Time is Now
Rating: 5 / 5 stars
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High-Level Thoughts
A comprehensive book outlining the changes in technology and where AI is heading in the future. This book encapsulates the direction and usage of AI well along with what is to come in the future. Raj’s journey includes tidbits of navigating career development. Overall, this book has many informative and valuable pieces of knowledge for innovators and forward-thinkers.
AI is the latest gold rush. But will you be the one trying to pry it out of the ground–or will you be the one supplying the tools?
Summary Notes
Introduction
This is the opportunity and responsibility before us as leaders–to draw the lane markers so we can harness the power of Now to amplify human capabilities while avoiding a collision.
How We Got Here
The Power of Now
“Every human heart beat is a universe of possibilities.” – Gregory David Roberts, Shantaram
Lfie is a series of Now.
“If you do good, good will come back to you. The universe is not good or bad but reactive.”
When I told my dad about failing the exam, his response was ‘Welcome to the real world. You’ll always have a home here if you need it.’
You’re not going to score on the chances you don’t take
Practice Makes Relevant
There are no mistakes. Only new paths to explore. – Gregory David Roberts, Shantaram
I found I wasn’t just selling a machine. I was selling relevancy.
The more I practiced my craft, the luckier I got.
One of the most valuable lessons any successful person must learn is to get out of your comfort zone.
Practicing with discipline through discomfort makes the difference in staying relevant.
Low Chance of Success
“In the end, everything will be okay. If it’s not okay, it’s not yet the end.” – Fernando Sabino, The Checkerboard (Translated from Portuguese)
Many of the AI tols emerging now are designed for this purpose – to help us see what we cannot see on our own. To help us reduce risk and find the smarter route.
Curiosity is the question. Innovation is the answer.
Where We Are
Student and Teacher
“When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” – Tao Te Ching
There is a mutual value exchange in any teacher-student relationship.
If you become a student of others who have different life experiences, different upbringings and cultures, you can learn new ways to make an impact.
“It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.” This idea encapsulates what we do every day at SingleStore, the company I lead as I am writing this book.
Creating Insight
“We are surrounded by data, but starved for insights.” – Jay Baer
Technology isn’t the problem. The problem is how it’s being used.
Identity Shift
When a man is interested in the past he writes history; when he is interested in the future he makes it. – Will Durant, Philosophy And the Social Problem
The key is, he learns from these mistakes. He takes in new information and recontextualizes.
Contrarian view – assume you’re not the smartest guy in the room. Assume instead that brilliance can come from anywhere.
We’ve always tried every other database software out there, and it’s the best we’ve seen.
With an identity shift, it is never just a matter of words. It is a matter of action.
Improvisation
“If you challenged conventional wisdom, you will find ways to do things much better than they are currently done.” – Michael Lewis, Quoting Bill James, In Moneyball: The Art of Winning An Unfair Game
You cannot have a herd mentality during a crisis
Likewise, when evolving your product or service, it’s not about how many bells and whistles you can add. It’s about the experience the customer has.
Where We Are Going
A Great Escape
“Man is nothing else but what he purposes, he exists only in so far as he realizes himself, he is therefore nothing else but the sum of his actions, nothing else but what his life is.” – Jean-Paul Sartre, French Philosopher
Our decisions now are an act of choosing our own future. Context changes everything.
Demystifying AI
“A year spent in artificial intelligence is enough to make one believe in God. – Alan Perlis, Computer Scientist and First Recipient of the Turing Award
Context is an alchemist, transforming this raw, unprocessed data into a powerful tool for decision-making. Some might even argue that context is the linchpin, the very essence of everything
A database is so essential. It takes up the memory of an organization, which makes up its identity.
The benefit of artificial intelligence is in amplifying our human intelligence. We do not have to replace or replicate our strengths in order to minimize our weaknesses.
You start with the Why, move to the What, and then proceed with the How of any choice you are considering.
Leadership in the Age of AI
“I tell senior executives, ‘You should have the least stress.’ Why? You’re in charge. Why don’t you delegate the stress? People don’t dislike hard work. What people dislike is being out of control.” – Jeff Bezos
First: Your best friends will disappoint you. Second: Four or five things will happen every day that you wish wouldn’t happen. If you can’t handle those, then you need to get another job. And third: It’s lonely.
A healthy cutlture is one of your most important responsibilities. Creating culture falls into three categories: 1/ What you promote, 2/ What you practice, and 3/ What you permit
Ultimately, missionaries are the ones who can take two steps forward after the step back. Mercenaries will pack up and abandon you on the mountainside when conditions get too harsh.
As a leader, communicating bad news to your employees can be fuel for cultivating a problem-solving culture.
The explorers, the visionaries, the innovators – they open the door between the known and unknown
Conclusion
Empirical evidence shows that we fail at least as much as we succeed.
A Conversation with Vinod Khosla
One thing that I’ve always found in our conversations is that, for you, impossible is just an opinion.
Be like a Formula One driver. If you go too fast, you’ll crash; if you go too slow, you’ll lose the race–and that’s something I grapple with almost on a daily basis.
Leaders will need to be the consultant that brings all the latest approaches to them.
