57.880 --> 0:14:02.079 businesses adopt these kinds of strate geez. Now, ideally you've 0:14:02.080 --> 0:14:05.400 got yourself a dedicated server, maybe you augment it with 0:14:05.480 --> 0:14:09.520 a VPN or virtual private network, and this becomes not 0:14:09.679 --> 0:14:12.880 just the nexus of collaboration, it also becomes a key 0:14:12.920 --> 0:14:17.160 component to companies security. So one of the ugly trends 0:14:17.559 --> 0:14:20.440 we've seen over the last two years is a serious 0:14:20.520 --> 0:14:25.840 uptick in cybercrime. We saw everything from widespread phishing campaigns 0:14:25.840 --> 0:14:28.920 that sought to trick people into handing over important information 0:14:29.440 --> 0:14:32.800 or sometimes even control of a machine or even a network, 0:14:33.400 --> 0:14:36.960 all the way up to massive state backed campaigns that 0:14:37.000 --> 0:14:40.720 targeted some of the most influential companies and agencies around 0:14:40.720 --> 0:14:44.640 the world. And this meant there was a big bright 0:14:44.800 --> 0:14:48.280 spotlight on the challenges of I T security in a 0:14:48.360 --> 0:14:52.760 distributed work setting. Well, I hate to say it, but 0:14:52.800 --> 0:14:57.200 there is no such thing as a perfect security system. However, 0:14:57.600 --> 0:15:01.480 one thing that is an important tool is a server. 0:15:01.800 --> 0:15:05.120 If employees are logging into a server, if they're logging 0:15:05.160 --> 0:15:12.120 into a company machine before they then do further explorations 0:15:12.120 --> 0:15:15.040 out into the Internet for their work. For example, I 0:15:15.080 --> 0:15:19.120 do a lot of research. So having that as a 0:15:19.200 --> 0:15:23.120 stop is important because a business owner can employ security 0:15:23.160 --> 0:15:27.400 tools to protect the business and the business's assets. On 0:15:27.440 --> 0:15:31.360 the server side, a firewall is a really good start. 0:15:31.440 --> 0:15:38.400 A firewall helps protect against unwanted traffic into a company's servers. 0:15:38.520 --> 0:15:41.720 A tool that can detect and prevent intrusion attempts and 0:15:41.800 --> 0:15:44.960 other threats can really mean the difference between business as 0:15:45.000 --> 0:15:50.000 usual and going into full on damage control. So for 0:15:50.040 --> 0:15:54.160 a lot of small businesses, incorporating a server into the 0:15:54.200 --> 0:15:57.440 business makes a ton of sense. Though we do also 0:15:57.480 --> 0:16:01.440 have to acknowledge that any security strategy also has to 0:16:01.480 --> 0:16:06.560 include employee training and understanding. Anecdotally, I have seen an 0:16:06.640 --> 0:16:10.320 uptick of phishing attempts targeting me recently. Most of those 0:16:10.360 --> 0:16:13.240 are going to my phone via text messages or to 0:16:13.360 --> 0:16:16.640 my personal email account, which suggests to me that my 0:16:16.680 --> 0:16:20.960 information is probably part of a massive database that's being 0:16:20.960 --> 0:16:24.000 traded around on the dark web somewhere. That's tons of fun. 0:16:24.760 --> 0:16:28.040 That's something you obviously want to avoid if you can, 0:16:28.520 --> 0:16:31.160 and it's certainly something that businesses want to avoid. You 0:16:31.160 --> 0:16:36.120 don't want people exploiting information at your expense, so good 0:16:36.120 --> 0:16:40.320 security practices help a lot in those cases. Something I 0:16:40.360 --> 0:16:44.800 find really fascinating is how small businesses are starting to 0:16:44.960 --> 0:16:50.479 leverage high tech solutions like machine learning and artificial intelligence 0:16:50.920 --> 0:16:54.640 and data analytics. I often get a bit narrow minded 0:16:54.760 --> 0:16:58.800 when it comes to certain things in technology. I make 0:16:58.840 --> 0:17:02.680 assumptions such as the only companies that are really engaging 0:17:02.840 --> 0:17:06.720 in those kinds of technologies are the really big ones, 0:17:07.080 --> 0:17:10.440 you know, the companies that are known for pioneering AI 0:17:10.480 --> 0:17:15.320 and machine