I was talking to someone the other day, about how after 13 years I left Coca-Cola. They said, you must have been comfortable… why did you leave?
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Bal’s Friday Thought…
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AI to takeover
You’ve probably read it in the news… how AI is going to takeover. A lot of current jobs will no longer exist.
The interesting thing here is, and why I wanted to write this blog post – whilst, yes… AI will takeover a number of current ‘office’ type of jobs, it’s like when robots were introduced in manufacturing. People were re-trained. Different skills were picked up. And people survived.
I was talking to a VP of AI, and asked her – what’s next after AI?
I didn’t get an answer.
Type into google – AI taking over jobs and..
AI is already taking over jobs, particularly entry-level and repetitive roles, with estimates suggesting millions of jobs could be displaced by trends like AI in the coming years
And this, to be honest is true. I use AI (mainly Co-Pilot) to do some basic tasks. And it’s good. Why do I need an analyst or someone at a junior level to do this work?
Well, two reasons – 1) We need entry people to grow and become leaders in companies and 2) I have them use AI to do the tasks – they’re growing up with AI (unlike me).
But can AI do everything?
Can it make me a cup of tea in the morning?
Now, the above makes sense. But let’s look at it from an industry perspective…
And so, are people worried?
I’ve gone all graphical and visual in this blog!
But in all honesty.. let’s not hide away from the fact that AI is coming for those basic admin type of roles. And as it grows, it’ll takeover more.
Whilst I don’t know what the future holds, what I do know is that if you’re in one of those roles – it might be worth thinking about a) embracing AI or b) what other roles you can do.
Don’t be the people on the manufacturing line… who were replaced by robots.
And here’s a great video from Julia talking about AI and jobs..
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Bal’s Friday Thought…
I love learning about other cultures.
How they operate. What they do differently.
Some may sound/look strange to us. Some we can relate to.
Today’s Friday thought is all about appreciating other cultures.
Happy Friday!
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Bal’s Friday Thought…
Saw this on twitter/x/whatever it’s called these days.
And thought it’s too good not to share…
How many of these are you doing?
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Modern Banking
Recently, a member within the family wanted to open a bank account. They’re young and off to study at university.
I remember when I opened my student account. I walked into a bank, said I’m a student and need an account. They said, any ID… I said yes – showed them ID and within a matter of minutes and a few forms later, my account was set up.
Rather quick and easy.
I thought it’d be the same if not, easier, these days.
How wrong was I.
Natwest was the bank of choice. Firstly, it’s all online. That’s ok. We can do all online.
So, this is was happened…
- Download the app
- Upload 3 different types of ID
- Once uploaded wait
Sounds simple, right?
But… what happened was – minutes after completing the process the bank said, your ID has not been verified, your account can’t be opened. Sorry.
Didn’t tell me which ID was not verified. Nothing.
Ok, we’ll try again. So we did. And nothing. No email, no nothing.
We try again. And again. Then we thought we’d go into branch.
They said, yes – you’ve got to go online. And try again.
So we did that. And guess what, an email saying sorry again. The staff in the branch couldn’t help us because it’s all ‘online’. The Natwest staff on the phone couldn’t help us, because it was all ‘online’.
Now… isn’t the introduction of technology meant to make processes easier?
Frustrated – we popped over to Nationwide.
Hi, we’d like to open an account.
Sure…. it’s online, but we’ll sit with you and make sure all goes smoothly. Ok. So we did just that, did it online whilst someone was near us and guess what… it worked! The lovely lady said, it’s all processed, you’re all good – everything in the post in the next few days.
Now the difference is, people. The human touch. The emotional connection.
Whilst technology is great. At times, you need understand what the human is going through. Are they frustrated? Do they need some additional help?
If you’re a company using technology to replace processes, make sure that all areas are covered. What happens if an account does not open? Do you reach out to the potential customer and help them? or leave them to figure it out?
I can see why there are alot of modern banks, online only and digital everything. That’s great. We didn’t use any of those in this instance as they didn’t offer anything for students (Nationwide offer some justeat vouchers if you open an account with them).
Nothing worse, than a frustrated customer!
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It’s about the how…
I’ve noticed recently, that I don’t talk about tech as much as I used to.
I love tech. Still do. And it’s a passion of mine. But over the past year, I’ve noticed there are so many people who have more time than me to review, promote and share the latest and greatest tech.
