February DLT Monthly Meeting Summary - "AI Impacts on Enterprise"
It was so good to see many of you for the February 14th DLT meeting. During the call, we covered three major agenda items:
1) Framing How AI is Impacting Enterprises.
The impact of AI on organizations, jobs, and skills is the Spring Samudra research topic. Abby led us through some early findings:
Don’t talk about AI; talk about business solutions or the problem you’re solving.
Members are leading with business impact, not technology when discussing AI. Achieving operational efficiencies remains a top goal. Samudra's research framed this as Cause (Be clear on why you are deploying AI), Commitment (what resources and skills you will commit to the deployment), and Communicate (as in, communicate your intentions to employees and leadership in multiple modalities, many times.)Two Paths for Deploying AI: Autonomous (agentic) vs. Augmentative (co-worker)
To date, almost all AI deployments follow a co-worker or augmented model. The emerging Autonomous or agentic AI promises a very different impact on productivity, skills, and org structures. While we expect a blend of both models to exist, we recommend comparing these models when determining how you want to deploy.AI as a Co-Worker: AI assists employees (e.g., copilots in decision-making). This model accelerates the upskilling of junior employees. Members are already hiring more junior-skilled employees with AI skills and quickly finding them to be more productive than longer-tenured staff.
AI as an Autonomous Agent: AI operates independently, reducing the need for junior roles but retaining skilled human oversight. This is an emerging model but yields enormous productivity gains, many fewer employees, and advantages highly skilled problem solvers over workers.
What Can We Learn from AI-First Organizations
Start by optimizing the customer or user experience, then work backward to build workflow and process.
“Service-as-Software”
Lean into proprietary data to build verticalized AI expertise
Practical Use Cases:
Members shared concrete AI applications:Leveraging AI for customer and product lifecycle management.
Using AI during organizational transitions, especially for merging operations and enhancing efficiencies.
Members shared concerns about regulatory fragmentation, data privacy, and educating teams and leadership.
We also discussed use cases in the press:
Klarna reports AI impact of:
Customer Service: One chatbot = 700 agents; answers queries, on average, 9 minutes faster.
Marketing: $10M saved using AI-generated imaging.
Operational Efficiency: in-house counsel generates contracts in minutes versus hours
Jerry Insurance uses AI for customer service automation, insurance comparison & quotes, personalized use engagement, vehicle maintenance insights, data analysis, and operational efficiencies.
2) Additional Member approaches and responses. Some key takeaways:
Workforce & Talent Strategies
Junior Talent vs. Senior Expertise:
As noted above, in the AI as co-worker model, some companies are hiring more junior staff due to faster onboarding and upskilling through AI.
Others are reducing entry-level roles and focusing on retaining senior engineers to manage AI-driven processes.
Members raised concerns about the pipeline for future experts, as fewer junior hires may limit long-term growth.
Upskilling & Role Evolution:
Members highlighted the need for continuous learning and adapting existing employees to work alongside AI.One member described a five-year journey to upskill or transition legacy employees.
Companies are investing in prompt engineering and other AI-specific skills to stay competitive.
AI Governance & Risk Management
Shadow AI Management:
According to a McKinsey survey last month, three times more employees are using AI for more than a third of their work than management expects. This trend is reminiscent of the early days of "Shadow IT."Practice: Implement clear governance policies to monitor AI use and ensure compliance. Also, embrace and harness employee use to fully harness the power of AI.
Data Governance Integration:
Companies are extending data governance frameworks to track AI-generated outputs and ensure audit traceability.
One member uses AI monitoring tools to detect data leakage and nefarious activities in real-time.
Legal & Compliance Considerations:
Members raised concerns about AI regulations differing across global regions, especially regarding privacy and data sovereignty.Some companies are consulting AI ethics experts to navigate evolving legal landscapes.
Change Management Practices
Scaling AI Education & Adoption:
Companies are establishing internal learning programs to educate staff on using AI tools responsibly.
A member created a digital twin of herself to deliver AI-related messages, improving communication efficiency.
Governance at Scale:
Members discussed scaling governance frameworks to match AI’s rapid adoption. This involves:Building federated models for managing AI across business units.
Creating playbooks to standardize AI implementation and minimize risks.
