Jim Carroll- Futurist, Trends & Innovation Keynote Speaker

When I spoke in Oman last November, I spent a little bit of my time on stage talking about artificial intelligence. It caught the attention of the folks from Gulf Construction, the most prestigious publication in the Middle East when it comes to the construction industry. They asked if I might put down my thoughts on the role, impact and timing of A.I. and robotics within the industry.

AI in construction? It’s simply the next step in the digitisation of the industry. As we go down the technology path, we follow its inevitable result.

AI In Construction – Massively Transformative
In an exclusive article for Gulf Construction, JIM CARROLL, futurist, trends and innovation expert, highlights the far-reaching impact of artificial intelligence on the construction industry.
Gulf Construction News, January 2019 (link)

Artificial intelligence (AI), the very phrase conjures up images of futuristic mechanical brains doing all kinds of intelligent work. Scare stories abound – AI and robots are going to take away all of our jobs! Science fiction scenarios paint a picture of enslaved humans being subjected to the evil whims of smart computer technology.

What’s driving the push to AI in the construction sector? Ongoing labour shortages due to a hot global economy is certainly one of the key issues. The marriage of robotics has been a pathway to dealing with this challenge, but the marriage of AI to robotics take us to the next step in this complex voyage. In addition, it’s simply the next step in the digitisation of the industry. As we go down the technology path, we follow its inevitable result.

So let’s put into perspective what’s been happening, and where AI fits in.

Digitisation of PM

As in many other industries, the construction sector has already been on a path to digitisation with the acceleration of technology. Computer-aided design (CAD) and building information modelling (BIM) concepts have accelerated the design and build process, but these have been but baby steps in a complex voyage.

AI takes us into a world in which we can apply automated, intelligent routines in the many calculations, assumptions, testing and analysis of the ideas we are using in the architecture and design process, as well as detailing the methodologies that will be used to put those designs into actionable steps.

Consider, for example, what we have been doing with efforts involving the digitisation of the project management (PM) process. We need to carefully manage the ordering and procurement, fabrication and assembly of millions of individual components, and manage extremely complex projects. What if we could automate some of this, kick out the exceptions for analysis, and ignore the rest?

Some companies are already exploring this idea. Canada’s Fluor Corp is working with IBM’s Watson AI system to explore how to take existing digitised projects and analyse the data within for insight on rising costs, schedule delays, supply chain problems, or errors in estimates, forecasts and project risks. Consider it BIM on steroids!

Robotic methodologies

It’s when we marry AI concepts with robotics that things become really interesting in the construction sector. Robotics is already making its way felt in the sector in a very significant way.

We have been busy automating the building process itself. Certainly the entire process of the automation of the construction process has been moving quickly within the residential sector.

The UK-based Legal & General, for instance, has been aggressively working to disrupt the business of home construction through the ability to manufacture homes on high-tech production lines that when completed, are ready to live in, with carpets, curtains and white goods already in place. What they are really doing is disrupting the concept of construction by moving away from building in sites with blocks, to building utilising robots in factories with subsequent assembly on site.

This isn’t just ‘pre-fab’; it’s the arrival of disruptive methodologies.

And therein lies the rub. Much of this construction process involves a regular series of iterative processes, repeated over and over again. If we can automate this with some type of intelligent process management capability, and then examine the quality of our work, we have achieved something of significance – and that is where AI is taking us to. As in project management, we utilise AI to provide for better automation of the process, and examine the exceptions.

These new methodologies will be driven by the fact that they provide significant productivity gains. In Australia, Fastbrick Robotics has developed technology that can build a home in three days using a sophisticated, automated bricklaying system – forever changing the way the industry operates.

Other companies around the world are working on similarly sophisticated methodologies, and it is inevitable that these advances will leak into the industrial and commercial construction space.

3D printing

Add to this mix recent advances in 3D printing capabilities in the construction sector, particularly with concrete and other materials. In Dubai, we’ve seen the 3D printing of an office facility. It took but 17 days to print a building that was 20 ft high, 120 ft long, and 40 ft wide.

