At the Intersection of Technology and Humanity

As technology takes over every aspect of our lives, many feel that humanity is at an intersection of greatness or extinction. Modern humans have inhabited our approximately 4.6 billion year-old planet for a mere 200,000 years, or 0.004%, or a blink of an eye. Of these 200,000 years, the industrial revolution started just about 200 years ago. So, in about 0.000004% of the time since the advent of technology, humans have not only explored outer space, but are on the verge of recreating human existence in machines through AI – wow, that is quite an achievement by any standards, let alone within a blink of an eye!

I am in awe of human life – the potential it has beyond what we can see today. I have put every effort through my books, my software, pioneering products, and my philosophy to understand and expand the human consciousness in individuals and in corporate leaders, beyond what we think is possible. My motto has been, ‘You are more than you can ever imagine™’.  My hope is that humans realize that as we evolve into technological savants, we do not forget what makes us human in the first place, and that we use technology solely for the benefit of humanity. 

In his book, The World is Flat, Thomas Friedman views the planet as a level playing field in terms of commerce, wherein all competitors have an equal opportunity. He wrote the book in 2005, when Facebook, LinkedIn, Skype and Twitter were either in infancy stage or non-existent. Emerging technologies have connected our world in an unprecedented way, and for humanity to survive in the digital era, humans across the planet must leverage technology to build a better tomorrow for future generations. 

I have been fortunate to work with corporate and government leaders across the globe, from North America, Asia, and the Middle East, to Africa. One of my favorite memories are of my workshops in Tanzania and Kenya – the students were as passionate about learning as I was to share my knowledge and insight. My effort has come full circle, as I am truly honored that I have been invited to be an opening keynote speaker at the 1st Africa HR Leaders Consortium in Washington DC, where I will be speaking on, ‘When Human Intelligence (HI) meets Artificial Intelligence (AI): A Road to World Wide Intelligence (WWI)’. I am also deeply honored and humbled that ABMC, Intl, a premier organization providing business intelligence and solutions across the globe, has initiated an annual medal to recognize my vision. The first ‘Adil Dalal Humanistic Technology Leadership Medal’ will be presented on November 14, 2018 in Washington D.C. to one outstanding professional leader from Africa who has used technology to drive positive change and impacted lives of members of their community or organization.

The world has seen Africa’s digital future advancing by leaps and bounds in the adoption and use of information and communication technologies both in the private and public sectors. I hope you can help ABMC identify and nominate the present and future leaders of Africa who have integrated technology to enhance the human capital, as I have attempted to do so in my life. As we open our eyes from this blink of existence on planet earth, the survival of future generations will depend on co-creating technologies across this globe which can benefit humanity. I believe in the words of wisdom shared by Abraham Lincoln, ‘the best way to predict the future is to create it’. Although I do not know what the future holds for humanity, but I am positive that at we stand today at the intersection of humanity and technology, we will select the path that leads humanity to greatness.

#HR #Leadership #DigitalTransformation #SocialInnovation 

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Adil Dalal is the Director, Solution Architecture, Hitachi Global Social Innovation Business; and President & Co-CEO of Austin IoT, a non-profit. He has pioneered several innovations like Sensei leadership™, iLean® technology, iCulture™, Lean IoT™, Holistic lean®, V-factor™ and Pinnacle performance Zone™ and others to enhance human capital in public and private sectors.