learning. That somehow this is all confined to 0:17:15.480 --> 0:17:21.400 laboratories and people in white coats with formula. But that's 0:17:21.400 --> 0:17:24.399 really missing the point entirely, isn't it. I mean, I 0:17:24.440 --> 0:17:26.520 get it like that is like that is the most 0:17:26.600 --> 0:17:31.400 primitive way of looking at those disciplines, because why are 0:17:31.440 --> 0:17:34.840 these companies even pursuing these technologies? What is the purpose 0:17:35.040 --> 0:17:38.320 of doing all this R and D work well. Ultimately, 0:17:38.880 --> 0:17:43.240 it's to offer a product up to customers, and customers 0:17:43.240 --> 0:17:47.680 can include small businesses. So small businesses, while not necessarily 0:17:47.720 --> 0:17:52.640 at the forefront of developing the next powerful AI, are 0:17:52.680 --> 0:17:57.160 certainly taking advantage of those technologies, and more of those 0:17:57.200 --> 0:18:00.000 small businesses are doing it every day. In fact, many 0:18:00.080 --> 0:18:04.240 analysts suggest that small businesses are actually adopting these technologies 0:18:04.400 --> 0:18:08.520 faster than the bigger companies because the small businesses are 0:18:08.520 --> 0:18:12.560 more nimble, they're able to respond more quickly than the 0:18:12.560 --> 0:18:16.320 big companies are. But then, what are they using these 0:18:16.320 --> 0:18:20.440 technologies to do well. Sometimes it's for stuff that might 0:18:20.480 --> 0:18:25.679 seem kind of mundane, such as automatic transcriptions for phone calls, 0:18:26.280 --> 0:18:30.000 but that service can get really sophisticated. I'm sure some 0:18:30.080 --> 0:18:32.280 of you have had experiences in which you were using 0:18:32.400 --> 0:18:38.040 some sort of audio conferencing over the Internet, or maybe 0:18:38.160 --> 0:18:41.720 some sort of speech to text application, and you probably 0:18:41.720 --> 0:18:44.480 saw that depending on what you said, you might have 0:18:44.600 --> 0:18:48.840 some interesting options pop up. For example, I've used the 0:18:48.920 --> 0:18:52.600 notation program to remind myself of upcoming appointments and then 0:18:52.640 --> 0:18:56.879 saw that the program actually created an option for me 0:18:57.000 --> 0:19:01.560 to actively add the notation as an appointment to my 0:19:01.680 --> 0:19:07.639 calendar that automatically said, oh, I understand you want to 0:19:07.760 --> 0:19:12.440 be reminded of this event at this time on this day. 0:19:12.480 --> 0:19:15.200 How about we just add that to your calendar. And 0:19:15.359 --> 0:19:19.679 it's the AI component of this transcription service that is 0:19:19.720 --> 0:19:24.440 able to contextualize what I was saying and quote unquote 0:19:24.480 --> 0:19:27.439 understand that it meant I needed to put something on 0:19:27.480 --> 0:19:31.280 my calendar. That is phenomenal. It's something that a lot 0:19:31.280 --> 0:19:33.480 of us kind of take for granted, even after the 0:19:33.520 --> 0:19:36.840 first time we see it. But that was a huge, 0:19:36.960 --> 0:19:41.240 huge breakthrough. And that's just a simple example. I was 0:19:41.280 --> 0:19:44.720 actually on a conference call just the other day and 0:19:44.960 --> 0:19:48.040 during the call, I mentioned that I needed to email 0:19:48.400 --> 0:19:52.200 someone on our team, and during the call, a little 0:19:52.240 --> 0:19:55.320 notification popped up in the service I was using that 0:19:55.480 --> 0:19:57.960 said do you want to add this to your to 0:19:58.080 --> 0:20:01.000 do list? And it was email so and so, And 0:20:01.160 --> 0:20:04.320 it was just amazing to me. And we're seeing these 0:20:04.400 --> 0:20:07.440 kinds of services offer up even more utility as time 0:20:07.480 --> 0:20:11.600 goes on. Imagine that business gets on the phone with 0:20:11.640 --> 0:20:16.520 a supplier and that because of the phone service that 0:20:16.560 --> 0:20:21.600 they're using, it automatically ends up creating a transcription of 0:20:21.680 --> 0:20:24.600 the phone call. You have an AI component that's doing 