Key fact? The project was overseen by a single engineer, and saw a cost reduction of 50 per cent compared to traditional methods.

3D printing is another example of a routine, iterative process, and you can expect to see AI capabilities brought to this fast-moving sector as well. But it’s not just 3D printing.

Consider the impact of rebar-tying robotic technology such as the TyBot from UK-based Brayman Construction and its subsidiary Advanced Construction Robotics. It’s an automated process that will change bridge construction.
Why is this significant? Because these accelerated methodologies are based upon a series of rules and patterns and AI is simply all about rules and patterns.

Virtualised construction

Let’s toss another trend into the mix – the acceleration of autonomous technology.
While everyone is focused on the opportunities of self-driving cars and trucks, they are missing the really big picture, and that is the forthcoming massive virtualisation of physical work.

A few years ago, while I was in Sao Paulo to keynote the global WorldSkills conference, I actually operated a welding machine 3,000 miles away while using a virtual headset. We know this type of technology is coming to the world of manufacturing, and it will come to the world of construction as well. So while the first phase of global outsourcing and offshoring saw the movement of office work to the Philippines and India, the next phase will see the virtualisation of construction and other work.

But let’s not stop there. Equipment manufacturers are aggressively developing autonomous capabilities. Audi and others have prototype vehicles without doors and windows that can be driven by someone thousands of miles away. Komatsu, following this same path, has a bulldozer that can be remotely controlled by an operator on site, linking to the physical facility through cameras, sensors and other data.

Is it farfetched to imagine the automation of the repetitive parts of this type of routine through AI? Should we get used to the concept of a future, unmanned construction site. Farfetched?

Not in my mind. What’s really happening is we are shifting the construction industry from one of construction, to one of manufacturing. AI is but a part of the mix of this new disruptive business model. AI can accelerate our capabilities in significant ways, including better inspection for faults and errors; more streamlined methodology, and all kinds of automation of routine work. The fact is, we are seeing rapid advances in the use of robotics in home construction, and it is inevitable that this fast pace of development will quickly come into the commercial and industrial construction sector.

Smart buildings

Last but not least, the arrival of intelligent, smart buildings concepts will accelerate opportunities for AI.

We are at early days yet when it comes to the concept of smart buildings. Yet the Internet of Things (IoT) is already having a significant impact on how we manage, deploy, operate and monitor various aspects of our facilities such as energy usage.

Once we add machine learning and AI to the mix, we will be able to streamline those activities even more.

Consider, for example, the concept of predictive diagnostics; the ability to determine in advance when a particular part of component is going to break down, and doing preventative maintenance to avoid the downtime that comes with it. Automotive and trucking companies, as well as medical device companies and jet engine manufacturers, have been implementing predictive diagnostics for quite some time.

And it’s now coming with rapid developments with IoT in HVAC and energy systems, security infrastructure and other aspects of smart buildings. If we enhance our ability to interpret and analyse the vast amounts of information coming from our intelligent building subsystems, we can reduce downtime and problems even further.

Impact of other industries

So clearly, we are on a high-tech voyage in the world of construction. So why will AI become real? Because advances in other industries will accelerate the leakage of AI concepts into construction!

And then there is the arrival of disruptive AI concepts such as the emergence of AI marketplaces.

One company in the medical AI space has launched a ‘storefront’ that allows for ‘one-stop shopping’ of particular AI capabilities or skills. Browse through the store and you will find algorithms that will help you analyse chest X-rays for a cancer diagnosis, calcium build-up in arteries or cornea images for eye disease.

The same type of thinking might lead to a virtual AI marketplace for analysis of construction faults or smart-building algorithm analysis!

When will it arrive?

The biggest challenge with all of these concepts is not ‘if’ they will happen, but ‘when’. And that is where the Gartner Hype-cycle comes in. How do you determine when to invest in AI trend?

