Umbrex

The ROI on AI Frank M. shares a company post on AI adoption and the reality of its return on investment. The rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping the way companies operate, innovate, and compete. From automating customer service to enhancing product development, AI is at the forefront of modern business strategies. According to a recent MIT Sloan report, over 50% of high-performing companies with more than 5,000 employees are now leveraging AI in some form1. However, the vast potential of AI remains untapped by many businesses, leaving room for significant growth and opportunity. Read the full article: https://lnkd.in/g-_uE5rz

A Primer on Effective Communication Carly Vivian explains what effective communication is, is not, and how to do it. "In times of significant organizational change, leaders must navigate the delicate balance of delivering precise messages while maintaining a strong connection with their teams. Precise communication is essential for informing the organization about critical events and activities and ensuring legal requirements are met. However, an unintended consequence of tightly scripted formal messages can be losing connection with employees, damaging productivity, diminishing morale, and fostering resistance. A communication strategy for change should stand on equal footing with all other business frameworks, fundamentals, and revolutionary strategies. Effective change communication is one of the most crucial activities a leader conducts during transitions. Unfortunately, many managers don't feel adequately trained or prepared for this task. What Effective Change Communication Is NOT...." Read the full article: https://lnkd.in/gbfCikrQ

Leadership and Power in Knowledge, Big Data, and AI Richard Carriere shares an insightful view on the Internet of Things and where leadership could take us. As we witness Google’s current challenges and reflect on its role in shaping the digital age, it's worth revisiting one of humanity’s oldest insights: “Knowledge is power.” Coined by Sir Francis Bacon in 1597, this axiom has stood the test of time, encapsulating an enduring truth about progress. Yet, paradoxically, the rise of the Internet, and specifically Google, has both democratized knowledge and simultaneously redefined its value, leading us into a new era where power lies not in knowledge itself, but in the ability to process it. From Knowledge to Big Data The birth of the World Wide Web in 1989 paved the way for the democratization of information, and a decade later, Google’s search algorithm further amplified this by making virtually all publicly available knowledge accessible at the click of a button. As search became seamless and ubiquitous, Sir Bacon’s adage was rendered obsolete, replaced by a new reality: in the digital economy, the true commodity became data—specifically, consumer data." Read the full article: https://lnkd.in/gZnM3AJi

Addressing Bias with Awareness Ramya Mahalingam shares a personal story that illustrates how storytelling can help deal with bias. "Happy Friday! Today, we’re diving into a bit of a personal story. I first started traveling on business in the fall of 2016. I was a Sr. UX Architect at Cardinal Solutions, and I was about to start a project based in Tampa, FL. I was to go down there for a week to meet the team and get cracking on laying out the product we’d be building. I was SO excited. This was my first real grown-up business trip! I channeled visions of my dad walking out the door in a dark blue suit and small black carry-on as I selected pieces from my modest collection of (Macy’s and H&M) business casual outfits and packed them into my own rolling carry-on (red, but still – very official!) Feeling like a million bucks, I got into an Uber and was ferried to the airport by a kind, chatty gentleman, who bid me farewell with a, “be safe!” I was a little surprised. I thought I was channeling high-powered, dad business trip energy. He seemed to feel I was giving naive and vulnerable. I walked through the airport, passed through the boarding counter, and got another, “be safe!” Walked off the plane, thanked the flight attendant, and got a, “be safe!” Then another one from the Uber on the other side. Then another one at the hotel check-in." Read the full article: https://lnkd.in/gMrsyCJD

Umbrex is pleased to welcome Glen Comiso. Glen is Managing Director of Comiso & Company. He has extensive experience building innovation organizations, policies and programs at the intersection of academia, government, and industry. As Chief of Staff and Senior Director for Institute Affairs at MIT, he developed, facilitated and managed Institute-level initiatives in areas such as AI, health care & life sciences, start-up formation, and CEO-level industry engagement. Glen's background includes strategy consulting at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), leadership of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Collaborative (a coalition of university, hospital, government, and industry CEO-level leaders charged to strengthen life sciences in the region), and oversight of the Mayor's Economic Initiatives group and LifeTech Boston initiative for the City of Boston. Glen began his career as an engineer, where he led cross-functional teams to develop communications technologies for the government. Glen received his Masters of Business Administration from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, and his Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of California at Berkeley.

