I am very excited to invite you to our January SIM Women webinar, "The Art of Possible" a joint SIG discussion featuring Dr. Quintin McGrath, leader of ReThink Everything, SIM's newest special interest group that is quickly becoming mandatory participation for top leaders. As you know, SIM Women focuses on mentoring, career, and leadership development of our members. We rarely talk tech, and we're not going to talk tech too much this time either; however, we are going to talk about why YOU need to be the AI Champion within your organization HOW to go about it regardless of your level. We'll be exploring the urgency, risks, the seven elements of AI, ethics, and the paradoxical need for human skillsets versus analytical ones. We will also be sharing a capability maturity model via email post-event so everyone can continue their journey!
Register here! Once you register, you will receive the webinar access information directly from Zoom.
Given the incredible amount of information we're going to cover, Quintin and I wanted to use this invite as a contextual starting point. Here's what you likely already know:
Women left the workforce in higher numbers than men during the pandemic. It took three years for numbers to "bounce back" but we are now again facing a highly gendered challenge in AI.
McKinsey highlighted as much as 30% of hours now worked by Americans will be taken over by AI by 2030. Jobs that are disproportionately held by women and people of color share some common traits: they involve repetitive tasks, data collection, and data processing, all of which can be efficiently and quickly done by GenAI products.
The Kenan Institute's impact analysis of the Goldman Sachs Report found that eight out of 10 women (58.87 million) in the U.S. workforce are in occupations highly exposed to generative AI automation (more than 25% of the occupational tasks) vs. six out of 10 men (48.62 million). Overall, 21% more women are exposed to AI automation than men even though men outnumber women in the workforce. This is due to the affected occupations being populated by more women than men. “Highly exposed” means 25%-50% of the tasks in that occupation could be automated by generative AI.
https://kenaninstitute.unc.edu/kenan-insight/will-generative-aidisproportionately-affect-the-jobs-of-women/
If you want to read about potential solutions and strategies to mitigate losses, the UNESCO report "The Effects of AI on the Working Lives of Women" has good baseline practices: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000380861
In the face of all of the above, we need to act. We need to educate ourselves. We need to step into the limelight and lead. SIM Women has always encouraged leaders to leverage their grit and make things happen. Our January webinar will help you on your AI journey whether you are excited by AI or cowering in fear. I am grateful to Quintin for the time and insights he'll be sharing with us. We've had amazing conversations in prep for this event, and by the end of the event, you will be energized to take on AI within your organization!
For those who don't know him, Quintin McGrath is a driver of global-scale business growth and digital transformation with a focus on emerging technologies, ethics, risk management, and sustainability. As a retired Deloitte IT executive, board member, and founder of QplusAI LLC, he is known for advising leaders on the latest technologies and their impact on organizations, most recently guiding the application of Artificial Intelligence to a business considering the ethical, governance, and leadership implications. He is a member of the CXO Advisory Network of the A.Team startup, he sits on Blumberg Capital’s CIO Council, an Advisory Board for the early-stage venture capital firm, a Board Member of The Mentor Project, and a Board Member of the Society for Information Management (SIM) Tampa Bay chapter. He chairs the ReThink Everything! SIM Interest Group for IT Leaders seeking to turn the convergence of global megatrends and emerging technologies into business success. He leads SIM National’s Research Institute implementation effort. Quintin is a popular speaker, panelist, and Adjunct Professor at USF’s Muma College of Business, teaching MBA and Executive MBA students. He holds a Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.) focused on AI, ethics, and risk management from the University of South Florida, a Master of Science in Engineering from the University of Cape Town, and a Master of Arts from Wheaton College.
"Women helping women" is a long-standing concept inside of SIM Women, but we cannot go it alone. For sixteen years, SIM Women has focused on building an inclusive community of respect, support, and motivation to help individuals achieve their full potential, and our intent is to continue to equip you with tools, strategies, and education to bolster your leadership development efforts. Please let us know if there are topics you'd like us to explore in our webinars or regional events.