Years ago, the global research company suggested that any new technology goes along a curve – it appears, hits the time of excessive hype and expectations. That is followed by the inevitable collapse of enthusiasm as people realise that it takes a lot of time and effort to implement the technology and determine the opportunity that comes from it. But inevitably, both the expectations and technology itself matures, and it becomes a key component for innovation and so much more.

You can take any technology and place it on the curve. Consider e-commerce: it appeared, and people got carried away with the potential during the dot.com era of the late 1990s. However, that involved a period of rather excessive and ridiculous hype, and so we had the inevitable dot.com collapse.

Now consider the explosion of new technologies around us today: 3D printing, IoT, virtual reality, self-driving cars, and AI. A key component is figuring out where they are on the curve, and hence, what you should be doing with them in terms of an innovation strategy.

But what will we be able to do with AI in the construction sector? While it’s early days yet, we are really only limited by the boundaries of our imagination.

Individually, any trend is disruptive. Combine them together, and suddenly, they’re massively transformative!

As they say, timing is everything, particularly when it comes to the issue of getting involved in any particular trend. In the era of acceleration, it becomes even more critical. You’d better make sure you are ready with any trend of importance and relevance, because the future might happen before you know it.

I spend a lot of time on stage talking about the issue of timing on stage, particularly in the context of the “Gartner Hypecycle.” It’s been a key go-to on my client innovation guidance for well over 15 years. The interesting thing is that it’s really risen to the forefront in the last year, particularly as technology journalists have trie to explain the rise and fall of the BitCoin bubble.

The other thing about timing? The future is staggered and uneven – it doesn’t happen everywhere all at once. It’s phased by location, sector, and other discrete perspectives. Think about self=driving vehicles – we’ll see them happen in some ways faster, and in other ways, slower. I was in New Orleans, saw some crowded streets, and it was the perfect opportunity to talk about the issue of timing.

Any new technology, trend or idea goes along a curve – it appears, then hits the time of excessive hype and expectations. That is followed by the inevitable collapse of enthusiasm as people realize that it takes a lot of time and effort to implement the future, and determine the opportunity that comes from it. But inevitably, both the expectations, idea and capabilities mature, and the trend becomes a key component for innovation and so much more.

The timing issue? As Kevin Kelly, the founder of Wired noted, “the future happens slowly, and then, all at once.” Any particular trend can bubble along for a time, seemingly inconsequential and of little impact. And then, all of a sudden, it can ‘go supernova’, explode in importance and significance – and suddenly, be everywhere!

That’s why my mantra to “think big, start small, scale fast” gives a key shoutout to timing. “Start small” implies that you should be on board with any particular trend, despite the potential immaturity it might have, because you want to make sure that you understand it, have experience with it, know how to work with it – and are ready to go when it “goes supernova!”

We’re moving from a world of two-dimensional ‘location intelligence’ – think of all the things involving GPS technology – to a world of 3D spatial intelligence – and the this will lead the birth of several new “next” billion dollar industries

The opportunities are pretty significant. Location intelligence had us mapping in 2 dimensions; spatial intelligence will have us doing the same with 3dimensions. The trend will involve the data used by self-driving cars to ‘see’ around them; cobots or “cooperative robots” working in 3d dimensions to interact with other robots and humans around them; virtual operations using 3D insight headsets, and so much more!

The possibilities are limitless and the opportunities are endless, particularly if we combine smart clothing, spatial intelligence, mobile technology, sensor technology and gamification! To explain, I went to the gym!

You won’t be selling tomorrow what you sell today. You’ll either be selling something very, very different, or you won’t be selling anything at all. You need to reinvent, continuously, and quickly.

How big is this trend? Big enough that it is a major focus of almost every talk I do for every industry – whether manufacturing, consumer products, agriculture, healthcare and even legal services!

So I went and got a haircut. And so Fehmi, the owner, (“my hair guy”) at Prelude Salon and Spa, even needs to reinvent on a regular basis – and so I filmed a bit while there! Why? Faster fashion, faster influencers = faster reinvention!

