Innovation Snapshot

"The future of work includes AI as an active, managed team member, not just software in the background."

— Sara Kalick, Strategist and Consultant.

In today's lineup:

Robots

• Top Bites: how the world is dealing with AI

• 3 AI-empowered people stories

• What the 7th wave of AI brings

• Baidu's MuseSteamer is business only

People

• The Sapiens author calls for ethical guardrails

Love

• Culture moves the AI needle

• Transformative reads: Design is Storytelling by Ellen Lupton

Reading time: 5 min. 

Top bites ⚡

• Nvidia’s new tech takes ‘AI Supercomputing to a whole new level’

• How AI and aerodynamics made the Tour de France faster than ever

• China is quickly eroding America's lead in the global AI race

• Denmark lets citizens copyright their face and voice against AI deepfakes

• AGL Energy buys South Australia's virtual power plant from Tesla

What leaders must watch out for in the seventh wave

Forbes identifies AI as the seventh wave of technological change, threatening established software giants with cheap code generation and AI-native replacements. Internal frictions within organizations must also be anticipated as teams resist due to career investments in legacy systems.

3 critical watchpoints for leaders:

• Infrastructure timing matters - The UK is freeing up 400GW of additional grid capacity for "vital" AI projects. Leaders must evaluate their energy partnerships before scarcity drives costs higher.

• Energy as competitive advantage - Nuclear fusion breakthroughs powered by AI analysis are compressing development timelines. Secure sustainable AI power sources today to gain operational resilience tomorrow.

• The sustainability paradox - AI could reduce global carbon emissions by 5.4 gigatonnes annually by 2035, but only if we solve the power challenge first.

Are you building for a world where energy access determines AI advantage?

Gen AI in action 🌊

3 ways AI is creating human-centered value.

• Scottish Water deploys Microsoft 365 Copilot free teams from admin work to focus on climate and water resilience.

• ZF Group's Power Platform generates 25,000+ internal apps, delivering real-time insights to global operations.

• Komatsu's ML-powered construction reduces fuel consumption while boosting productivity.

Tool Spotlight 🔧

Your weekly dose of AI-powered tools delivering real results.

MuseSteamer turns static assets into dynamic video content

Baidu's enterprise-only image-to-video generator converts still images into 10-second videos using 3 performance tiers; Turbo, Pro, and Lite designed specifically for business workflows.

Strategic applications:

• Accelerated marketing – Transform product photos into engaging social media content, reducing campaign turnaround times

• Training & communication – Convert presentations/documentation into dynamic video materials for better engagement

• Enterprise security – Business-only access ensures data controls and privacy compliance

3 more image-to-video platforms to explore:

• Runway Gen-3: Advanced video generation with precise camera controls and motion.

• Pika Labs: User-friendly platform with strong text-to-video capabilities.

• Stable Video Diffusion: Open-source solution offering customizable video generation models.

Transformation Champion 🏆

Yuval Harari warns AI may rewrite civilization's rules

The "Sapiens" author argues we're facing humanity's first non-biological competitor: AI systems that make decisions, generate ideas, and evolve autonomously. Unlike previous technologies requiring human direction, AI acts as an "alien agent" potentially capable of manipulating information landscapes and undermining democratic institutions.

Harari insists on the development of ethical guardrails. Train AI systems to express self-doubt, and ensure human values remain central to decision-making. The stakes are existential. We're "accelerating without learning how to brake."

Culture is your compounding advantage

While 70-85% of AI initiatives fail despite record investments, companies with adaptive cultures achieve 1.5x higher revenue growth. The secret? Building people who innovate, not innovation labs.

Scale AI with your people by:

• Focusing on capability, not comfort: Psychological safety means making teams capable of handling change, not protecting them from it.

• Embedding innovation in workflows -Amazon created AWS by solving internal problems, not building separate innovation departments.

• Starting small, moving fast - The LEAP framework takes one hour weekly but accelerates every AI deployment through cultural readiness. 

Read the full thought piece here.

Transformative Reads 📚

One book, handpicked from my conversations with friends, industry leaders, and tech innovators:

Design Is Storytelling transforms how you structure user experiences and business narratives. Lupton's framework of Action, Emotion, and Sensation provides practical tools for everything from product launches to digital transformation communication.

 Perfect for: CMOs, product leaders, and innovation executives who need to move beyond features to create compelling user journeys.

In Culture 🤌

Here's something to laugh about this week.

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