Leadership in the Age of Purpose QANTAS_AGSM_FINAL | Page 3

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NEW LEADERSHIP IN ACTION
sustainable to be a ‘fast follower’ – innovation is moving
so fast and the results are so profound.”
Priddis proposed that BCG do pro bono research work with
the CSIRO’s Data61, a project that produced the seminal 2016
report, Tomorrow’s Digitally Enabled Workforce. The work led
him to found Faethm, a software-as-a-service startup that
launched at the end of 2017 and now, after 18 months of
development, has customers across 18 industries and 15
countries. “I wanted to build a data platform to help
Michael Priddis
companies and governments around the world understand
CEO and founder, Faethm
the impact of emerging technology,” he says. “‘How do I help
my company, industry or country to benefit? What actions
should I take?’”
Priddis says, “Leaders know that the fourth industrial
revolution is a thing: they know that AI exists, they know that
robots are coming. Everybody has read a dozen reports on it
but the problem is that reports are out of date very quickly
because the world is changing so fast.”
he impetus to commence an MBA at AGSM came, says
Faethm is powerful yet simple enough to show an informed
Michael Priddis, from a feeling “that something was
path to action. The software-as-a-service data platform has
missing from my knowledge”. United Kingdom-born
four AI tools at work. Emerging technology, economics and
Priddis had a Bachelor of Science in computer science and
skills assessments are paired with company or
geography. Early consulting roles were leading
government data to show the impact of
him towards innovation and technology
technology on operations, industries or
design and strategy, but he had no formal
“It’s no longer
communities. Leading consulting firms –
business qualification. “I had the self-doubt
sustainable to be
including BCG, KPMG, PwC and EY – now
a lot of people have: I can’t possibly do this,
a ‘fast follower’
use it for their clients. “Faethm is a fast
it’s what other people do.”
– innovation
pathway to the best possible insights about
After completing a Graduate Certificate
is so fast and
in Change Management at AGSM, he started
the value and impact of technology and a way
results are so
his MBA in 2005. “It gave me the confidence
to understand how to transition workforces …
profound.”
I needed to go and set up my own business,”
it immediately delivers data and insights that
he says. Five years later, he sold the strategic
would take a team of consultants a very long
design firm he’d launched to the Boston
time to produce.”
Consulting Group (BCG), joining the multinational as the
Priddis’s mission forms around three As: automation,
founding managing director of its Digital Ventures unit for
augmentation and addition. Right now, the popular focus is
Asia. “At BCG, I came across a new problem that I thought was
on the first but, he explains, “augmentation is jobs retained but
big and I didn’t think anyone was addressing it,” says Priddis.
materially changed because of technology and addition is jobs
He was working across multiple industries and countries
created – and there is so much opportunity for both.”
on projects designing and building technology products.
Bridging the skills of an accountant into those of a cyber
“I had a bird’s-eye view and I started to see a pattern in
analyst is an easily trainable knowledge gap. “If over the course
the questions.” First, he says, technology was accelerating
of two or three years you’re going to automate a bunch of
so fast that companies and governments wanted advice on
accounting work but you’re also going to need a lot more cyber
where they should invest their time and money. Second,
analysts, why would you make these accountants redundant?
how could they get their workforce future-ready for these
No, you’d put them into a learning and development program
disruptive technologies?
and transition them from job A to job B and that’s what
“As you build new products and services, you often digitise
Faethm does.”
or automate and so stop needing as many people,” he says,
offering robots replacing factory workers as an early example.
agsm.edu.au/mba
“I could see the likely impact of these emerging technologies
and I was concerned about the social and human
consequences. I could also see a major economic problem
if companies or industries didn’t innovate. It’s no longer
Putting people
in to automation
T