This means the CEO is not just spending time on products that are making money today and not just customers who are paying the bills today, but really spending face time with his or her innovation teams and going out to talk to potential customers and scouting technologies to understand where the world is going.
One approach to bringing more discipline to your efforts in AI is to focus on five things: scouting AI technology, applications, and partners; experimenting AI technology and applications; supporting business units in applying AI technology; getting the entire organization to understand AI; and attracting and retaining AI-savvy talent.
There is, too, an understanding of the changing nature of scouting, with technology providing an additional tool in the identification and assessment of players.
To do a better job of scouting new technologies, companies need to rethink who participates in it — only the high priests of R&D? — and who has access to it.
Jaime Melendez, associate director of technology partnership and business development at Merck, is a regular attendee of the NYETM, which he uses to scout new technology solutions to solve pain points for Merck's IT teams.
Andrew Thomson is founder and CEO of VentureRadar, a London-based technology scouting startup that uses big data to connect companies with clients.
Indeed, some Andrew Thomson Contributor Andrew Thomsontechnology are already appearisg that could dramatically impact people in their daily lives.
By starting an electric and hybrid car company called GreenTech Auto, investing in wind turbines, scouting out new technology throughout Asia to bring back home, and fighting to resuscitate a shuttered factory in Franklin, Virginia, McAuliffe is personally taking the strategic financial risks he believes the state needs to launch into the future.
"My wife and I are aging baby boomers," said Mr. Orelove, who scouts new technologies for Convergys, a Cincinnati-based management services company.
Business development professionals at small companies may be involved in sales and marketing, but Brandon says that they're also involved in scouting for new technologies, developing business opportunities, licensing, and dealmaking.