Partnerships for AI Security:
Companies are increasingly relying on external partners to manage AI security and critical vulnerabilities.
3) “DLT topics” survey results and future DLT topics
The March meeting will focus on “storytelling and improving strategic communications.”
Additional topics (and other slides) are included at the end of the meeting deck, which can be found here.
January DLT Monthly Meeting Summary - "2025 Annual Kick-off"
We had a productive meeting on Friday, January 10th and we wanted to share some of the highlights:
Key Member Priorities Shared for 2025:
M&A activity
Replacing ERP platforms
Digital initiatives to enhance the customer experience
International expansion and partnership efforts to build out the product portfolio
Ongoing opportunities to transition to digital methods; cautious approach towards AI due to regulatory concerns and not fully replacing current practices.
Expanding data center footprint
Moving from project to product orientation in IT
Seeing increases in budgets for AI projects per Mayfield CIO survey (30% report more than 20% increase)
AI’s current foci in customer support, developer productivity, employee self-service, content generation.
Rethinking organizational metrics as a result of productivity improvements
Does AI become a proxy for how progressive a company will be (and be a signal to recruits)?
Generating resiliency in self and teams:
Using “Mindful Mondays” - which has led to improved relationships and productivity. Trying to short-circuit the flight-fight stress response to change. Members shared that revealing some vulnerability, the need to center, and to offer some career perspectives has helped with team engagement and performance.
A need for top support is important for these efforts.
One member shared her focus on achieving dual focus: company outcomes and personal development to create the right kind of alignment.
Additional topics DLT can pursue in 2025 (besides current list):
Cybersecurity - understanding and managing risk more than just the technology
Methods for prioritizing innovation efforts
Evaluating acquisitions in the right light
How to manage narratives in the public sphere when facts may not carry the day as much (how to protect senior leaders who become targets)
October DLT Monthly Meeting Summary - "Third, Third of Your Career"
We had a terrific call on Friday, October 11th where we discussed the topic of the "Third, Third of Your Career" - and how to start taking actions today to be best prepared. While we don't typically record these calls, we did record this one and share it with you here.
We know that we won't be in an operational role forever, and many DLT members have already begun to think about additional future paths for their career. On Friday, we were blessed to have some amazing speakers who shared their wisdom and perspective on how to make the leap into new areas, and what expectations and methods tech leaders could have as they plot a future course. One key learning I had from the call was the importance of your community and network, and how you need to continue to care for and tend to that network over time.
Please let us know if you have any questions.
September DLT Monthly Meeting Summary - "Evolving AI Opportunities and Risks"
Please see the attached deck HERE from our September meeting.
August DLT Monthly Meeting Summary - "Evolving Digital Customer Experience"
We had a rich conversation at the August 2024 monthly meeting to discuss the topic of the evolving digital customer experience. We reviewed the intersection of technology and the human experience, and the ways that data management practices and emerging technology will inform an organization’s capabilities.
We had three main topic areas to explore:
1) Understanding the Customer
Real Customer insight comes from multiple sources- We began with a conversation about the importance of combining customer feedback with website and application analytics (to gain a more complete and accurate view).
Dedicated and persistent teams - to do this well, having a team focused on this is critical. They can close the loop and manage the overall process, which can also ensure rapid response to customer issues.
Direct customer contact - often technology leaders get filtered or biased perspectives of the customer needs, so we discussed the importance of getting first-hand exposure to customers.
Customer-centricity - when building solutions, it’s becoming possible to personalize experiences for customers.
A steering committee - can help to prioritize their needs: One member shared that Marketing, Customer Service, and others came together.
2) Data Management
Data management stack - being used to help centralize customer data in support of a customer-centric strategy
Data consolidation - there was a preference to bring customer data together - into a single environment like Snowflake
Unifying data challenges - remains a challenge, but members were spending time building the right architecture
Customer Data Platform - some were using to help create a complete view (e.g., CDP + Snowflake)
3) Emerging Technology
AI - is starting to have an impact; companies are seeing slow, persistent uptick in adoption.
Robust testing and data governance - both will remain critical in these deployments
Apple Vision Pro - some discussion was had from a couple members who have begun using the headset, and another member commented that this could be used more for internal partners, but not much else was mentioned on using new form factors.
Thanks to all who shared their perspectives.
