Technology and the Changing Face of Business

Technology and the Changing Face of Business

I sometimes imagine how it must have felt when people got to know that a computational machine, a “computer” had been invented which could make complex calculations and work beyond the capabilities of a normal mind. I can feel the sense of astonishment, surprise and excitedness people must have felt at how technology was advancing and there was now a technological marvel that could do things a human can, we can all relate to it in some way as its pretty much the same sense of progression and astonishment we felt when perhaps we got to know about things like #Crypto #Currency, Augmented Reality, #Artificial #Intelligence and even something as novel as the #Metaverse. What started off as a means of computing information, transformed the very thought process of societies and economies, augmented out by spreading its use in economic, financial, societal and personal spheres, and continues to do so at a rapid pace. Changing the face of society and business forever.

Moving forward who would have thought that the inception of the internet would forever change the foundations of technology and move on to becoming a “need” for everyone rather than a “want”. I am sure the first email that was sent across a computer and received on the other end must have been nothing shorter than a huge leap in technology for the people of that era, they now had a means of communicating with anyone around the world, bits of information being sent from one end and translating as a picture, document, or a letter on another computer screen. Pushing all previous modes of connectivity into redundancy in an instant. I can only imagine how overwhelming this growing understanding of the power of technology must have been for the people and organizations at that time.

As #technology progressed so did its effects on society, and the #business environment, with the latter revelling at its business applicability and how it had created ease for organizations and people in making their jobs easier and efficient, we saw companies like #Microsoft bringing out tools such as the MS Office, which, till date is the most used business software suite ever since it was introduced. Applications like MS word moved us away from physical writing, while #Excel gave us the capabilities of computing, organizing and using a plethora of information with ease. When we started off by using these applications, we grew into gaining expertise using more specialized software that would increase our professional efficiency as well as make work processes faster and accurate, and this just kept getting better and better as technology paved its way ahead, making it evident the potential it held in changing how organizations and businesses would function in the future.

Fast forwarding all of that to this point, we have seen an unprecedented change in the way technology has shaped up giving the initial birth to “AI”, allowing companies to transition through the use of technology and settling down as an essential backbone of any and every organization or business.

Through the last decade we have been introduced to terminologies and technologies such as #Data Design, RPA, #Machine #Learning, AR, #Blockchain and now the latest advancement in tech and #AI which is the Metaverse, these have become synonymous with business operations, with the ability of doing tasks efficiently and more effectively, connecting people and businesses seamlessly and uninterrupted, providing newer, better and enhanced avenues of doing business and creating value for money, case in point the Metaverse, where you can open your own business, invest in real state and work as a company, allowing a single person to manage droves of information, in a user friendly manner and earning digital currency.

As I have moulded according to my work, and career progression, so has the business world around me. #Businesses no longer want to hire a room full of finance and accounting people to look at their company’s financial integrity, they are now moving or have moved swiftly towards #ERP or #Accounting #software based solutions which can give them work carried out by a number of different individuals, while hiring one expert resource who has full capabilities in managing such a software. Long gone are the days when a single skill was what we thought that would keep us afloat in the professional sphere, as I now believe that having that single skill and banking on it has become an obsolete idea in this day and age of artificial intelligence and technological advancements. The changes I have noticed in the business environment over the years and how technology has augmented it can be summarized by some simple yet thought provoking observations:

• The use of the technology has dramatically decreased or finished repetitive tasking. It has allowed us to identify time consuming tasks, prioritize them effectively, making processes less prone to errors, increasing time efficiency, and creating ease of work. AI powered technology has enabled businesses weed out processes which are redundant and enhanced processes driving efficiency, for the business and the workforce.
• Technology has given us a “voice” which allows us to stay connected with our target audience at any time of the day, not being limited by the 9-5 rule. AI powered automated chat bots, customer services software’s, have proven that all you need to do is to incorporate core information in a system, it will take care of the rest. Half the “customer services representatives” we chat with when on a website, do you really think that a human being is sitting on the other end of it 24/7 responding to your queries at any time of the day or night? Think about it. Technology has streamlined client/customer connectivity for us and augmented it into a new customer service experience, essential for businesses.
• Technology has allowed us to improve our capabilities, when I mentioned about having a single skill, that idea has gone out the window, as a single skill is now equating to obsoletion. This brings us to the question “what capabilities should we enhance, to overcome this technological barrier”. The answer is simple; first we need to stop thinking of technology as a barrier to professional growth and skill enhancement, and second these technological advancements still need a human touch at the end of the day to function, all you need to do is to acquire that right skill, to run that technology. This is something which technology has brought with itself, to grow and prosper as a business, technology has made it evident that professionals need to enhance their skillset and work alongside these advancements to grow as an individual and as an organization. Hence the need to invest in tech as well as tech skilled resources is the name of the game right now. My point therefore is that technology is helping us in enhancing our skills, for our betterment and our businesses.
• Technology has of course allowed businesses to reduce their costs, especially as it is capable of multitasking, multi operations and multi results, businesses are now focused on understanding and incorporating technology which evolves and allows them to evolve with it in creating a faster pace of work and providing them with real time information that can benefit them in the short and the long run, dependency on AI integrated software has grown and has seen business interest as it allows them to “teach” the software and in turn the software evolves with an enhanced understanding of the different factors crucial for a business, churning out results and solutions which would ultimately allow the business to grow.
• Technology has been able to provide businesses with an unprecedented level of cybersecurity for their valuable information, accounts and even money. Allowing them to work more efficiently and with a higher peace of mind knowing that their work and integrity is secure. While there are downsides to cybersecurity, but it cannot be argued that data encryption and self-updating/evolving security protocols which some software solutions practices are unbeatable on a physical level. Technology and AI augmentation in technology has allowed that safety for businesses to function and prosper.

In the end as I sit back and type this article, with the word software identifying my typos, content uniqueness, sentence structure and saving them for later use so that I don’t make the same mistakes again. I can just wonder and look forward to the time when words, spreadsheets, and other crucial business information, projects and details will be churned out in a software just by thinking about them in my mind. That is the power of AI and technology and that is the future of how businesses will work as we move forward in this digital world.