Follow the trend involving the exponentiation of pure science, and we might soon be able to architect aircraft that are lighter than air – just like that of Wonder Woman’s jet! That’s where the fast emerging trend of new materials science might potentially lead us.

I’ve been covering this trend extensively within the many manufacturing conferences that I’ve been doing through the last year. When the trend is combined with the innovation offered by 3d printing, magic happens! Get a sense of what is going on with this short clip.

A few months ago, I found myself in Heathrow Airport, and while needing to kill some time before a flight, found a perfect opportunity to speak about the impact of this trend within the world of aerospace.

When four industries come together to pursue a trend, you’ve got something big happening. And that’s what’s going on as healthcare, the food industry, the agricultural and technology industries come together to pursue one of the biggest trends of our time.

A hot trend? We are seeing the birth of an industry of customizable, programmable, AI based, real time food planning based on instant health assessment!

Yup, that’s a thing, and it’s going to be a big thing.

Increasingly, you’ll be eating food that aligns to your particular DNA, and based on real time body insight. It will be highly customized. As I state on stage, my glycemic index for an apple might be different from yours.

I spoke at Benefit 2018 recently – it’s a conference dedicated to functional foods and more. In my pre-keynote video overview, I spoke about the significance of this trend.

Want to have some fun?

Watch the multi-billion dollar investments that major food, science, healthcare and tech companies are making within this new, fast exploding sector.

Here’s a hint – look up Nutrino. Go!

What’s the essence of the trend? Simply put, you likely don’t have the skills that you need to get into our faster, more complicated future. You’ve got machine operators, but you need 3D printing experts; land surveyors when you require location intelligence professionals; or gas engine designers when you need experts in penguin behaviour.

The issue of having the right skills at the right time for the right purpose has long been one of  my key mantras from the stage.

The impact? Find your penguins! 

You never knew that you’d need to find the specialized skills who know the things that you never knew you needed to know! Here’s a few clips from the stage where I’m speaking to the issue of specialized skills.

Why penguins? Penguins hunt in groups & synchronize their dives to catch fish.  

Studying how they do so could provide invaluable insight into the evolution of self-driving cars. Self-driving cars are connected by telemetry, LIDAR and other technologies, and will operate in a pack mentality to coordinate their efforts. 

This permits the emergence of ‘pelotons’ — connected ‘trains’ of vehicles in communication with each other, and in communication with intelligent, connected smart highway technology. 

Penguins are great in travelling in packs, so why not learn how they do it, and engineer that into autonomous vehicle technology…. and so studying how nature does this will provide deep insight into what to do this with cars and trucks.

Do you know what penguin experts you’ll need?

Farmville redefines farming. Fortnite leads to virtual welding. League of Legends leads to digital twin virtual surgery. These kids accelerate virtual tech, because the skills they have picked up within the gaming world come into the workplace, and redefine the world of work. Gaming and virtual reality collide with robotics and more.

In many of my events, I talk about the real significance of the gaming generation while on stage.

Simply put, megacities are the future. This results in new careers, new infrastructure, new innovation, new trends! Cities own the future, and the impact will be everywhere. One example? The acceleration of vertical farming concepts!

But there is a bigger trend at work here: and that is, by watching the big trends, you can discover how the essence of innovation within an industry is changing. With that, I bring you the impact of vertical farming.

Much of the vertical farming innovation is occurring in megacities, in Africa and elsewhere. Here’s a clip from December 2018, where I’m on stage at an agricultural conference, talking about vertical framing, desert farming, and floating cow farms!

Why does this trend matter? Because mega trends matter! Megatrends drive mega change, and no where is this seen than with the growth of urban cities. That’s trend #5 for today.

Watch the big trends, and you get a real sense of how the source of innovation is shifting. Such as within the world of agriculture.

Simply put, megacities are the future. This results in new careers, new infrastructure, new innovation, new trends! Cities own the future, and the impact will be everywhere. One example? The acceleration of vertical farming concepts!

