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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:
How to Survive the 5 Fatal Factors that Threaten Your Business
Fri, Nov 18, 2016 — Understanding the external factors that hinder your growth and survival The Bureau of Labor and Statistics in 2016 reports that only two-thirds of businesses will survive 2 years, half of all businesses will survive 5 years, and a mere one-third will survive 10 years or more. Most of us have heard these statistics, or at least a version of them. In the modern market, the success of a business depends on its growth. But why do some businesses successfully grow and survive while others become a failing statistic?
Timing is Everything: Three Ways to Set the Clock to Your Advantage
Tue, Nov 8, 2016 — Flash back with me for a moment to the 1980s. The decade of big hair, Reaganomics and the DeLorean, the 80s was also the cherry on top for more than three decades of stupendous growth in the music industry.
Insights, Integration, and Impact: A CEO’s Guide to Hitting Targets Every Time
Mon, Oct 24, 2016 — Is it possible to hit our growth targets every time? American sharpshooter Annie Oakley, also known as “Little Sure Shot,” would say it is. In fact, legend has it that the famous markswoman was known to consistently slice a playing card perfectly in half with a single bullet – and as a child, she was so reliably successful at game hunting, that she used her skills to pay her parents’ mortgage in full.
The Three Levels of Listening: Deeper Insights for More Enduring and Effective Sales and Marketing Strategies
Wed, Oct 19, 2016 — No matter how many shiny new products and services emerge every year in an industry, there will always be a few established brand giants waiting at the top of the Mountain of Customer Loyalty, waiting to force the weaker ones into submission.
Keeping it Real: The Next Four of 10 Reasons Why Your SWOT is Really a SWAG
Mon, Oct 17, 2016 — Let’s keep it real: While myriad technology-driven changes have garnered much of our strategy-related attention and interest over the last several years, the need to evaluate an organization’s fundamental strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats is more important than ever.
What Does a Fractional CMO Cost?
Wed, Oct 12, 2016 — A Growing Spectrum of Fractional CMO Service Providers Ensures a Range of Fee Levels More CEOs are hiring fractional executives to bring expertise to their management teams, but are they really affordable? And how should a CEO evaluate their value and the quality of work they deliver? These are really good questions! After all, there’s a wide range of skills, seniority and experience from marketing consultants, agencies and firms that call themselves fractional or outsourced CMOs. So, as you’d expect, there’s a wide range of price points from these sources. But to get started, let’s put these into a few oversimplified categories: “Single Shingle” Marketing Consultants “Loose Confederations” of Brokered Marketing Consultants “Professionals” who are Part of a Firm Senior management from a marketing or advertising agency Partners from an “Executives-as-a-Service” firm (such as Chief Outsiders) Partners from a large consultancy (such as McKinsey & Co, Bain)
Let’s Get Real! Three of 10 Reasons Why Your SWOT is Really a SWAG
Mon, Oct 10, 2016 — I once experienced a recurring dream where I stood at the front of Mrs. Streebeck’s fifth grade class, completely unable to speak. “Where is your homework, Mr. Sparrow?” the teacher asked. The shame and guilt of being unprepared caused my throat to tighten and my vocal chords to freeze. It was horrifying. Never mind that in the nightmare I was also fully exposed—buck naked, as we say in the South—but that’s not the point. Even if tucked away in my subconscious, I’ve always been mortified of being unprepared. Most of you reading this post feel the same way – and that’s why you’re here.
What Can Tesla Teach Us About Customer-Focus?
Thu, Oct 6, 2016 — I wouldn’t mind getting my hands on a Tesla. Sleek, fast, future-forward – and electric to boot – the unique combination of “smart” and sustainability features on the Model S, Model X, and Model 3 make the car company’s offerings so irresistible to buyers, that Elon Musk and his team have struggled to keep up with demand.
If Marketing “Leads,” Sales Will Follow: Achieving Alignment For Revenue Success
Thu, Sep 29, 2016 — Travel with me, if you will, back to 2006. It was a time, in the corporate world, when the sales team had all of the power and most of the fun. Company credit card in hand, they would organize meetings at conferences, trade shows, meetings on the golf course, or at their favorite hospitality event. Pleasantries were exchanged, orders were placed – and business kept rolling forward.