Artificial Intelligence and the 3 Pillars of Digital War: Fred’s Newsletter

Editorial

My second NL. Pfff… I need to get into the swing of things ?.
Still about the 3 pillars of the digital war; IT as a power, marketing as a strategy, HR as an army.

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Small novelty at the bottom of the page, I am inviting you to go on a trip with me (Vietnam, Romania, New York…)

#1. IT

For these first two weeks back, I would like to start the year off on a hopeful note by telling you that if Europe doesn’t step up when it comes to artificial intelligence (which is a very real prospect), it will find itself returning to the obscurity of the Middle Ages. This is a kind of sequel to my old #digiwar idea, but it’s not the most fun chapter.

#2. HR

Then we’ll talk HR. Because if you want to develop AI, you’re going to need developers. The problem is that there really, really aren’t any to be had. For the first time, we are talking about an absolute dearth of them. I’ll have some figures that will show you why it’s impossible to find developers.

#3. Marketing

If you can’t find developers for your AI, don’t panic. There are some ready-made products that can put automation and data within your reach. In just a minute, I’ll talk to you about what we at Pentalog are doing with our Marketo platform, the number one market automation tool worldwide. 100% guaranteed Pentalog example.

Si vis pacem, para bellum #digiwar to paraphrase Vegetius…

Follow me on Facebook and on Linkedin to discuss IT and business development.

#1. No AI, no EU

First, let’s take a little detour and look at Greece. To broach the subject of artificial intelligence, I should start with my Christmas in Athens, where I started to wonder whether the 2008 financial crisis might not have been a technocratic 1.0 invention.

What if the 2008 crisis was entirely technological? What would have happened if Athens had the same tech resources as Germany, the US, Korea or Japan? They certainly wouldn’t have had so much trouble managing productivity, or had such a hard time tracking down fraud and collecting taxes, would they? That is why investing in tech is an extraordinary development driver that the EU and European nations seem to want to ignore, probably because they’re scared.

You think I’m joking? I’m pretty sure that what Greece really needs isn’t bailouts. Far from it! Greece didn’t have much more debt than other European countries. It was around the current level of France or the UK, and a little less than in the US.

When it comes to artificial intelligence in Europe, there are a lot of grand gestures, but nothing actually gets done

This tech deficit that jumped out at me will accelerate and overtake Europe, all because of artificial intelligence. Because when it comes to artificial intelligence in Europe, there are a lot of grand gestures, but nothing actually gets done. Unfortunately, the challenge is huge and downgrading is already unavoidable. From VivaTech (in Paris), Cebit (in Hannover) to Lisbon, everyone is talking about their algorithms. Bullshit.

By stalling out on Artificial Intelligence, the continent that had until recently held the greatest stockpile of intelligence, from Ancient Greece through the 20th century, is preparing to sink back into the mire of feudalism. Until now, this was the only off-period in its history. Still, a 1000-year run is pretty good. Want to read more? Subscribe to my newsletter!

* About #digiwar or digital war, see my previous posts 2017, Digital Horribilis and Digitization: a global war (Pentalog strategy)

#2. No devs, no Artificial Intelligence (and no more EU, you get the drift?)

For decades now you’ve been hearing people say there is a shortage of developers. And for decades now you’ve felt it for yourself. Or so you thought. In every country, up until 2010 or so, we were producing a few more than we needed, and year after year the number of developers available on national labour markets just barely exceeded the demand.

Of course, they might not have had the specialisations you wanted, but they were real developers. In the past few years, venture capital has taken off once again in the US, soon followed by the same trend in Europe, as all the major corporations began to realise that they have to digitise to survive.

Throughout the Western world, the total number of developers has eroded year by year, sinking below the waterline.

It happened first in Germany and Japan, then in the US, the UK and France more recently. At the same time, despite the nationalist rhetoric on the right and the left, despite the lack of a lean and agile culture, offshoring has been booming. Because there is no other option. It accounts for 30% of US IT services, and already more than 12% in France, initially held back by its English proficiency.

The countries that are lagging when it comes to offshore IT are also lagging in terms of tech.

Their demand is only 85-90% covered by local engineers. You have to know how to take advantage of offshore locations where the local economy is putting a lot less into digital.

In the US and UK, Trump and Brexit have pushed for offshoring as they try to scale back immigration. Under the guise of protectionism, they are adding more fuel to rampant inflation. Want to read more? I wrote these posts a few months ago:

• How Trump will blow up the demand for offshore services (against all odds).
• Brexit-Pound-Outsourcing

#3. Marketing Automation Will Get Rid of as Many Marketing Directors as It Will Save

There are 30% of Marketing Directors who are losing their jobs in 2017 and 2018, according to Gartner. Why is this happening? Because the world is changing, because the customer experience of online tools drives perceived quality, because no one can analyse data fast enough, because everyone is missing these customers.

You want to survive and capture customers on the fly, thanks to Marketo tool?

• Discover how the Pentalog Growth Factory helped an #EdTech client to improve lead nurturing and engagement with Marketo
• Want to increase engagement? Try 5 AI-driven web personalization steps
• In this short video (in french) Cosmina Trifan, Pentalog CMO, describes what we are doing with Marketo.

BEFORE LEAVING… LET’S TRAVEL TOGETHER

APRIL 2018 – INVITATION TO VIETNAM

I’m inviting you to Vietnam in April. I will leave from Paris and stay 9 days in Hanoi dates still have to be confirmed. If you have a serious IT outsourcing project that you would like to discuss, you are invited to join me on this trip to discover our Hanoi-based delivery center. Our 70 engineers come from the best schools of the country and worldwide, including the famous Shanghai ranking.

I would like to offer a 3-day program at Pentalog’s expense, including:

• Your flights, meals and 2 nights of accommodation
• An agile management seminar with our local specialists
• A 3-hour growth hacking seminar live with Jeff Mignon in NY City.
• A visit of our delivery center and open discussions with our team

In terms of Vietnamese gastronomy, trust me, you will be treated well!
Of course, you are free to extend your trip at your own expense.

If you are interested contact us as soon as possible!

Feb 27 – March 02 – Romania OUTSOURCING – Discover Brasov

Unsponsored travel, sponsored seminars. Diners are on me, and there are some very good restaurants there. Program :

• Discover Pentalog Brasov, the largest unit of the Pentalog platform in the world. 230 employees, 25 clients and 35 projects
• Agile project management seminar, with Vasile Putina and our agile coaches
• Agile governance of your projects and implementation of the agile dashboard, with Cornel Fatulescu and Frédéric Lasnier
• Presentation of SkillValue recruitment tools and IT skills tests. How do we recruit 500 developers per year?

Feb 15 – 23 – GROWTH HACKING – Meetings in New York City and Boston

• Growth Hacking and Product Design: a 3-hour-seminar with Jeff Mignon and Frédéric Lasnier around your product.
• sponsored event
• I will travel to Boston and New York City from February 15 to 23, and you can join me there.