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        Flexibility is the biggest selling point that we have over our larger rivals. We give our clients the freedom needed to thrive in today’s fast-paced business world, organisations say to us that they often see higher quality work from independent consultants like us, this reason is the primary motivator when choosing us over a big firm. This means that we have the same skills and experience as the big firms, with added freedom and flexibility to let us focus and resolve client requirements.

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        Will AI replace jobs

        The AI language model, has to be viewed as the internet in the 1990s and the mobile in the 2000s but I can tell you that AI has the potential to automate some of the work that is currently done by people. It's crucial to remember nevertheless that not all jobs are equally vulnerable to automation. Most jobs will have it as an assistant.

        There are some jobs that are less likely to be mechanised in the near future, such as those that demand creativity, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, and interpersonal skills.Yet, positions that require manual work, data processing, and repetitive operations are more likely to be mechanised.

        It's also crucial to remember that while AI can automate some tasks, it cannot take the place of human abilities and traits like empathy, adaptability, and decision-making that are crucial in many professions. Jobs in complex decision-making, problem-solving, and communication skills are required for these positions, which are challenging for computers to mimic and wont be able to be automated. For most the answer is NO, AI wont replace your job.

        2023 - 5 trends with financial institutions

         

        In 2023, if i had a crystal ball, I believe the following trends will become main themes within north american financial institutions:

        1. Increase mobile banking capabilities: Banks should continue to invest in technologies to improve the customer experience on mobile devices. This could include new payment systems, improved security measures and customised experiences for each customer.

        2. Develop AI-driven solutions: Banks can use artificial intelligence to automate mundane tasks and provide more personalised customer service. AI can also be used to detect fraud, improve customer experience, and even predict customer behaviour.

        3. Leverage blockchain technology: Blockchain technology can help banks reduce costs, increase efficiency, and improve security. Banks can use it to develop new services, such as digital asset management, and establish distributed networks to streamline processes.

        4. Introduce open banking: Open banking allows customers to securely share their financial data with third-party providers, such as financial advisors, lenders, and insurers. Banks should look to partner with these organisations to provide more personalised services to their customers.

        5. Utilise digital currencies: Digital currencies are becoming increasingly popular, and banks should look to leverage this technology to offer a more convenient way to send and receive payments. Banks should also look to develop their own digital currencies, and explore the potential of using them to facilitate international payments.

        This will be my last post of the year, Merry Christmas to all and wish everyone a 2023 filled with happiness, health and success.

        7 habits to transform your life

        On this friday evening, sharing some habits that have helped me improve in 2022:

        1.Get up the same time every day

        2.Set realistic goals for the day

        3. No caffeine , coffee or tea past lunch

        4.Plan by writing things with pen and paper

        5.Evening brain dump use your phone voice recorder (Time box it to 1-2 min)

        6. Challenge yourself to do something new 

        7.Time block your activites

         

         

      • What we offer

        Business & Technology Consulting

        We offer clients specialised consulting in areas that we deeply understand. Our services include:

        • - Skills To Envision, Design And Develop Enterprise Apps
        • - Talent For SaaS/PaaS/IaaS In The Cloud
        • - API Architecture
        • - Data Science Talent
        • - ALM deployments – Agile/Devops
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  • The Power of a "Coffee Meeting"

Blog

The Power of a "Coffee Meeting"
12 May 2014

The results were awesome. This is what I learned:

Asking for a coffee meeting is quite easy and in most cases, quite difficult to turn down. In coffee meetings, people converse; because there is no formality, this makes it appealing to many. A conversation is democratic, no single person holds the big stick; individuals are free to dialogue and express the real project issues or roadblocks. A conversation also gives people room to be creative and allows them to focus on issues that cannot be resolved in a conference room.

Formal meetings take a lot of time to organize. Once you attend, you will find that they are ‘too formal,’ filled with an overload of data-focused PowerPoint presentations with many slides. They tend to not resolve the main objective of a meeting, which is to make a decision and move forward. This approach tends usually to conclude towards an email tennis game.

A productive creative conversation takes place in a friendly place, such as a coffee shop. Benefits of the coffee meeting cannot be emphasized enough. This may sound surprising but there are actually fewer distractions than in quiet offices and boardrooms as they tend to be quite monotonous. Working from the same place everyday is an enemy of creativity. A change of an environment brings new type of input and stimulation. A coffee shop brings that benefit of discussing the real issues and helps stimulate positive activity with your project colleagues.

Human nature - under no condition should you gossip about another person on your project - I made this mistake once. There was a sales pitch for a software product about integrating to the companies enterprise software systems and being in production in less than a week. I repeated to my colleague ‘yeah right a bunch of empty promises’ at the Starbucks next to the office. I’m about 95% sure that the salesperson of the company, whom I did not see, was sitting right behind us and heard everything we said. I felt like crap for the remainder of the day. Simply do not do it. It just doesn’t pay to talk stick with facts and data. Nobody wins in this situation.

Human nature, the more you see your project members, the more you will like them and the more you can help each other –Don’t forget this project rule: The opinions other people have about you is their problem, not yours. The less you worry about what they think of you, the less complicated your project issues become. Do your job and always be humble.

I find that time-boxing your coffee meetings to 20 minutes and inform them of the agenda and the goal of the meeting is the most optimal coffee meeting. For a meeting with 4 colleagues make it 40 minutes.

Saying “Thank You” costs absolutely nothing. Human interactions are designed to do one thing: build relationships, and saying thank you targets gratitude towards your colleague.

Listen. Remember, the main reason you are having this chat in the coffee shop instead of the conference room is to learn something from the other person and move forward your project issues. Active listening!

Make it a good time. I like to do quick meetings in the morning to get me fired up, focus on your content and try to balance the talking time to 50/50.

Overall, most of my coffee meetings have been amazing and I don’t regret taking that many coffee meetings. I feel It’s been some of my best project decisions made. The power of a coffee is far more than the instant kick of an espresso, latte or cappuccino. It is the quality of results discussed and attained during the meeting that simply cannot be replaced by a boardroom or other formal meetings.

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