Much of the vertical farming innovation is occurring in megacities, in Africa and elsewhere. Here’s a clip from December 2018, where I’m on stage at an agricultural conference, talking about vertical framing, desert farming, and floating cow farms!

Worldwide, there is a massive migration of urban populations to cities; the majority of the world’s population will live in less than 30 mega-cities by 2025. With that trend comes fascinating challenges with water, waste treatment, energy and other infrastructure. We can expect accelerating R&D in each of these fields as global society steps up to the challenge presented by ‘hyper-urbanization,’ and the birth of entire new lines of business involving “mega-city’ infrastructure support services.”

Why is this trend important? Because a lot of money will go into redefining these megacities for the future. Those trends will leak everywhere else… and so a farmer in Iowa will find that his or her future is, to a degree, being determined by the fact that a farmer in Ghana, Africa, will increasing be in a city, and will define one of the biggest trends in the world of farming.

There’s an important lesson in innovation from all of this – specifically, ‘your future might no longer be invented here!” It’s by watching the big trends, learning what they mean, and how they are accelerating change, that you can discover new pathways to the future!

One of the most significant challenges of our time has to do with seniors care – but there is a chance that what we did with heart health in the 20th century, we can repeat with brain health in the 21st century.

The numbers are staggering. In the US, the number of Alzheimer’s patients is set to triple to 16 million by 2050. The typical Alzheimer patient is disabled for 9 to 20 years – and this will increase to 40- to 50 years as medical advances continue and life expectancy continues to grow. We are set to see a 10X increase in the cost of care. We need big thinking to deal with the scope of the challenge!

How might it come about? Maybe through the acceleration of the science of brain-health technology, my 4th trend to watch in 2019.

How might we do it? Perhaps through the marriage of our mind to computer tech through Human-Computer Interface technology. And in fact, as I spoke about on stage at the World Government Summit in Dubai, we might end up combining the science of data storage with optical science – and take advantage of the fact that we have learned how to stop light in in tracks! In doing so, maybe we can put our mind inside a yottabit ball!

As a futurist, I’m often called on by Fortune 1000 organizations to speak at their global leadership meetings, you get a sense as to what CEO’s and senior executives are concentrating on.

Key trend? 10 years ago, the concept of ‘collaboration’ was not. No more – now, it’s speed. And specifically, agility in the executive offices and leadership team. That’s why this is my 3rd trend for 2019 is “The Era of Agility.”

Organizations must now deal with the emergence of new issues, challenges and opportunities faster than ever before. Shortly after I spoke at a retail conference in Las Vegas, I was interviewed on the issue of leadership agility.

It’s a frequent topic on stage – here’s a clip in which I spin the story as to how the concept of ‘agile’ has transitioned from the world of software to the boardroom.

If you’re an IT person, you get it. CEO’s are getting it too.

In almost every single industry, there are people who are thinking big and bold about the opportunities that surround them. This includes completely rethinking about the nature of the product that they are bringing to the marketplace or the service that they might offer.

The energy and transportation provides the perfect example : a world in which your electric vehicle actually becomes a key component of the energy grid.

Energy is one sector where we have seen the emergence of a tremendous number of radical new ideas – even, for example, ’24 hour solar power plants’, or the ability to grow solar panels from plants.

Vehicle-to-grid connectivity? It’s a new, fast emerging trend, and you might find that within but 10 years, most cars are part of the energy system. I ran out to a local Tesla Supercharging station to film a little clip to explore the concept in more depth.

There is a furious rate of scientific advance with the science of bio-materials – and the use of living tissue for medical implants and procedures will be here sooner than you think! Some experts within the industry think it is only a matter of years, not decades, before we can grow living arms and legs for transplant.

I’ve been speaking about this on stage at numerous medical and health care conferences. Here’s a clip!

The world of financial services will never be the same. Are you in the right frame of mind?

It’s the era of acceleration, and the future belongs to those who are fast!