Whilst that’s what I used to do, I’ve noticed, I just have the time. And is it that, tech is now going at a rate that it’s hard to keep up?
For example – take AI. For those not using it, are getting left behind. I use it a fair amount for a variety of tasks. Such as, a few weeks ago I was in Rome. And prior to going to Rome, I asked AI to help plan my trip. Which it did. It helped me save money too! I was going to buy some tickets for the Vatican museum and pay around 200 bucks for tickets and a tour guide. AI suggested, you don’t need a tour guide because everything is labelled and the tour guide will be going through it at it’s own fast pace rather than you going at your pace. AI recommended buying tickets directly from the Vatican website. Gave me the link. And even suggested times it’s quiet!
Saved me alot of money! And guess what…. it was right! By the way – absolutely loved the Vatican museum!
That’s just one example of how advanced, and how quick, tech is advancing. But there’s so much more.
And that’s where I’ve thought I’m going to pivot my blog slightly.
From just pure tech reviews, promotions and just sharing, I’m going to pivot to talking more about the how.
How to use tech.
How to understand what it means.
How to enable it to help you save time, money, etc..
Rather than… everybody, this is some new tech, I want to talk more about this is how you can use it. I’ll still continue to moan about tech in all it’s various forms. I’ll continue with my Friday Thought’s – and keep them about being better people. And there’ll be the odd post about motivation, growth, etc… but will connect them to tech.
If you have any topics you think I should cover more, please let me know! And as I do this small pivot over the next month or two – I’ll also do a slight re-design of my blog page. Always open to ideas!
As always – appreciate your support and thank you for reading!
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Bal’s Friday Thought…
In life, it’s not all about hard work. Whilst hard work beats talent (HWBT)… you’ve got to work strategically.
You’ve got to plan, think and execute.
Build relationships, learn and grow.
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Bal’s Friday Thought…
Holidays soon!
And oh boy, am I looking forward to them.
But I will be taking some more time off later in August.
Mainly because… I like some timeout. To sit on my own. Gather my thoughts. Reflect and review. Prepare and Ponder.
It’s good to organise everything that is in my head and put it into building blocks that can then provide the right direction and answers.
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Bal’s Friday Thought…
Saw today’s thought on twitter the other day.
And it was a bit of a wow moment.
I’m not going to say much about it, but read it… then read it again.
And this can apply to a number of things in life.
It’s not all about getting rich. It’s about having the ability and the time to do things whilst you have revenue generating assets.
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Lack of Innovation…
BBC News published this article –
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cr5vglq04zeo
“British car and van production in the first half of this year has hit its lowest level since 1953, excluding the industry shutdown during Covid.“
What was happening back in 1953?
- The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
- The first successful summit of Mount Everest
- The end of the Korean War
- The death of Joseph Stalin.
But let’s fast forward. It’s 2025. And British car and van production isn’t what it used to be.
We can explore why. In fact, the BBC do just that.
But here’s my take on it…..
- Lack of Innovation
- Lack of Investment
It hasn’t happened overnight. There has been a slow and steady decline in the UK car and van production.
Yes, I know it’s cheaper to build in the far east.
Yes, I know there’s some of the latest innovation takes place in Silicon Valley, USA.
But you know what, there’s a heritage. There’s some history.
The UK has had investment when it needed. Car manufacturing by Nissan up in Sunderland. There was Honda in Swindon. Vauxhall in Luton. Ford over in Dagenham. But what changed?
Lack of recent investment and innovation.
Look over at China. The cars they’re producing. Good quality at a low cost. You’ve got the Germans who keep investing in their marques. Look over in the USA, with the likes of Tesla and others with their innovation. And what does the UK offer?
Giving EV discounts/grants is not the solution. Yes, it’ll increase sales short term, but what about long term?
We can continue to blame others. We can blame tariffs. We can blame cheap labour. We can blame whomever we want. But it comes to not enough money in the right areas and a massive lack of innovation.
What should happen?
Be proud of the marques and the British car manufacturing heritage. Invest cleverly on what the future looks like for car manufacturing. Innovate so we are world leaders in car manufacturing.
But there’s other factors that are probably making driving not as fun as it used to be.
Look at the state of the roads.
Look at the number of speed cameras (in areas where they don’t really need to be – autobahn anyone?)
Look at the cost of driving lessons.
Look how long it takes to take a driving test.
Look at the cost of cars!
Need to really deep dive into the various factors that have resulted in the UK producing a low number of cars and vans.