0:20:24.680 --> 0:20:28.560 speech to text. The AI might make note of specific 0:20:28.680 --> 0:20:34.000 components of the conversation, such as any orders or sales, 0:20:34.040 --> 0:20:38.000 prices of items, or inventory or supply schedules, all that 0:20:38.080 --> 0:20:42.080 sort of stuff. We're seeing AI solutions automate many of 0:20:42.119 --> 0:20:44.600 the processes that in the old days would have to 0:20:44.640 --> 0:20:47.560 be tracked by human beings who would then input various 0:20:47.640 --> 0:20:51.439 data points manually into spreadsheets and stuff. Now a lot 0:20:51.520 --> 0:20:56.200 of that can be done automatically, and we're seeing technology 0:20:56.440 --> 0:21:00.960 enable automated solutions that any business can take advantage of. 0:21:01.440 --> 0:21:05.800 Typically it just includes securing a business license for a 0:21:05.840 --> 0:21:09.959 specific product. There are limitless scenarios where machine learning and 0:21:10.000 --> 0:21:14.480 AI are making transformative changes in how businesses operate, freeing 0:21:14.520 --> 0:21:17.040 up people in the business to focus on things other 0:21:17.080 --> 0:21:22.000 than tracking points of data. In the era of big data, 0:21:22.359 --> 0:21:27.560 a critical component is data analysis. That was something that 0:21:27.840 --> 0:21:30.679 was clear from the very beginning, but for a while, 0:21:31.280 --> 0:21:36.960 data analysis capabilities were trailing behind data gathering capabilities. We 0:21:36.960 --> 0:21:42.040 were gathering terra bytes worth of information at of a 0:21:42.160 --> 0:21:46.440 frightening speed, really, and the ability to sort through it 0:21:46.480 --> 0:21:50.200 was kind of lagging behind. Well, information is not valuable 0:21:50.240 --> 0:21:54.360 if you can't figure out what is in that information 0:21:54.400 --> 0:21:57.840 if you can't separate the signal from the noise. Fortunately, 0:21:58.600 --> 0:22:04.119 very smart programmer came up with incredible algorithms that started 0:22:04.440 --> 0:22:06.920 us on the process of being able to sort through 0:22:07.040 --> 0:22:11.000 all this information and find the meaning within it. Machine 0:22:11.080 --> 0:22:17.800 learning sped that process up significantly, and data analysis is critical, 0:22:18.080 --> 0:22:21.080 whether it's getting a better understanding of what customers want 0:22:21.160 --> 0:22:26.520 and expect, or it's for managing supply chains. Data analysis 0:22:26.600 --> 0:22:29.440 is a key component for pretty much any small business. 0:22:29.560 --> 0:22:32.880 It might not always be obvious, it might not even 0:22:32.920 --> 0:22:35.960 be formally acknowledged, it might be done more like by 0:22:36.119 --> 0:22:39.679 feel and intuition, but it's always there. It's rare for 0:22:39.720 --> 0:22:43.240 a business to be successful without some element of data 0:22:43.280 --> 0:22:47.440 analysis coming into play, and tech really makes that possible 0:22:47.480 --> 0:22:50.760 on a scale that was unimaginable a few years ago. 0:22:51.640 --> 0:22:56.080 But now we're seeing powerful systems, often driven by machine learning, 0:22:56.200 --> 0:22:59.199 that can find real meaning in all the data that 0:22:59.240 --> 0:23:01.879 we've collected, and this can end up being useful to 0:23:01.920 --> 0:23:05.040 small businesses as well. Not that every small business has 0:23:05.080 --> 0:23:08.160 to comb through terabytes of data to get things done, 0:23:08.240 --> 0:23:12.679 but what might have seemed abstract in the past is 0:23:12.720 --> 0:23:16.560 now a concrete reality and businesses are using these technologies 0:23:16.720 --> 0:23:20.159 to get a better understanding of their business strategy, what works, 0:23:20.200 --> 0:23:22.680 what doesn't work. They also get a better understanding of 0:23:22.720 --> 0:23:25.480 their customers and how to do things better at lower 0:23:25.560 --> 0:23:31.440 costs with higher revenues. Now, not all the changes from 0:23:31.480 --> 0:23:35.800 the past couple of years are rosy small businesses based challenges. 