How to Combat the Health Impacts of Loneliness In this TEDx talk, Will Wright highlights the impact of loneliness on health and proposes a novel idea on how to easily connect with others and combat its effect. Watch the video, Loneliness is Killing Us, on YouTube. https://lnkd.in/g68g2v2t

Umbrex is pleased to welcome Jesper Sjöström. Jesper is an experienced change leader with background as senior manager at top-tier management consulting firm McKinsey & Company. Since leaving McKinsey & Company in 2012 Jesper has led his own boutique consulting firm and provided freelance consulting services. With almost 20 years' experience in management consulting Jesper brings abroad industrial experience across manufacturing sectors, service sectors and public sector. He has a special focus on performance improvements requiring a mix of strategic and operational change. Today Jesper lives and acts primarily in Stockholm, Sweden.

Expand Your Networking Know-how Vicario Reinaldo shares practical steps on how to network with a complete stranger. "'She wrote an amazing article. I wish I could have a coffee with her to discuss further.” 'He seems to be so busy. I am not sure if he has the time to chat with me.' 'I know that he has a lot of experience but I am not sure how I should frame the conversation.' If you have ever said one of the above, you are not alone! I was in that position before and believe me, sometimes I am there as well. Networking can be a powerful tool to strengthen our personal and professional life. It opens doors to opportunities that we have not imagined before. My Father got a chance to start his business 15 years back because of his network A friend of mind landed a job abroad through her network I got a lot of help to nail consulting interview from my network I want to call out explicitly that networking is not a substitute of competency. If we don’t have the competency, networking might be built on a very weak foundation. Instead, networking is a complement of competency." Read the full article: https://lnkd.in/gq4CvHwk

Umbrex is pleased to welcome William Florin. William brings over five years of experience as a Project Leader at The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), where he successfully contributed to or led approximately 15 projects. His focus has primarily been on Energy and Technology & Digital, with a particular emphasis on AI use cases, large-scale transformations, and Corporate Strategy. Throughout his career, William has developed a unique blend of skills: - Strategic insight and hands-on expertise in managing large, complex transformations, projects, and teams - Strong quantitative and qualitative analytical capabilities to dissect problems and propose solutions - Proven ability to communicate and engage with C-Suite executives and operational stakeholders

Building Know-how for a SaaS Startup Jackie Luo shares thoughts of the pros and cons of building a SaaS business. The market for Software as a Service (SaaS) applications is one of the fastest growing markets. According to Gartner, the worldwide SaaS application market is growing from $59 billion in 2017 to $113 billion in 2021.  Not only are big enterprises like Microsoft, Salesforce, and Adobe transitioning to the recurring revenue model, delivering their applications via the Cloud, many startups are now emerging to deliver Cloud applications embedded with the latest technologies like Machine Learning, Deep Learning, and Remote Sensors. You love SaaS business for a multiple of reasons. These include: 1.    Low barriers to entry.  Pay-as-you-go hosting services from Amazon, Microsoft, and Google make it easy and inexpensive for startups to enter the business. 2.    Low cost. It doesn’t cost that much to build a new application.  Many low-cost offshore resources are available to build your applications. 3.    Hot market. The increasing adoption of SaaS applications by large enterprises is making SaaS business mainstream.  Everyone is moving to Cloud! 4.    Fast ROI. Because of its relatively low cost and ease of deployment, an application doesn’t have to be very robust, as long as it solves a nagging problem for a specific segment of users.  It can be profitable within in a short period of time.  5.    Fundable. Investors love the recurring revenue model, so it’s easier to raise money. Read the full article: https://lnkd.in/gnA_6daK