On this episode, Zach has the pleasure of talking with Doug Shannon, a Global Intelligent Automation Leader and a LinkedIn Top AI Voice. Together, they explore what’s happening in Generative AI today.

The companies behind the biggest platforms have still yet to turn a profit, but they’ll continue to invest and spend exponentially. Why is that? What strategies are these Gen AI giants using to hook users and (eventually) make money? What’s going on behind the scenes? Zach and Doug answer these questions and more today on the pod.

View This Episode On:

• YouTube: https://youtu.be/4HsCked7PXk
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/doug-shannon-global-intelligent-automation-leader/id1730289289?i=1000652597985
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0vqJKDKoZ6tNah6zL18yJM?si=8af3df662e604f0c
• … or wherever you get your podcasts!

About Doug:

Doug Shannon is an accomplished IT automation professional with over 20 years of experience in advanced technology roles. He excels at implementing strategic initiatives to enhance business functionality and possesses strong collaboration skills to lead diverse teams. Doug is a thought leader in digital transformation, utilizing his expertise in enterprise robotic process automation, AI, and agile project management to drive success. He has a proven track record in building self-healing automation processes and has been recognized as one of the top 50 intelligent automation leaders globally.

About The Generative AI In The Enterprise Series:

Welcome to Keyhole Software’s first-ever Podcast Series, Generative AI in the Enterprise. Chief Architect, Zach Gardner, talks with industry leaders, founders, tech evangelists, and GenAI specialists to find out how they utilize Generative AI in their businesses.

And we’re not talking about the surface-level stuff! We dive into how these bleeding-edge revolutionists use GenAI to increase revenue and decrease operational costs. You’ll learn how they have woven GenAI into the very fabric of their business to push themselves to new limits, beating out competition and exceeding expectations.

See All Episodes

Partial Generative AI In The Enterprise Episode Transcript

Note: this transcript section was created using generative AI tools like YouTube automated transcripts and ChatGPT. There may be typos, slight content changes, or character limits for brevity!

“Zach Gardner: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the future! My name is Zach Gardner, I’m the Chief Architect at Keyhole Software, and a few months ago, I set off on a journey. I wanted to talk to people with strong opinions on generative AI, especially those who might not agree with everything I say. I believe in spirited discussions and alternative points of view to ensure we have a well-rounded perspective on generative AI.

I scoured the four corners of the worldwide web, and today, I’m thrilled to introduce our guest, Doug Shannon. Doug is a global intelligent automation leader, a big Star Wars fan, and a big Marvel fan. How’s it going, Doug?

Doug Shannon: It’s going well, Zach. Thanks for having me. I’m looking forward to the discussion.

Zach Gardner: Great to have you here. Just a reminder to everyone, the views and opinions discussed in this program are those of the participants and do not reflect their employers, trade organizations, or spouses. It’s just two dudes talking.

So, Doug, let’s start with how you’re using generative AI in your personal life and then how you’re using it professionally.

Doug Shannon: Sure, Zach. Personally, I use generative AI for various tasks. Sometimes, I just talk to it when brainstorming ideas. It’s like an advanced search engine or a sounding board to help overcome that blank page issue. It’s also free for users, although it’s costly for the companies running it.

Professionally, the landscape is different. Many public figures from large companies tout its greatness, but privately, they acknowledge challenges. There’s a significant cost, and sometimes the ROI isn’t clear. Enterprises are finding it harder to integrate generative AI than smaller, cloud-native companies.

Zach Gardner: That’s interesting. I read that OpenAI’s bill on Azure is over a million dollars a day. The processing power and resources required are immense. Smaller companies might understand and appreciate the costs better due to their cloud-first methodologies. Have you noticed differences between how small and large companies approach intelligent automation?

Doug Shannon: Absolutely. Smaller companies are usually more agile and open to intelligent automation because they’ve been cloud-native from the start. Larger enterprises often face cultural resistance, especially from employees who’ve been there for over a decade. They don’t want to change established processes.

The key to overcoming this barrier is culture. Technology adoption hinges on the culture and the willingness of employees to embrace change. In digital transformation, it’s crucial to upskill employees and integrate automation gradually. Automation isn’t about replacing jobs; it’s about saving time and allowing employees to focus on more valuable tasks.

Zach Gardner: Starting with culture is crucial. Companies need a culture that embraces continuous improvement. Let’s shift gears to safety controls in generative AI. How can we balance the benefits and risks?

Doug Shannon: Generative AI models, like GPT, have inherent issues like hallucinations and prompt injections. These models try to please users, sometimes fabricating information. The key to mitigating this is grounding—ensuring the AI references accurate, context-specific data, reducing hallucinations significantly.

Hypnotization, or prompt manipulation, is another risk. Automation can help here by standardizing prompts and ensuring consistency. AI spanning, the integration of automation and generative AI, helps control and audit processes. This integration allows automation to handle tasks and trigger generative AI where human intervention was previously required, maintaining control and ensuring reliability.

Zach Gardner: That makes sense. Using automation to manage AI interactions provides a layer of control and reliability. It’s fascinating to see how these technologies can complement each other. Thank you, Doug, for sharing your insights.

Doug Shannon: My pleasure, Zach. Thanks for having me.”