“Reinvent. Relentlessly!” – #Futurist Jim Carroll

You always need to try to be a new you, because today is a different day. Maybe yesterday’s you won’t be good enough for the you that you need to be today!

Crazy message? Not really – as a species, we have never lived through a more dramatic period of fast paced change.

This stage shot? I’m at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, which celebrates the science, insight and inventions of one of the greatest minds of our time, Benjamin Franklin. What a fabulous setting for a dinner keynote a few months ago!

I was actually speaking at an innovation dinner awards celebration for Chemours, a leading global chemicals company. Called the 2018 Chemours Plunkett Awards, the evening celebrated key customers who had achieved breakthrough results through a focus on innovative and creative thinking.

I love awards dinners, and I’ve done quite a few over my 25 year speaking career! Let’s celebrate those who have done great things!

Part of my message to the audience was that continual reinvention though innovation is critical in today’s world. Products go out of date faster than ever before as product lifecycles collapse; fickle consumers can send a brand from hero to zero in moments; there is always a potential competitor around who is eager to ‘steal your lunch.’

So – reinvent!

Fun fact: it was the discovery of one single new chemical substance that permitted Apple to miniaturize the hard drive for the original Apple iPod, leading to the birth of a multi-billion market. Guess how many new chemical substances will be discovered in next 50 years? Billions!

Opportunity abounds in such a reality! This requires a mindset in which the ability to come up with new products is critical, and that is why we celebrate innovation heroes – like those who were in the room this particular evening.

Past glories won’t define your future success – so change yourself. Your track record from the past is irrelevant for the future if you don’t align yourself quickly to new realities. Your old success will not define your new success.

Your ability to reinvent yourself is the essence of your future being. Do it now!

#motivationalquotes #inspirationalquotes #speakerlife🎙 #innovation

I love my client DTN! This is the introduction video they put together for my keynote headlining the DTN Ag Summit in Chicago the other day!

In your life, you discover real magic when you share the stage with a special needs child who knows nothing but love and joy – and who gives you a fist bump with a huge smile on his face.

That’s what happened on the weekend, when a 26 year young adult with Down syndrome ran up to join me near the stage while I was offering up a few words at the annual Christmas dinner for Events for Life. Thomas Butler, my good friend with the fist bump, unexpectedly came to join me! It made for a moment in a short talk that I won’t soon forget. Watch it now – and listen to my message!

Events for Life is a charitable initiative for special needs young adults in Thornbury, Ontario, near our ski chalet. My wife Christa Carroll is on the Board of Directors; I’m their techie-geek, doing behind the scenes work with their Web site, IT stuff and more. My son Willie Carroll is also fully involved with additional IT support. My other son Tom spends time on the ski hill with both Thomas and the young fellow Michael Simon also mentioned in my talk.

We as a family are fully engaged in this initiative; it is teaching us much about the role that we can play in helping those who might be considered to be less fortunate.

Thomas is a member at my ski club; I’ve experienced the magic of watching and going with him as he snowplows down the hill in his own unique style. He spent 3 hours with me on the hill one day – that meant a lot to me, since I seemed to have broken through. I’ve learned lots!

EFL has had a profound impact on my life, and my understanding of the world around me. If you do anything today, invest some time with some special needs children and adults. They can teach you more about the world than you might ever know.

Visit us at https://eventsfor.life

That’s the problem that many financial services industry companies have — they are in a world in which they are having to respond to the challenges of fin-tech, disruptive business model change and more, and yet are running on an infrastructure that is still largely tied to the technology of the 60’s and 70’s.

That’s the modern day dilemma – and that’s part of what I will discuss when I open SAP’s 2018 Financial Services Industry Day conference in New York City next week.

To stir up interest, I filmed the little sneak preview above.

What happened? SAP has a BIG PROBLEM – in that the number of registered attendees is DOUBLE their expectations. Too many people have signed up!

