When slow is fast and fast is slow ... musings from the Outer Rim

“If you find yourself filled with purpose and values and are looking for a way to integrate those into your business and daily work in a lasting way, you’ve come to the right place.” ~ Matthew Sekol

Yes, ESG is both complex and complicated, as Matthew wrote. But at the heart of it, it should not be difficult to explain — nor should it be controversial — why a business needs to go beyond pure financials, to build resilience — to better understand the risks and capture the opportunities — so that they can better adapt to a changing world. After all, it should be in the inherent interests of companies to build to last. Though the term might be nuanced, the intention and the result should not be.

While Matthew Sekol 's new book, ESG Mindset, may not directly save the world, it will challenge your thinking. It will prompt you to ask: What more can we do? What more should I be doing? This is especially crucial given the pace of technology innovation. As Matthew urged us, we need to approach technology such as generative AI with an ESG Mindset, so that we can properly mitigate risks and capture new opportunities. And we owe this to ourselves and future generations.

I am super excited about the journey that Matthew is leading us towards. He has shown us how to consider and appreciate the interconnected nature of ESG. And he has given business leaders a practical guide on how to ‘mainstream ESG’ —?an important step to put what we’ve read into practice in the real world. And I cannot be more grateful that he put this enlightening and well-researched book together with such clarity —?in a way that only Matthew can. It’s a gift that is built to last, and a must-read primer for ESG for everyone.

We all have a role to play. Ignore it at your own peril.

_____

What I am reading ...

Can AI replace human workers? That's one of the questions that is top of mind for many. For a country such as Japan faced with an aging population and labor shortage, is tech the silver bullet?

From farming to education and manufacturing, it would appear that the verdict is still out.

"While AI may help increase the efficiency of the workforce, it is nowhere near ready to replace human workers."

Meanwhile, over here in the U.S., the sentiment seems a bit different. (Or overly optimistic?)

According to a new study from Corebridge Financial and The Longevity Project, while more Americans expect to live to 100, many do not expect to delay their retirement to fund longer lives.

40% still plan to retire between ages 65-69, possibly enjoying over 30 years in retirement. While 26% believe they will need to work past 70, a smaller number (22%) expect to retire between ages 62-64, and only 12% between 50-61. When it comes to retiring early (ages 50-61), Gen Z is the most optimistic, with 17% seeing this as a possibility.

_____

"Can generative AI transform banking?"

I know, yet another billion-dollar question. But my wonderful friend Alex Kwiatkowski offered some brilliant takes in his latest article.

"Placed in the right hands and deployed in the right way, GenAI can radically reshape banking’s business as usual activities in lending, fraud and financial crime detection and prevention, and customer transactions and interactions." ~ Alex Kwiatkowski

As Alex said: Viva la GenAI revolución! (Hopefully with a small dose of Star Trek, Beatles, and the human touch.)

_____

In this week's One Vision — FinTech Fuse! We chat with our wonderful friend Matthew Sekol about his new book, ESG Mindset, and how leaders can learn how to think critically about ESG to ensure their organizations remain resilient.

(Treasure Hunt: Can you spot the common object in all of our backgrounds?)

Tune in!

_____

As always, thank you for reading. If you enjoy my posts ...

?? Ring it on my profile so you don't miss the next one.

? Subscribe to this LinkedIn newsletter "The FinTech Prose" and share it with your network.

?? Hit like and comment to let me know your thoughts.

? Drop me a review on Beyond Good and The Metaverse Economy on?Amazon.

_____