July DLT Monthly Meeting Summary - "Upskilling and Driving Digital Transformation"
For the July monthly meeting of the Digital Leadership Trust, we had a wide-ranging conversation about driving transformation and developing teams and cultures to align to business objectives. Special thanks to three members (Kumud Kalia, Josh McLean, and Reena Tiwari) who helped to start several topics, and some of the key conversation points were as follows:
Enterprise and IT strategy alignment
IT strategy supporting business strategies - we had points made around better aligning IT activities with the outcomes of the business, and encouraging leaders to become equal stakeholders with the results of the business.
Understanding the business - becomes a requisite for driving the most successful projects. Significant work has been done by the members to reduce the distinctions between “IT” and “The Business” such that everyone is all in it together, and that “IT” is part and parcel of multi-disciplinary groups pursuing the same goals.
High-Performance Cultures
Clear Metrics and Goals - become critical for moving the organization to a new spot, and that leaders “cast long shadows” so their behavior and actions are just as important to manage and track as any. But some caveats:
Discussion about NPS scores can create two types of leaders: 1) popularity - those who let their teams do whatever makes them feel good, and 2) coaches - whose teams stretch beyond what is expected.
Be sure to balance efficiency (output) with real value being generated.
Regular Tracking and Reinforcement - was leveraged to drive behavior.
Frequent reviews - More frequent people/team reviews have been used to drive the right cadence and immediate changes expected with leaders and teams.
Some wondered about the administrative overhead over time; as transformation is underway, it’s possible to have less frequent reviews.
Graphic shared by Josh McLean:
Digital Transformation
Moving to a product vs project methodology - product orientation requires maintenance of the right team size, stable funding, and developing a more proactive/customer-focused mindset.
Org structure and roles - was mentioned as a critical element to get right. So defining who is the SCRUM master vs. product owner, etc.
Additional Resources
Also, given the comment about how important storytelling can be, we wanted to share a resource (Susan Lindner), that has engaged with the Catalyst Leadership Trust. We are also linking some of the summary notes from a session we had with the CLT on the topic of storytelling. Let us know if we can help make connections or support the interest in developing storytelling capabilities further.
In addition, Reena shared a book recommendation, “Transformed: Moving to a Product Operating Model” by Marty Cagan.
June DLT Monthly Meeting Summary - "Burning Issues"
For the June 14th DLT Meeting, we had a series of burning issues discussion, which largely centered on the topic of AI in the following ways:
1) Building the case for AI and Governance
Experimentation - One member shared the importance of rational experimentation and finding use cases.
Existing platforms - Another spoke to their approach to AI integration, which leverages existing platforms and tools.
Productivity - AI was being used to boost technician productivity and to minimize risks. Labor productivity was mentioned several times.
Data & Governance - AI was also being used to manage unstructured data and enhance product cycles, while highlighting the importance of responsible AI and its integration into their governance structure.
Balancing Innovation - Many mentioned the importance of balancing innovation with governance and risk management.
Education and Lessons Learned - One member’s AI Council focuses on employee education and early-stage implementation of AI and lessons learned from early instances of Google, Copilot.
Good IT Hygiene - Data classification and management, role-based access controls, database monitoring, and cloud migration all need to be in good shape.
Customer Care and KM - Another member highlighted their focus on customer case and knowledge management; and that they were cautious about using sensitive data, initially limiting AI to internal data and associates.
Business Development - AI is being incorporated into all business development discussions for one member company.
2) Vendor strategies
The need for clear business cases - There is a challenge of building partner infrastructure without established business cases or ROI.
Clarity of Priorities - One member highlighted the need to understand a company’s measurement and executive priorities to effectively implement AI and analytics.
Ecosystem Development - Another member spoke to how they developed a partner ecosystem.
Private Instances - One member spoke to how they are leveraging LLMs and private instances for their customers. It's critical to perform security checks and careful application reviews.
3) Skills required
In-house team - In-house teams are key as they will have a strong understanding of the data and technology to ensure vendor accountability and project success.
Solution architects - Include architects that can think systematically and understand both technology and business, would be most effective.
Data scientists - Data scientists can be helpful in turning data into prescriptive analytics, but may be competing against big players.
Bring AI into Existing Roles - Some discussion was around bringing AI expertise into existing roles.