What a nice problem to have. We know from experience that there will be a number of no-shows – it’s always the case – but still. It goes to show that senior executives from many of the world’s largest financial services companies – banks, insurance companies and more — are clamouring for insight on what to do in the era of acceleration. And that’s what I will cover in my keynote, and more.

(Do you run similar events, and want a similar BIG PROBLEM? Read more about my promo videos here).

In the last few months, I’ve had two keynotes where I’ve put in perspective the marriage of the Internet of Things with blockchain as a trend. This is a pretty massive issue yet one with a lot of hype and hysteria. I’ll have lots to post and say in the coming months on it. Here’s a short clip from one of those talks:

The first of these events was a leadership meeting was for Columbus McKinnon, a manufacturer of overhead cranes used in manufacturing, entertaining, shipping and logistics; the second was for the Canadian Finance and Leasing Association. The first group asked me to outline for several hundred of their engineers and sales staff how the essence of what they build and sell will change as they become ‘smart and hypercpnnected;’ the other wanted a talk that put into perspective the fact that the very nature of what they lease will change through such connectivity.

Here’s the thing: most #IOT (Internet of Things) projects today are a complete failure – they are insecure, built on old outdated Linux stacks with mega-security holes, and ill-thought out architectures. My slide on that fact? Simple: a reality which is already happening today. This type of negligence will doom of the future of the products of many of the early pioneers.

So here’s the thing: if organizations are going to build a proper path into the hyperconnected future, they need to understand and follow my “11 Rules of #IoT Architecture.” Read it, print it, learn from it : this is what you need to do as you transition to becoming a tech company. Some of the biggest organizations in the world have had me in for this detailed insight – maybe you should.

My inspiration for how to build the future right comes from Apple’s robust Device Enrolment Program architecture, which lets an organization deploy, manage, upgrade and oversee thousands of corporate iPhones or iPads; and Tesla, which is not really a car company, but a hi-tech company.

And so in both of these talks, I put into perspective how Tesla has (without knowing it, LOL) been following my rules. First, think about what a Tesla really is – here’s my slide….

Going back to my list of the 11 Rules of IOT Architecture, you can see that Tesla has met a number of the conditions …

Go through my IOT architecture list and think about what has been engineered into the computer that is a Tesla.

“Upgradeable: any device should have the ability to be upgraded from afar, automatically, either by user choice or centralized management”.

Got that. Consumer Reports didn’t like the braking distance on the Model 3. No problem: that’s a software update.

“Feature addition capable: the design should provide for the addition of future capabilities, some of which might not be imagined yet at the time of development.”

You can do that when you buy your Model 3.

“Prognostic, diagnostic: each device should be able to self-diagnose and report when it is not working correctly.”

Yup, built in.

“Self-repairing: better yet, it should not only know when things are going wrong, but have the capability to fix it once it is aware”.

Let’s fix it at night….

“Programmable: the device should be controllable by users, to the extent that is possible within a predefined robust security and privacy architecture.”

User/driver interactivity is at the heart of operator interaction.

“Self-reporting: the device should be able to report on a wide variety of information pertaining to operations, proximity, location, status, etc.”

Built in. And yes, there’s an app for that (above).

“Swarm data-generating: it should be able to generate types of information that, in concert with other similar devices, is able to be manipulated to provide some unique operational, predictive or maintenance-information data-set (or more)”.

It’s a data gathering machine.

“Intelligence-capable: it should have or be provided capabilities to make its own decisions based on input data.”

As in, a new AI based, neural network…..

“Grid-connectable:  it should be able to exist or participate within a connected series of devices to achieve some original or newly conceived purpose.”

Vehicle-to-grid connectivity is a huge trend!Tesla isn’t participating fully yet, but it will. Your car battery becomes a part of the energy grid….

Here’s the thing: Elon Musk understands the need for a great IOT architecture. Most CEO’s of Fortune 1000 companies don’t, and until they get someone who does, their project will be a fail. They’ll likely put the future of their company at risk through security and privacy failures, product failures and more.

Get with the program, folks!