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5 AI Trends Every CEO Must Act On
Earlier this year, I shared takeaways from Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends Report, which showed how AI is reshaping business at a macro level. Building on that, Google Cloud’s 2025 AI Trends highlights five forces that will directly impact companies in the year ahead.
AI is no longer experimental. It is restructuring markets, reshaping customer expectations, and redrawing competitive boundaries. Here are five AI trends CEOs are preparing for now:
CEOs: Go Deep for your Customers!
Mon, Aug 14, 2017 — Part 3 of Creating Sustainability for the Business A Sea of Sameness “So, what do you think of our website?” This was a new client—at my first on-site meeting with the CEO. “You have great product merchandising, well-written features and benefits. Could use some work on the ecommerce side,” I replied. “What I’m not clear on, though, is this, ‘Who is your customer, and how do you help them?’”
A Best Marketing Practice: Cultivating “Lead” Customer Relationships for Breakthrough Products and Services
Thu, Aug 3, 2017 — It’s been many years since I learned what a “lead” customer is and how to build lead customer relationships to build confidence and reduce risks of new product or service launches. The concept of a lead customer, or lead user, is probably one of the most beneficial best practices I’ve used in marketing and product management roles. Want to design and launch a breakthrough product? The lead customer approach is absolutely a winner. The lead user methodology was originally developed by Dr. Eric von Hippel of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and first described in the July 1986 issue of Management Science. You can read a revised version of the original article here.
Lessons in Innovation: The Customer Development Team’s exposure to Prospective Customers
Fri, Jul 28, 2017 — In my last post I shared a process for companies to consider using when evaluating new products for new markets. The core idea is to test “customer readiness” before making significant investments in Marketing and Sales. And the vehicle for testing is to use a cross-functional Customer Development team to reach out to prospects to create and expedite learning moments. Uncover the facts, test your assumptions, and iterate on the product, if absolutely required, before executing the big launch. In this post, I’ll share an experience I’ve had when using this approach.
A Bullet Train to Profitable Growth: Four Questions to Ask Now
Mon, Jul 24, 2017 — In Japan, the Shinkansen Bullet Trains have carried more than 10 billion passengers, through one of the most densely populated regions in the world, since 1964. In that 53-year span, there have been ZERO fatal accidents on the railroad. How is this unblemished safety record possible, given the high speed, high stakes environment in which the trains operate?
Sales and Marketing Synergy: Why Cross-Functional Alignment is No Longer Just an Option
Thu, Jul 20, 2017 — As a CEO, you strive for harmony among your functional teams. It’s a comforting feeling during those weekly leadership meetings to hear that sales and marketing efforts appear to be coordinated – key personnel are collaborating on projects, keeping each other informed, using a common language, and possibly even delivering cross-functional reports from Salesforce and other analytical tools. But beneath this veneer of peaceful coexistence, are your sales and marketing teams truly integrating their efforts in a way that will add impact – and revenue – to your bottom line?
7 Things Successful CEOs Do to Grow their Business
Tue, Jul 11, 2017 — Lessons from UPS, Campbell’s Soup, Amazon, and Others In today’s fast-paced world, it’s easy for CEOs and other executives to get mired in day-to-day fire-fighting, only to find that growth has stalled. Below are 7 things successful CEOs from companies big and small do to build momentum, create and keep a strong culture, and grow their business.
Profitable, Recurring Revenue Streams - Part 2
Fri, Jul 7, 2017 — Transitioning Your Business Model to Grow Your Business-as-a-Service More and more companies are realizing that transitioning their business to an as-a-Service model is the answer to driving higher growth and more profitable and stable revenue streams. In Part 1 of this article series, you learned how to know if it's time to think about embracing an as-a-Service model.
Fractional CMO can be Key Step in Building a Management Team
Thu, Jul 6, 2017 — This is a guest post from Mark Rosenman of Newport Board Group. There is a wide range of circumstances that lead companies to bring in a fractional CMO. The immediate need to strengthen marketing might be a response to an important development in the business: a growth spurt or a downturn, new capital or a change in management team or strategy. Some companies bring in a fractional CMO as part of an “asset light” business model that leans against bringing on permanent C-level executives at least for the foreseeable future.
CEOs: Ready to Enjoy Tom Brady-Style Success in the Boardroom?
Wed, Jul 5, 2017 — Employ the Secrets of the New England Patriots’ Quarterback To Create Your Own Winning Game Plan Whether or not you like the NFL’s New England Patriots, they keep winning -- and always find themselves in playoff contention. So, what’s their secret? Is it better players? Probably not. They always seem to find new or no-name players who seem to outperform on game day, to everyone’s amazement. Is it better coaching or a better playbook? Maybe, but every NFL team has similar offensive and defensive playbooks.