S3E04: Gen AI, Clever Analytics? Game Changing? or Just Fluff?

Episode Notes

In this episode, we talk with Tony Boobier, a consultant, mentor, author and advisor with a specialisation with AI and financial services. Tony delves into hype surrounding AI's role in everyday life. He discusses the fear-driven perceptions of data-driven decisions, pondering the motives behind the hype, and its influence on society's view of AI.

The episode also explores the practical applications of Generative AI in understanding vast amounts of data. From Customer Satisfaction to Risk Management, we talk through AI's current efficiency and areas that still need improvement and emphasise the need for organisations to integrate AI sustainably, with focus on Stakeholder Management.

Join us and gain valuable insights from this thought leader who provides an objective perspective on the evolving AI landscape.

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3 Takeaways:

1. The overhype of AI’s role in everyday life
2. Making sense of all the data through generative AI for human understanding
3. What AI can do for us today efficiently and where it still needs improvement

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Key Quotes:

• “You have to ask yourself,  why all the hype? You know, who is driving all this hype? Of course, there's a lot of fear around the whole topic. People kind of envisage a world of data driven decisions as being very dystopian really. They're frightened by what they've seen in 1984 and what they learned from Hollywood, and there is an element of that, of course. But a lot of the hype particularly has been driven, I think, by people with a vested interest. Particularly large organisations who are trying to drive stockholder value. Small organisations that are trying to establish a niche in the market. And maybe also, you know, dare I say it, the media who are keen to identify what is the buzzword of the moment. And AI seems to be one of those buzz words. And therefore, you know, put the expression AI into a title and it almost becomes clickbait, really.
• “I've found sometimes that smaller organisations particularly  have a technical capability and they throw it to the wall and say, ‘you know, how can I make this work in a FSI industry or, or any other industry?’ And that for me is looking through the wrong end of the telescope. Organisations need to focus on what's important to them. Customer retention, customer satisfaction, risk management,  reduction of operational cost, and if AI and advanced technologies is the way that they do that, then all well and good, but, you know, don't view AI as being the panacea to all of that.”
• “Any data transition, any AI transition or whatever you wish to call it, needs to be part of an integrated sustainable program rather than something which is on the wish wishlist of an individual. So stakeholder management becomes absolutely critical.“
• “One of the joys, one of the pleasures of being an independent consultant, as I am now, is that you, you do have the ability to, to step back and be a little more objective perhaps than towing the corporate line and that I find very helpful.”

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Tony Boobier

Consultant, Mentor, Author and Advisor on AI and Financial Services

Tony Boobier is a UK-based technology executive with over 40 years of international experience. With a global viewpoint focusing on data, analytics and AI for the Financial Sector, he currently operates as an independent consultant, executive mentor and advisory board member.  

He is author of 4 books: ‘Analytics for Insurance’ (2016), ‘Advanced Analytics and AI: Impact, Implementation and the Future of Work’ (2018), ‘AI and the Future of Banking’ (2020), and his lockdown project ‘AI and the Future of the Public Sector’ (2022). He is also editor / contributor to multiple other publications.

www.tonyboobier.co.uk

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For more information:

Connect with Tony on Linkedin

You can find more from Tony here… https://www.tonyboobier.co.uk/

And, you can also find Tony’s books here…  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tony-Boobier/e/B085QMF7DY

https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B085QMF7DY

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About the Hosts

Matthew O'Neill is a husband, dad, geek and Industry Managing Director, Advanced Technology Group in the Office of the CTO at VMware.

You can find Matthew on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Brian Hayes is an audiophile, dad, builder of sheds, maker of mirth, world traveler and EMEA Financial Services Industry Lead at VMware.

You can find Brian on

LinkedIn