Technology Revolution: The Future of Now

The buzz: "You'll be in trouble quickly if you assume your only–or biggest–competition looks exactly like you" (Paige Leidig). All brands operate in a competitive global environment. Some prefer to ignore the competition. Others are obsessed, using under the radar" spying to track other players. If traditional wisdom still holds–that strong knowledge about competitors' strengths and weaknesses positions you to make smart marketing strategy decisions–then it's time to add social media to your competitive info-gathering toolkit. The experts speak. Frank D. Geisler, ERPsourcing: "Don't play the saxophone–let it play you" (Charlie Parker). Simon Deschênes, Oak3s: "If you have everything under control, you're not moving fast enough (Mario Andretti). Kirsten Boileau, SAP: "If I had no competitors, I would be lazy, incompetent and inattentive…I salute my competitors...They make and keep me strong" (Paul Lee Tan). Join us for Modern Competitive Analysis: Remember Social Media – Part 2.

The buzz: "Companies that view technology as a tool rather than an integrated part of a vastly different business future – risk their very survival" (SAP Executive Study). Welcome to the 4th industrial revolution. The economy is increasingly based on knowledge, creativity, and adaptability. Digital technologies are changing the world and challenging businesses. SAP researchers and futurists are studying the major trends to understand what today's digital transformation leader needs to start and what to stop, when to zig and when to zag, to ensure their company is relevant tomorrow. The experts speak. David Jonker, SAP: "Fortune's wheel never stands still–the highest point is therefore the most perilous" (Maria Edgeworth). Michael Rander, SAP: "You don't take a photograph, you make it" (Ansel Adams). Dan Wellers, SAP: "Living at risk is jumping off a cliff and building your wings on the way down" (Ray Bradbury). Join us for Today's Digital Disruption: How Leaders Prepare for Tomorrow.

The Buzz: "The robots really embody that love-hate relationship we have with technology." (Daniel H. Wilson) Headline news: "Security robot 'in critical condition.'" Say what? It's true. When Washington D.C. security robot "Steve" took a plunge in a nearby pond, his on-the-job self-drowning accident raised two pivotal questions: Do we really wants robots in the workforce? And which jobs should go to robots versus to humans? In an SAP Digitalist Magazine online survey of more than 1,000 respondents, 60% said they would want robots to help them on the job. And Andra Keay, managing director of Silicon Valley Robotics, says robots are best suited to jobs that fall in the "Four D" categories: dirty, dull, dangerous, deadly. Is it that simple? The experts speak. Kai Goerlich, SAP: "Life finds a way" (Dr. Ian Malcolm in Jurassic Park, 1993 sci-fi film). Gray Scott, Futurist: "Everybody's out there wrestling like a robot" (Hulk Hogan). Join us for Robots at Work: Whose Job Is It Anyway?

The buzz: "CHROs using artificial intelligence in the workplace…to transform recruiting, HR service centers, and learning and development? I believe the answer is yes" (J. Meister). As AI moves from ideation to reality, businesses face a challenge: how to use AI systems to help human employees be more productive and happier, rather than to replace them. Good news: The new digital workforce has room for both. Ready to integrate this next AI wave into your processes? The experts speak. Darwin Deano, Deloitte: "I can choose either to be a victim of the world or an adventurer in search of treasure. It's all a question of how I view my life" (Paulo Coelho). Dr. Patti Fletcher, SAP SuccessFactors: "We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology" (Carl Sagan). Stephanie Stachura, Deloitte: "The most complicated skill is to be simple" (Dejan Stojanovic). Join us for AI at Work: Is Human-Centric Possible?

The buzz: "79% of sales people that use social media outsell their peers" [Forbes]. Social selling is at a tipping point, "that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, spreads like wildfire" (Malcolm Gladwell). It is impacting how sales and marketing teams collaborate, do business and engage customers. But the laggards – organizations just now joining the social bandwagon – are in "reactive" instead of "proactive" mode. How can they incorporate social selling into their company's DNA? The experts speak. Brynne Tillman, Vengreso: "Social does not take the place of a handshake, but it turns a handshake into a hug" (Brian Fanzo). Mario Martinez Jr., Vengreso: "Just remember, you can't climb the ladder of success with your hands in your pockets" (Arnold Schwarzenegger). Kirsten Boileau, SAP: "There's a way to do it better – find it" (Thomas Edison). Join us for Social Selling at the Tipping Point – Part 2.