0:23:35.960 --> 0:23:39.280 As ever, some of those challenges have emerged over the 0:23:39.359 --> 0:23:43.200 last decade or so. For example, pivoting to a digitized 0:23:43.280 --> 0:23:47.639 strategy brings new consequences. A big one would be the 0:23:47.800 --> 0:23:52.360 rise of the aggregators. So these are companies that collect 0:23:52.680 --> 0:23:56.359 and curate other companies. They act as a sort of 0:23:56.400 --> 0:23:59.679 clearing house or a centralized way for customers to find 0:23:59.720 --> 0:24:03.760 what they're looking for. And there are massive online stores 0:24:03.840 --> 0:24:07.160 that do this. They are numerous ones. They give small 0:24:07.200 --> 0:24:12.000 businesses a chance to reach customers UH using the internet, 0:24:12.760 --> 0:24:16.760 and they can rely on this enormous online store as 0:24:16.800 --> 0:24:19.760 their platform. But this can come at a cost. The 0:24:19.880 --> 0:24:24.880 customer may not ever associate the product with that small business. 0:24:25.320 --> 0:24:29.600 They might instead associate the product with the overall huge 0:24:29.840 --> 0:24:33.320 online store. And we've seen this a lot over the 0:24:33.400 --> 0:24:37.520 last two years. UH food delivery services in particular have 0:24:37.920 --> 0:24:41.399 really contributed to this. Restaurants can find it challenging to 0:24:41.440 --> 0:24:45.159 connect with customers directly as these delivery services become a 0:24:45.200 --> 0:24:50.199 literal go between for the restaurant and the customer. I 0:24:50.240 --> 0:24:53.080 suspect we're going to see a lot of innovation in 0:24:53.119 --> 0:24:56.520 this space as well, as small businesses find new ways 0:24:56.560 --> 0:25:00.679 to reach customers, possibly adopting hybrid approaches to do so so, 0:25:00.720 --> 0:25:06.920 in other words, maintaining a place on these larger online platforms, 0:25:06.960 --> 0:25:11.520 but also keeping their own space as well so that 0:25:11.600 --> 0:25:15.679 customers can go directly there. Maybe they'll find ways to 0:25:16.000 --> 0:25:20.960 attract customers to those owned and operated stores. I imagine 0:25:21.000 --> 0:25:22.879 we're going to see a lot more use of things 0:25:22.960 --> 0:25:26.520 like online newsletters and such in order to do that, 0:25:26.680 --> 0:25:31.600 because it kind of hearkens back to going to small 0:25:31.720 --> 0:25:36.440 individual stores rather than a mall. Right, Like you're shopping 0:25:36.560 --> 0:25:41.280 locally in locally owned stores, rather than going to a 0:25:41.320 --> 0:25:45.560 giant box store or a shopping mall filled with you know, 0:25:46.240 --> 0:25:51.000 franchised stores. I feel like that's where we're at right now, 0:25:51.040 --> 0:25:53.960 where small businesses are finding ways where they can make 0:25:54.000 --> 0:25:59.120 those connections with their customers and to perhaps not rely 0:25:59.400 --> 0:26:05.280 so heavily on aggregators or maybe we'll see aggregators shift 0:26:05.359 --> 0:26:10.320 a bit and how they operate so that there isn't 0:26:10.359 --> 0:26:15.840 this disconnect between customer and business. Finally, I wanted to 0:26:15.880 --> 0:26:20.160 mention that technology has enabled more people to pursue an 0:26:20.280 --> 0:26:25.399 entrepreneurial dream than ever before. That, to me, is something 0:26:25.440 --> 0:26:30.000 that we can't lose sight of. Technology has reached a 0:26:30.080 --> 0:26:36.240 level of affordability and utility that allows people who had 0:26:36.280 --> 0:26:40.040 a dream but no means to pursue it, to suddenly 0:26:40.040 --> 0:26:44.240 flip that switch. And this is a global phenomenon. We're 0:26:44.280 --> 0:26:49.359 seeing people who traditionally have been drastically underrepresented in small 0:26:49.400 --> 0:26:54.040 businesses chase their dreams. Technology is what is powering that. 0:26:54.200 --> 0:26:57.639 Whether it's someone in Atlanta spearheading a service that brings 0:26:57.840 --> 0:27:00.879 rashly grown produce right off the far to customers in 0:27:00.920 --> 0:27:04.159