So plenty of discussion, and we weren’t able to touch on all the submitted burning issues. We can leverage the Samudra private member forum on LinkedIn for additional conversations.
April DLT Monthly Meeting Summary - "Innovation Investments from the VC Community"
For the April 2024 DLT member meeting, we invited three guests to share their perspectives on where innovation is occurring:
1) Fellow DLT member, Gamiel Gran, from Mayfield
2) Candace Widdows from ICONIQ Capital
3) Matt Carbonara from Citi Ventures
Gamiel’s discussion:
Gamiel began with a discussion on the potential of AI as a transformative force across various industries (similar to the shift from traditional data centers to cloud infrastructure).
He shared five layers of the AI stack, with cognition as a service emerging as a key area of opportunity.
AI has the potential for significant productivity improvements and to create new user markets.
The three-horizon model could prove helpful for organizing one’s own ambitions and investments.
Candace’s discussion:
ICONIQ is a multi-family office turned venture capital fund.
They focus on next generation technology entrepreneurs, with a portfolio of 120 companies - largely in the enterprise sector.
They have also invested in Gen AI and she mentioned Write and DeepL (for translation).
They also focus on the importance of security and the company is cautious in investing due to compliance regulations.
Matt’s discussion:
Citi focuses on investing in firms that can be helpful to Citi.
They have been focusing on investments in various areas including data, developer tools, cybersecurity.
They have also been investing in new database types, LLM models, and their applications, with interest in autonomous agents, model training and deployment, and in AI-specific application areas (i.e., Glean).
They are also building more applications with APIs, focusing on API management, security and testing as well as the need for cyber.
The membership shared their perspectives and feedback on the current technology landscape:
There is a fragmentation of software solutions and there is a need to consolidate in order to minimize costs.
Some discussion was about how to implement AI solutions - and how to pick the right vendor platforms, SaaS offerings.
One member shared a three-tier strategy for AI implementation
Another member voiced concern about the quality of data scientists and the efficiency of doing in-house AI development.
One member shared some success in the insurance space with using GPT models.
Regardless, AI pursuits should be managed to align with corporate strategic goals.
If interested in presentation decks, please contact John Williams at john@samudra.group.
March DLT Monthly Meeting Summary - “Data Prep for AI"
Part 1/3
We began with a conversation about how AI has changed the landscape, including some points shared by the group:
Governance and Regulation - There is a clear need for oversight and governance amid an explosion of data, with a focus on meeting regulatory expectations.
Explosion of Toolsets - There has been an emergence of toolsets as well, and that may require equal evaluation.
Gradual rollout - One member shared how they are gradually increasing use cases across the organization - while focusing on data preparation and governance.
Unstructured Data Challenges - An issue of unstructured data arose, as well as the need for AI systems to understand user context and deliver appropriate data access controls.
Another member commented that “The LLM knowledge for RAG is within a lot of PDFs, SharePoints, PPTs that lack meta data and structure, while also containing a lot of IP/PII to try and contain as well.”
Leveraging What Works - In terms of using external vendors, one member shared that they are using AI to convert knowledge base articles into “smart snippets”. One member shared their strategy of automating unstructured data from scratch.
Vendor Lock-In - Another highlighted a major issue of vendor lock-in that has become pressing.
Moving data from one cloud vendor to another would cost 6 figures today but will blossom to 8 figures in the next couple years. Is there really an option or will the cloud vendor necessarily become a “strategic vendor”?
There are risks of having multiple vendors though too. So members are sorting out their options here, and we may want to have a deeper dive to discuss this issue more.
Part 2/3
We then delved more deeply into risk management and governance, with the following highlights:
Jack Berkowitz, Chief Data Officer from Securiti, shared key principles, including identifying existing models and associated risks and ensuring transparency and traceability in data flows.
He emphasized the importance of cybersecurity principles, including implementing firewalls and compliance with regulations, and the need for clear pipelines in data governance.
He highlighted the need for organizational change enabled by technology as evidenced by inconsistencies in customer service.
Part 3/3
We then broke into breakout groups to discuss governance practices among our own organizations with some takeaways:
New roles - Bringing in new roles like data librarians and architects to help manage.
Product managers - Product mindset maturity can yield good domains and quality. And wrap it with engineering data.