The buzz: "New research provides compelling evidence that diversity unlocks innovation and drives market growth" (hbr.org). With the commoditization of technology, your company may have focused on improving efficiencies. But if you used a cookie-cutter approach to reshape business processes, organizational models, data and architecture, you may have an unwelcome by-product: the inability to innovate. How to fix? Build-in diversity at every level–systems, data, processes, ecosystems, people and skills across your entire organization. The experts speak. Bronwyn Hastings, SAP: "Dreams and dedication are a powerful combination" (William Longgood). Darwin Deano, Deloitte: "Every time you are tempted to react in the same old way, ask if you want to be a prisoner of the past or a pioneer of the future" (Deepak Chopra). Jodie Stahly, Deloitte: "The real secret of success is enthusiasm" (Walter Chrysler). Join us for Redefining Innovation to the Power of D: Multiple Layers of Diversity.

The buzz: "Today thoughtful people everywhere are trying to understand the implications of a protocol that enables mere mortals to manufacture trust through clever code. This has never happened before" (Don and Alex Tapscott). Just when the switch to digital money threatens the banks' cash-handling function, blockchain technology is attacking their role as a trusted intermediary. This is just the tip of the blockchain iceberg. Blockchain is emerging across other industries and lines of business. How to distinguish wishful hype from concrete cases to re-think business processes of the future? The experts speak. Raimund Gross, SAP: "There are no fast followers in a paradigm shift–only winners and losers" (T. Smith). Dr. Gideon Greenspan, Coin Sciences: "When you come to a fork in the road, take it" (Y. Berra). Kris Hansen, Portag3 Ventures: "We look at the present through a rearview mirror. We march backwards into the future" (M. McLuhan). Join us for Money's Digital Makeover–Part 3.

The buzz: "Male VCs—obviously most are—are very comfortable now giving female entrepreneurs capital for 'girl stuff'" (Vivoom). Don't be fooled. Sexual harassment and discriminatory treatment toward women are not a Silicon Valley-only problem, nor can they be undone by men's "nice" blogs. Female-founded businesses are out-performing male-started businesses 5 to 1, boosting the US economy by $1.6T. Yet only 2% of funding has gone to women startup founders. What will it take to lift these gender barriers? The experts speak. Adam Quinton, Lucas Point Ventures: "Power's not given to you. You have to take it" (Beyoncé). Victoria Pettibone, Astia: "You've got only one lift to live. You can either make it chickens**t or chicken salad (Cousins). Dr. Patti Fletcher, SAP SuccessFactors: "What has destroyed every previous civilization has been the tendency to the unequal distribution of wealth and power" (Henry George). Join us for Don't Start with Me: Funding Female-Founded Startups – Part 2.

The buzz: "Motivation is an art, not a science" (Dan Tyre). If you're regularly paying sales incentives to customers and partners but getting nothing in return, you know the challenges of juggling an array of programs and pressure to achieve bottom line visibility. Wouldn't it be helpful to learn how to optimally manage complex partner programs for contracts, pricing, rebates, incentives, and more? The experts speak. Cara DeGraff, Vistex: "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them" (Albert Einstein). Gary L. Adams, Vistex: "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts" (Winston Churchill). John McDonnell SAP: "While physics and mathematics may tell us how the universe began, they are not much use in predicting human behavior…I'm no better than anyone else at understanding what makes people tick…" (Stephen Hawking). Join us for Target Incentive and Rebate Programs: Driving Digital Transformation.

The buzz: "You can invent alone, but you can't innovate alone" (G. van Wulfen). Business leaders have long pondered whether culture impacts an organization's evolution and growth. If culture is the "personality" shaping the ability to drive innovation, what type of culture will spark new ideas while disrupting old models? Will multiple personalities fight each other? The experts speak. Dan Seewald, Pfizer: "Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn't really do it, they just saw something" (S. Jobs). Ingo Rauth, PhD, Rotman DesignWorks: "If you want a robot to maneuver aggressively, it has to be small. As you scale things down, the 'moment of inertia' - the resistance to angular motion - drops dramatically" (V. Kumar). Jennifer Ford, SAP: "I don't go by the rule book.I lead from the heart, not the head." (Lady Diana) Join us for Innovation Culture: Is Your Business A Split Personality?