Over the course of season two, we’ve spoken with some truly magnificent guests about how the tech of today is shaping the world of tomorrow. As our final guest of the season, Pega CTO and VP of Product Marketing Don Schuerman gives his perspective on the topics we’ve covered so far, from hyperautomation to extended edge to distributed cloud. Plus, get Don’s take on how far the pandemic has pushed us into the future, how software and people can work better together, the role of bias awareness in AI, and more.

Key Takeaways:

[1:39] Don Schuerman, CTO & VP of Product Marketing at Pegasystems talks about how many years the pandemic has accelerated us forward. It’s an interesting paradox because in some aspects it has felt like a period of standing still, yet there was also this wormhole in technology that we accelerated through what would usually be a 5 to 10 year adoption period for technology. Organizations had to think more deeply about data, and that’s why AI governance became more important.

[4:56] It’s not just about implementing software, but having the resources (and the people) to do it.

[6:11] Where does Don think the future of automation lies? In leveraging data, analytics, intelligence, and being able to self optimize your processes. Hyper-automation brings more and more data with it, which means we need more processing power in order to get through a more distributed cloud. This means data can be stored more efficiently across many data centers, allowing for faster processing and more built-in backup systems in case one data center fails.

[9:00] Fay Arjomandi, CEO of mimik Technology, a hybrid edge-cloud platform, explains how edge devices can disseminate data faster and more intelligently when we compute at the edge.

We also have a greater ability to identify and understand what data is really important and respond to it accordingly.

[10:32] Extended edge allows us to make decisions about what data gets stored, and where security risks may increase. But why is data privacy so important?

[16:24] Don demystifies AI, saying that AI may not be the Terminator nefarious situation we think, but in a flawed world, we sometimes make flawed things with values and biases that reflect our own.

[16:50] Elizabeth Adams, AI Technologist and Chief AI and Ethics & Culture Advisor at EMA consulting, illustrated what dangerous AI applications can look like. She talks about her work concerning the use of facial recognition technology by law enforcement in Minneapolis. She did her community a huge service by understanding the use of biased AI and tech.

[17:43] Don explains why we must stay inquisitive and curious about others, so we can learn from each other and share our unique perspectives. By constantly bringing different perspectives in and we're filling in those blind spots, and we're actually getting to see this big, beautiful picture of the world.

[18:52] Galit Ariel suggests AR has a bit of an edge over VR, at least for right now.

[21:17] How does technology already subtly fold naturally into the life we are already living? Through simple things like using an Instagram filter, Zoom calls or using a shopping app.

[25:08] Our work will need to get more efficient, and our online experiences more immersive. But, we will need people to power all this technology.

Quotes:

• “AI governance was really about understanding and wrapping around how you use your data in an ethical and empathetic way.” - Don [2:20]
• “ I think the future of automation and hyper-automation lies in leveraging data, analytics, intelligence, to self optimize your processes. - Don [6:11]
• “It’s important we understand the way tech that runs our world works, and how our data is used because it’s already becoming deeply ingrained in how we govern ourselves, our companies, and our societies at large.” - Jo [11:50]
• “ Ensuring a less biased future, without biased tech, can’t just depend on people like Elizabeth who take up the mantle. It depends on organizations, and the people who make them move.” - Jo [16:33]
• “We find things that we share and we find things that we can teach each other about. And that's wonderful. I think part of that is acknowledging that with your unique perspective also comes your unique set of blind spots and experiences and perspectives that you might not have.” - Don [16:37]
• “A diversity of perspective is going to be important as we navigate the ongoing shift to a more virtual way of life.” - Jo [18:09]
• “I love the opportunity that we have now to live through this era, that everything we dreamed of is coming and technology is not something that exists in this other space, but it really is becoming an and indigenous thing to our physical reality.” - Galit [19:48]
• “My hope is that we as humans, don't let the metaverse replace the actual verse.” - [22:34] Don

Continue on your journey:

pega.com/podcast

Mentioned:

• Don Schuerman
• Fay Arjomandi
• Elizabeth Adams
• Galit Ariel
• Ready Player One
• Mark Anderson