Education - Some work to be done educating the workforce - 1) share what Gen AI is and what not to do with it. And share some guardrails. 2) have sponsors and advocates within departments, and 3) train the trainer
An “AI Institute” - One member shared standing up an AI Institute where all ideas came through and sorted out vendors and tracked progress of what’s working and what’s not.
“Weighting quality of data” - data has accuracy and timeliness scoring that needs to be considered.
Design principles - There is a tension between governance, bureaucracy, and speed - as well as the need for executive buy-in.
Faster executive decision-making - There is a top down need for faster corporate decision-making.
So we closed the meeting realizing there is more work to be done and shared - as we each have our own successes and setbacks in this space.
February DLT & SLT Cross-Trust Meeting Summary - “Sustainability Initiatives"
On Friday, February 9th, the members of the Digital Leadership Trust and the Sustainability Leadership Trust came together to discuss the topic of environmental sustainability in our organizations. The Sustainability Leadership Trust was launched towards the end of last year with the purpose of creating a more sustainable world for everyone. A number of key points were shared:
Climate change suggests major disruptions for our companies, but is it a priority within leadership? A recent Samudra survey with Board members saw sustainability as a lower priority. Heard on Bloomberg that morning, emerging economies are not prioritizing climate/renewables over development into first-world economies. While there is a lot of dire news, we also want to focus on successful cases as a way to move in positive directions.
Focusing on supply chain efficiency, for example, has a solid financial model for both cost savings and resiliency.
One member shared that VCs were wiped out in Cleantech 1.0 about ten years ago. To succeed, this cycle will require a more asset light approach with a focus on the corporate buyer who needs climate to improve customer outcomes. Good news is that there are likely more breakout solutions, 10X better.
Source Phys.org
Finding corporate value to drive action - focusing on sustainability can lead to commercial opportunity that benefits customers, employees, and investors. These three groups have greater awareness and are paying attention to how companies are operating and leading in this space. When done well, companies can differentiate themselves and find market advantage.
One member’s company has focused on activism, community, and sustainability efforts - with a focus on making a local impact. At the same time, there is an ongoing challenge to track, measure, and report on these initiatives - so technology may become an important enabler.
Another member’s company is focused on working with suppliers to ensure sustainable practices and to reduce food waste, for instance. And technology has played a major role in traceability - understanding the origin of products and evaluating the carbon footprint.
One member’s company is ISO 14001 certified and has a leadership group dedicated to sustainability.
One member spoke to the importance of employee engagement in order to reduce food waste using a group chat feature whenever there was left over food from an event - and that led to new behaviors and practices to think efficiently within the company’s core practices.
In many cases, these decisions and initiatives are balanced against various priorities: regulatory requirements, customer demands, corporate responsibility, etc. There was a sense that specific and ambitious goals set by leadership to drive culture and innovation is key.
One member shared how they are tracking sustainability in their business modeling for new projects; example shared here (permission given to share confidentially within the group); one caveat - AI is driving up energy consumption now:
Impact of government actions - there was discussion that small changes to the tax code can drive major change and flow of capital, and this is the scale required to drive the kind of change necessary to reduce environmental degradation practices.
At the same time, competing priorities continue to come up - within the military for instance, there is a desire to reduce carbon emissions but won’t compromise mission either (one member shared that it can cost $800/gallon of gas to deliver it to the front lines of a battle).
There was recognition that no one thing will get us there. We all need to be contributing and that this isn’t one-and-done.
Additional resources shared - a few books were mentioned, including, “The Nature Fix”, “The Carbon Almanac”.
So more to continue to discuss on this topic, and thanks to all who shared their p.o.v.’s on this topic.
January DLT Monthly Meeting Summary - “Cultivating Team Performance"
On January 12th, the members of the Digital Leadership Trust came together to discuss the topic of cultivating team performance. We began with a discussion about why this topic has emerged for so many within the DLT. Following are some of the key takeaways:
Backdrop Conditions
There are emerging challenges around hybrid work and loneliness, impacts of AI on some tasks, tight labor markets and talent retention, upskilling requirements/ongoing training and education, generational differences and childcare needs were all mentioned as factors driving change in the workforce.
(The younger generation and how they communicate is vastly different (they don’t like to email or even chat as much; they are on Instagram!))
