Audacious Innovation

We are currently experiencing an era of audacious innovation. This can be observed across multiple sectors where artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics are pioneering bold and fearless innovations. These advancements are set to address the myriad challenges businesses of all sizes face continually.

Significant progress has been made in several areas, including robotics, data analysis for strategic decision-making, medical diagnostics, and autonomous driving. Innovations like Chippy, the robotic tortilla chip maker; Flippy, the fry-cooking robot; robotic waiters; police-employed robot dogs; chatbots; and Sam, the robot security guard deployed in malls and airports, exemplify this new era. Clearly, we are just at the beginning— the possibilities are limitless.  

These audacious innovations are undoubtedly enhancing our lives and opening up previously unimaginable opportunities. Yet, they are not without imperfections. With these technological advances, my concerns grow regarding potential job layoffs and furloughs, biases and privacy issues, data security against hacking, and the erosion of empathy.

However, I am reassured knowing that at the forefront of these innovations are product leaders committed to ensuring that their cross-functional teams and organizations develop products, solutions, and services that serve all communities. They possess the intellectual rigor necessary to avoid unconscious biases in their innovative efforts.

Audacious innovation necessitates increased investment in the recruitment, hiring, and retention of diverse product managers. Ultimately, it is crucial that we empathize with our customers, understand their end-to-end journey, recognize their needs, and discover what drives and motivates them each day. It is our responsibility to translate these insights so that our cross-functional partners can turn the impossible into the possible.