Dear Danny
Human to human
Interested in sharing
your success stories with
the Hult community?
Reach out:
[email protected].
The robot revolution may be coming—but we’ve
got some human questions to ask. MBA gradu-
ate Danny Goh is a serial entrepreneur and early-
stage investor. He recently co-authored The AI
Republic, alongside Dr. Terence Tse and Hult pro-
fessor Dr. Mark Esposito, and is founder and CEO
of Nexus FrontierTech, an AI research firm helping
organizations to run better, leaner, and faster. We
pitched him some of the pressing questions asked by
tech entrepreneurs today.
Q: Dear Danny,
What’s with all the scaremongering around AI?
From, Fearless (For Now)
DANNY GOH
It’s true, there’s a lot of fear out there. But computerization is really
only going to assist humans, not replace them. In order to solve a prob-
lem, we need to know exactly what that problem is. Only then can we
consider automating the process. We have so many problems right
now, and we don’t even know the sources. More than 80% of human
time is spent reacting to instant problems—did you use your left or
right hand to pick up the toothbrush this morning? These actions are
spontaneous; you can schedule your whole day, but the actual and
scheduled events won’t have much crossover. Until we’ve worked out
the exact objectives for machines to handle that could benefit us,
there’s no need to panic.
Q: Dear Danny,
Let’s cut to it—will AI take my job?
From, One Foot Out the Door
DG
No need to go just yet. Let’s consider for a moment a little thing called
evolution. Mankind has never stopped evolving its job skills. All these
new job titles we’ve created and the ways of working, including AI—
it’s a trend we can never stop. That’s the scientific view. From a social
side, technology is evolving faster than 99% of people can handle. It
creates “social disturbance” and needs top-down intervention to make
it work. Without it we see a marketplace vacuum, as we are seeing
now, in certain, mostly white-collar, fields. That might not feel great,
but it’s the truth, and it won’t be reversed. It is still critical for humans
to use and interpret the data produced; AI is like an upgrade that al-
lows us to go further, faster.
Q: Dear Danny,
How do you stay informed in this era of data overload?
From, Too Many Tabs Open
DG
Personally, I keep a minimum of two hours aside for reading the news
every night. That’s my golden rule. Because of that, my pitch to clients
and investors is updated weekly. My team calls me crazy, but that’s
how I ensure the company stays close to the markets and pivots the
right way, rather than waiting for them to respond to us.
Q: Dear Danny,
How do you build a strong team?
From, Teamwork Makes the Dream Work
DG
Having the same mindset, regardless of capability, is key. For me, it’s
about integrity. Sometimes the problem will be within my knowledge,
sometimes it’s within yours; but you need complete trust from all.
“The AI Republic”
by Dr. Terence Tse,
Dr. Mark Esposito,
and Danny Goh is
available now.
Danny Goh
CEO
56
MBA
Class of 2017
London, UK
Adapting Skills
linkedin.com/in/dannygoh
Q: Dear Danny,
I want to work in AI, but don’t know how to get in. What kind of roles should
I be looking at?
From, AI: Ambitious and Intrigued
DG
Right now, there’s a big gap between the technical and business worlds
because the technology is moving so quickly and business is failing to
adapt at speed. What we need most in industry are project managers
who can help to bridge that gap and implement these technologies. The
trend has moved from last year, where we were paying millions of dol-
lars to AI scientists. Right now, we’re looking for those businesspeople
who can understand AI. It’s the reason for our book—it’s not a technical
read, but we’re trying to impart some technical insight to businesspeople,
ultimately to make our projects bigger, better, and more impactful.
Adapting Skills
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