Matthew GriffinFounder, President and Futurist, 311 Institute
G7 · G20governments advised
850+keynotes
102countries
17codexes
Future of work sessions forPepsiCoWinchester CollegeUniversity of GreenwichDiscoverGovernment of BahrainUnleashed
Featured inBloombergThe Wall Street JournalThe Telegraph
About this keynote
Firstly, thank you to the team at Accenture for inviting me to be their keynote speaker at the annual Accenture Technology Symposium in Paris, France, where I was given the opportunity to showcase how companies in the year 2040 will develop products, operate, and scale, and where other executives discussed how they’re preparing their own organisations today for the “technology fuelled lightening-like speed of change” in what Accenture refer to as the Post-Digital era.
During the event we had the honour of hearing from C-level executives from organisations including Airbus, Bayer, BP, Sanofi, Thales, and Veolia, to name but a few, and how they are helping their organisations navigate and prepare themselves for a world where the rule books of the past increasingly no longer apply, and where science fiction like technologies become commonplace.
Watch the keynote in full
Against this backdrop I discussed the rise of fully autonomous, omni-present, holocratic organisations that can disrupt global industries in just days, not months or years, that are run by inter-connected AI’s and “Digital Human” avatars. And, going further into the rabbit hole, I then went on to show the audience how these autonomous companies will be able to share experiences and knowledge ingested and “learned” from global scale information and sensor networks via Hive Minds in order to grow and thrive, as well as how they’ll also be able to draw on the experiences and knowledge of previous human CEO’s and board members who’ve immortalised themselves in avatar form.
From there, bearing in mind we had a lot to pack into just forty minutes, I showed the audience new ways to accelerate their own rates of hardware and software innovation by anywhere between a thousand fold and hundreds of millions fold, with examples, and quickly discussed the implications that AI’s that self-code, self-design, self-evolve, and self-replicate will have on them and organisations of the future.
And the result of all this? Well, in my opinion I think we need a new word for fast because the pace of change in the future will be insane by today’s meek standards.
311 Intelligence
What this means for your leadership team
Speed becomes the main risk.
The keynote describes organisations that can disrupt global industries in days. A planning cycle built around months or years will not match that pace. Accelerating Rate of Change is already an Act now trend, with wide use set for 2015.
Companies may run without people.
Autonomous Organisations, where AI agents act as workforce and management, are tagged Explore with wide use by 2035. The session adds a twist: avatars of former chief executives and board members could feed their experience back in. Leaders should decide now which judgement stays human.
Shared learning changes the contest.
Hive Minds would let firms share what they learn from large information and sensor networks. The idea is still early, at TRL 2, with wide use around 2060. Self-learning AI is nearer, at TRL 7 and 2030, so the practical work starts there.
Three questions for your next leadership meeting
Which of our decisions could a rival make in days?
Where would an avatar of past leaders help or mislead us?
How fast could we safely speed up our own innovation?
The trends and technologies behind this session
From the 311 Starburst, the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit’s map of the technologies and trends shaping the next 50 years.
What does the I, The Company of 2040 session mean for organisations?
It suggests that speed, not size, will set the winners. Companies run by connected AI and Digital Human avatars could move far faster than today's firms. Leaders should test how quickly their own planning, product and risk decisions can change.
How do autonomous organisations relate to this session?
They are the core idea. 311 tracks Autonomous Organisations as an Explore trend, with AI agents being tested as the workforce and management of firms with few or no human staff. Wide use is expected by 2035.
How do Hive Minds relate to this session?
The keynote uses Hive Minds as the way autonomous companies could share what they learn. 311 rates the idea as Watch, at TRL 2, with wide use around 2060. It is a signal to follow, not yet a plan to fund.
How can 311 brief our leadership team on this?
Through a private executive briefing or leadership workshop, tailored to your sector, in person first.
Bring this to your leadership teamA private executive briefing or leadership workshop, tailored to your sector. In person first, anywhere in the world.
Analysis by the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit, from Matthew Griffin’s session and 311 data.
If Matthew gave this session today
One heavy AI user directs about 18 people's work.
311 Institute's Future of Work report finds a heavy AI user already directs the work of about 18 people for $180 a month. It takes the productivity question this session raised and measures what one person can now make and direct.
