Think With ABD

Cultural fit - what does that actually mean? Are the values in your organization actually reflective of how work is done, the way employees are engaged, or the way leadership communicates? Cultural fit within an organization is so much more than a series of slogans - in order to perform at its highest level, it must begin with building and maintaining an amazing team culture. 

A Toronto start-up called “TalentFit AI” has managed to tackle this topic, and all powered through academic research and AI. Mitch Gudgeon, CEO & Founder of “TalentFit AI” has managed to combine his experience as a professional athlete, a passion for organizational fit, and his education to create an offering to help companies and job seekers meet their match. In this episode, Mitch covers the challenges organizations face, the prospects of job seekers out there, and a message of hope for those impacted by COVID-19.

There is a new open-access tool called “MyOpenCourt” that is powered by artificial intelligence, offering basic legal advice such as determining the termination compensation or assess whether the worker is an employee or an independent contractor. We chatted with the creator of the tool, Dr. Samuel Dahan.

Samuel Dahan is a lawyer, an Assistant Professor, Queen’s National Scholar, and cross-appointed to the Smith business school and Cornell University law school. He is the Director of the Conflict Analytics Lab, a global consortium on Data Analytics and AI applied to dispute resolution and negotiation. He is an affiliate faculty member of the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School and a member of the Legal Incubateur of the Brussels’ Bar.

There is a new open-access tool called “MyOpenCourt” that is powered by artificial intelligence, offering basic legal advice such as determining the termination compensation or assess whether the worker is an employee or an independent contractor. We chatted with the creator of the tool, Dr. Samuel Dahan.

Samuel Dahan is a lawyer, an Assistant Professor, Queen’s National Scholar, and cross-appointed to the Smith business school and Cornell University law school. He is the Director of the Conflict Analytics Lab, a global consortium on Data Analytics and AI applied to dispute resolution and negotiation. He is an affiliate faculty member of the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School and a member of the Legal Incubateur of the Brussels’ Bar.

Innovation occurs everywhere and the external environment is unforgiving to those who fall behind. Unlike other types of corporate activities, Innovation cannot be managed and planned in a completely standardized yet predictable manner. In a post-COVID19 world, companies are taking more precautions in managing budgets, streamlining operations, and eliminating redundancies. So, what does it mean to the innovation teams who are still responsible for innovations? 

With questions about how to help companies preserve creative talents in the time of uncertainty, ABD spoke with Kareen Proudian, a Managing Partner at the Faculty of Change, a strategic innovation consultancy in Toronto.

Innovation occurs everywhere and the external environment is unforgiving to those who fall behind. Unlike other types of corporate activities, Innovation cannot be managed and planned in a completely standardized yet predictable manner. In a post-COVID19 world, companies are taking more precautions in managing budgets, streamlining operations, and eliminating redundancies. So, what does it mean to the innovation teams who are still responsible for innovations? 

With questions about how to help companies preserve creative talents in the time of uncertainty, ABD spoke with Kareen Proudian, a Managing Partner at the Faculty of Change, a strategic innovation consultancy in Toronto.

This episode explores how cities as we know it could change after the pandemic. With social distancing measures becoming the new norm, Covid-19 has altered life as we know it. For many of us, that included a crowded commute, busy streets, and the buzz of city life. Cities have weathered pandemics in the past, and have always emerged more resilient than before. Wafic El-Assi, an UrbanTech enthusiast, ex-Data Scientist and current Strategy & Operations Manager at Uber, sheds light on mobility, communication and urbanization trends that could shape cities in a post-Covid world.

This episode explores how cities as we know it could change after the pandemic. With social distancing measures becoming the new norm, Covid-19 has altered life as we know it. For many of us, that included a crowded commute, busy streets, and the buzz of city life. Cities have weathered pandemics in the past, and have always emerged more resilient than before. Wafic El-Assi, an UrbanTech enthusiast, ex-Data Scientist and current Strategy & Operations Manager at Uber, sheds light on mobility, communication and urbanization trends that could shape cities in a post-Covid world.

 It is undeniable that many organizations have been using agile to drive organizational changes, improve project effectiveness, and respond to ever-changing customer requirements. In today’s episode, we invited Tom Somerville, the co-founder of AgileTo, one of the largest meet-up groups in Toronto, to join us to demystify agile. 

We talk about the tools and principles of this new way of working, as well as new roles and the organizational challenges that many enterprises encounter as they embark on an Agile transformation. While our focus is on the positive aspects of this kind of change, we also delve into common pitfalls that teams and companies come up against on this journey.

 It is undeniable that many organizations have been using agile to drive organizational changes, improve project effectiveness, and respond to ever-changing customer requirements. In today’s episode, we invited Tom Somerville, the co-founder of AgileTo, one of the largest meet-up groups in Toronto, to join us to demystify agile. 

We talk about the tools and principles of this new way of working, as well as new roles and the organizational challenges that many enterprises encounter as they embark on an Agile transformation. While our focus is on the positive aspects of this kind of change, we also delve into common pitfalls that teams and companies come up against on this journey.

A week before 2019 ABD conference, we invited Pavel Abdur-Rahman, the partner and the head of data science at IBM, to share his views on the industry adoption of AI. In 2018, Pavel jokingly told the audience that part of his job is to put all data scientists out of a job. This time, Pavel shared his new observations since we spoke last time. 

On the topic of “how to transition from ad-hoc data science to scaled AI across the organization”, Pavel emphasizes on the value schedule alignment across digital leadership, internal governing body and the partnering ecosystem. 

• Digital leadership: What is the value with digital and analytics ? 

Many organizations might claim they want to accelerate AI adoption but only a few can declare the true values that are generated from the digital and analytics initiatives. 

• Internal Governance and Supports: How does the internal system to support ?
• Partnering Ecosystem: How do we engage the whole partnering ecosystem like start-ups and vendors?