Furthermore, there seemed to be a palpable drive towards achieving more innovation with existing headcount given the “triple challenge” of faster pace of change, reduced budgets, and increase pressure from business partners.
So a major cultural transformation seems to be underway at many members organizations - to foster a more agile mindset, with clear objectives, consistent/regular performance management, and employee surveys to foster feedback and inclusivity and to gauge team satisfaction and to hold leaders accountable.
One member separately shared that they use the Gartner engagement survey pyramid (12 questions correlated to engagement and company performance) and they focus on:
1) I know what is expected of me at work,
2) My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person,
3) There is someone at work who encourages my development, and
4) The mission of purpose of my company makes me feel my job is important.
There seemed to be a common sense belief that when people are connected, feel valued, and are contributing to a larger goal - that engagement goes up.
Member Sharing
Team activities
Cross-functional engagement: One member shared how they implemented Spark, a training program for leaders, and focused on cross-functional understanding within the company. They even adjusted social events to recognize and accommodate the different schedules and needs of different workers (both locally and globally).
Members shared some of their practices for socializing remotely - such as "sip and sees” (so depending on time of day/part of globe coming from - might be coffee or an adult beverage).
Innovation: Another member shared his intent to foster collaboration and utilized hackathons as a way to spur innovation and cross-functional thinking. In response, another member shared how they have a “TrendSpark” program where they go through new trends in the industry and invite teams to have a “start-up pitch” to senior leadership of how to solve problems with technology. It combines one’s technology mindset with learning more about the business and operations.
Another member shared on the chat about their “Team Ambassador” program where a volunteer from every functional team across the business is included in monthly brainstorming meetings with product owners and senior management to create cross-functional relationships and mentoring. They are also funding training and courses unrelated to the business (e.g., on hobbies), and it’s made people feel like the company is interested in them as human beings, and that their personal development is valued as much as their professional development.
One member launched LinkedIn learning for the entire organization and the personal development courses have been amazing.
Career pathing: One member shared how career pathing has been a critical need, esp. with junior developers, and that having non manager roles is increasingly important (some noted that HR tends to struggle with this though, so it has to be pushed hard).
High Performance Concepts/Guest Speaker
Tackling crises of employee well-being: We included an expert from the Samudra ecosystem, Amanda Carlson-Phillips, from Exos - a company specializing in performance enhancement for athletes and businesses. She shared a few key points (and more in subnotes below):
They focus on supporting individuals to cope with the pressure and pace of work, and are looking at the human element in high-performance settings.
They have relied on data from 35,000 individuals with some surprising and somewhat disheartening data (see post-meeting notes below) on the number of workers who lack energy to complete the day, struggle with negative thought patterns, and fail to achieve flow state.
Holistic health leads to performance: Exos focuses on movement, training, nutrition, reflection, regulation, and sleep as key factors to drive performance; as well as the critical dimension of recovery with ideas such as:
Shorter meetings (25 minutes instead of 30 or 50 minutes instead of 60) - quick polling from the group suggests that is still a tough battle, but some have implemented meetings starting 5 minutes after scheduled start time.
Proactive micro breaks and walking
One member schedules thinking time to prevent his calendar from getting overbooked.
One member has been changing the culture, by making it OK for someone to not attend a meeting. Another member commented that their theme for the year is JOMO: The Joy of Missing Out! ;)
Breath cadences
Exposure to light
Team Dynamics is a factor: Amanda also shared the importance of team dynamics - emphasizing the need for belonging and psychological safety - as well as the space for dissent to drive innovation.
One member shared their use of “Thrive Conversations” to go deep on what really motivates and drives individuals - since manager motivations tend to be VERY different.
Another member shared that the monthly town halls are when they give business updates, shine the light on a superstar performer, and have a team member present who they are outside the workplace (done in a fun way).
Another member is practicing “presence with a purpose” - where they had good attendance around planned events (could be for strategy, updates, or fun events). But noted that set days in the office don’t seem to stick as well (more travel occurring and teams are distributed more).
Another member shared their use of quarterly fireside chats with a key business leader to get the team thinking in business terms (not technology).
Breaking away from past cultures: For companies with a long-standing culture, adapting to a hybrid work model and some of the ideas Amanda shared has been a challenge, but it has reinforced the importance of training and education, making it OK to leave the office early (for example).
Breaking away from past cultures: For companies with a long-standing culture, adapting to a hybrid work model and some of the ideas Amanda shared has been a challenge, but it has reinforced the importance of training and education, making it OK to leave the office early (for example).
There is also research coming out with Wharton involving quantifying and analyzing workload data, using wearables to understand changes in sleep, activity, and other lifestyle factors.
So there was a ton of conversation and sharing across many fronts. Ther will surely be more on this topic in the months and years ahead, so we look forward to continuing with all of you!
More shared from Amanda post-meeting:
(1) The Exos Framework: Our approach is to coach individuals, teams, and organizations to be ready for the moments that matter most. We have built our approach to human workplace performance from decades of work with high-performing athletes and military operators. Load management matters, but this shouldn't be confused with doing less. It is about matching the work with the right type of recovery - so you can be ready for the next bout. We think of this as readiness - meaning that individuals and teams can do the work (at the expected feverish pace) and are recovered enough to tap into that capacity when the moment comes. When we think about optimizing an individual's capacity, we consider six areas: daily movement, training, fueling (nutrition), sleep, reflection, and regulation. When we think about optimizing a team's capacity, we consider four areas: belonging, recovery, flow state, and dissent. When we think about an organization, we consider the environment and systems in place to support the individual and team.
(2) Stats and Data Shared: We have programming deployed at over 130 companies and can peer into the data we collect. Last year - our cohort of about 34,000 employees - presented with the following opportunities at baseline. This data showcases that there is immense opportunity to support individuals.
49% did not have enough energy to get through the day
58% could not break negative thought patterns
71% cannot find "flow state."
(3) Flow State. The concept of "Flow State" resonates with the companies we are working with because being able to help people do the best work of their lives is one of the most critical elements of performance for the future of work. I wanted to include our Finding Flow white paper, which you can find here.
(4) Research that we did with Hofstra University. This research was profiled here. The study involved approximately 150 Exos employees, half participating in a flow-based intervention while the other half served as controls. The flow-based intervention involved teaching participants about flow and structuring intentional recovery throughout the workday. Those who participated in the intervention were 2-3x more likely to experience flow at work, reported less stress at the end of the day, and, over time, maintained a higher Heart Rate Variability (a physiologic marker of stress - the higher it is, the better), which means their body was better "metabolizing" the stress of their lives.
(5) Lastly - I hinted at the fact that, as a company, we deployed a 4d work week as a part of our broader approach to creating a more robust Readiness Culture. We will complete our data analysis this quarter with Adam Grant and Wharton Business School and look forward to sharing our results related to our Readiness Culture Code deployment. Here are some of the tactics that we discussed on the call:
We are prioritizing individual recovery.
Micro Breaks: We educate around and encourage intentional recovery throughout the day. We utilize movement, sunlight, breathwork, and meditation tactics in between meetings or within longer sessions to give the body and the brain the refresh they need.
Shorter Meetings: The data shows that back-to-back meetings wreak havoc on the brain. We changed our calendar settings and are disciplined about meeting times. 25-minute and 50-minute meetings are the norms. If you host a meeting longer than 90 minutes - each 90-minute block requires a 20-minute break.
You-Do-You Fridays: Some will call it a four-day work week - we call it You Do You Friday. Our expectation on Fridays is that individuals use it as they see fit. There are no meetings, and unless there is a critical matter to address, there is no expectation of a response from a co-worker. Individuals can use this day to unplug entirely, do independent work, or a blend of the 2.
We are supporting teams with flow triggers.
Recharge Breaks: Our best work cannot be done in a state of brain fatigue. As mentioned above - specific recharge breaks are paired with the type and duration of work.
Meeting Intentions: Flow follows focus. Part of our meeting standards now requires any meeting host to clearly articulate the goal of the meeting at the start of the meeting. Each year, we take this to the extreme. We declare meeting bankruptcy at the end of each year. Our leaders cancel all meetings and start fresh. This ensures that the meetings are needed, have a suitable duration, and include the right people.
Protected Work Time: We encourage our team to block their calendars accordingly to support their ability to get into intensely focused work. We use calendar transparency tools to ensure their team knows when they seek Flow State.