Radically Human: How New Technology is Transforming Business and Shaping Our Future

All right, TGIF everyone. Welcome to In Case You Missed It, GovTech's government technology weekly news roundup. I'm Dustin Haisler, Chief Innovation Officer for Government Technology Magazine, and today we've got a special interview. I'm excited to be joined by Paul Daugherty, Group Chief Executive Technology and Chief Technology Officer for Accenture. Paul oversees Accenture's technology strategy, driving innovation, leveraging emerging technologies, and recently co-wrote Radically Human, a new book that we're going to learn more about as we dive into today's interview. So Paul, Thanks so much for carving some time out today.

It's great to be here. Thanks for having me on the program. And I've worked in many different places across my career. Some of my fond experiences are some of the— is with some of the great work we do with state and local governments. In fact, my very first project with Accenture was for a state government. So, yeah, that's very important to me.

Let's dig into that. So, you know, as Group Chief Executive Technology and CTO of Accenture, share a little bit about, you know, your role and how you're working with state and local government agencies today.

Yeah, well, technology is a big part of what Accenture does. We have over $50 billion in revenue and 700,000 people in the organization. So a large organization. A lot of what we do is technology, and my role is to lead the technology part of our business. It's everything from the R&D that we do. We do research and development through our labs that we have. We have labs in many locations— San Francisco, the Bay Area, and many other spots around the country and around the world. And all the way through the work we do to design, build, and deploy technology-based solutions for clients. And then the managed services and such we do around that as well. The cloud is a big part of that, so we may get into that a little bit, data and artificial intelligence. Securing these solutions is a hot topic, especially with some of the events that are going on in the world right now. So that's what I do and spend a lot of time with with our clients and with our teams as they deploy these types of solutions.

That's awesome. A lot to dig into. We may even have a metaverse question for you as we go forward. So, but let's talk about the book. You have the new book, Radically Human, out, How New Technology Is Transforming Business and Shaping Our Future. So loved it. It's out now and it provides really a fascinating look at how things have exponentially changed with new technologies. But in the process, you make an interesting observation about how they become more human. And I'd love maybe to start, if you want to share your thesis about the book and Why do you think state and local government leaders should take note of it?

Yeah, I think it's a theme that's, I think, relevant for— the theme of the book, Radically Human, is relevant to any organization. But I think it in particular has a lot of relevance for state and local governments in the mission that they have to serve people and serve citizens. I think it's really— the message of the book, I think, is really relevant. And the core theme of the book, and I'll explain a little bit more, but the core theme is that we're in this era of exponential technology acceleration. I can talk more about that. We should talk about the metaverse a little bit. other things. The next decade through 2030 is going to be more change, technology-enabled change, than the prior 2 decades. And if you think back that long, that's a lot of change, but I strongly believe that that's the case. And the key thing to understand is the technology is becoming more human-like. We have artificial intelligence with capabilities like emotional AI. We have extended reality, immersive 3D reality systems that that are the foundation of things like the metaverse that we might talk about a little bit and more. And this technology, as it becomes more human-like, it really allows us to develop solutions, all of us as technology professionals, develop solutions that really unlock the true potential of people. So more human-like technology allows us to unlock radical new capability in people, rather creativity, the potential, the productivity of people. That's what we write about in the book. Happy to kind of unpack that more and dive into some more detail if it helps.

Yeah, let's do it. So you also talk about this societal shift that has occurred and was really also accelerated by the pandemic. So maybe let's start first with what happened, what changed, what is this shift?

Yeah, a big shift. It's interesting in that in every prior— I've been in this industry for over 3 decades now, and in prior downturns, technology became the thing that was cut. You know, it was the way that companies buffered themselves. That changed with COVID Technology was, you know, the technology investment was critical, and organizations, you know, in private and public sector needed to continue and in many cases increase their investment because technology was the lifeline that kept things going. Because we're, you know, we're in this digital era where everything is dependent on technology. for state and local governments, we had immediate demand to help first responders with technology to know where to offer their services better, to use things like artificial intelligence in customer response environments to handle overwhelming requests for aid and information that you just couldn't staff up to meet quickly enough. Many, many other examples. Technology became the lifeline to keep organizations running and to interact with their stakeholders, citizens, and others that needed needed aid. And then that's coming out of COVID then we've seen that even just continue to accelerate more because of what's happening with underlying technology trends. And, you know, there's a lot of concern in the macro environment right now with, is there a recession? There's inflation going on, concerns about unemployment, geopolitical issues, the Ukraine war, we had pandemic, all these things going on. But the one thing I'll tell you, the one is the everybody listening that deals, you know, that thinks about these things, the one certainty over the next decade is that technology will continue to advance at a relentless pace and that technology will offer solutions to a lot of these problems because it can give you the resilience in your supply chains, it can give you the scalability and flexibility in customer response environments, et cetera. And so we're seeing continued investment by organizations, by companies, an increased investment even in these uncertain economic times as a result. So I think that's the difference in the cycle we're in. I I believe that we'll continue to see a disconnect between technology and GDP and macro statistics where technology investment will continue to increase even if GDP, you know, even as GDP has some softness in it because of that need. That's a very different dynamic, but I think it speaks to the fact that technology is core and systemic to operating the world that we live in, and that's nowhere more true than it is in state and local government organizations.

Yeah, I completely agree. We just finished a webinar on that state and local government was recession-proof, so you're validating a lot of our points there. But, you know, one of the—

Especially true because there's also just unprecedented demand for the services from government in so many different ways. So it's the same challenge really in the public sector there— I'm sorry, the private sector where they've got the similar challenges. So I think it really is a unique ability to match up the technology with this need to increase services, increase responsiveness, and provide more direct human services.

Yeah, that's a great way to look at it. And so, you talk about how emerging technologies are becoming more human-centric. You kind of talked a little bit about that in your opening. I'd like to dive into this a little bit and hear about what are the emerging technologies that you see having the most impact on state and local government? What should be on their radar?

I'll go through a number of things, but I think it starts with the cloud and cloud technology. I know that there were some reasons why the public sector was harder to be an early adopter of cloud, but I think we've moved past some of that now with the evolution of some of the environments and some of the certifications and such. And I think cloud is at the foundation. We saw a strong increase in adoption, you know, with what I talked about earlier with COVID So cloud is certainly there. We think cloud is the platform of the future in the way that organizations are building out the future because it's just too cumbersome and too slow to do it all on your own. Now, hybrid cloud is a key part of that, and for the government sector, we're gonna continue to see a lot of hybrid cloud, but it'll be underpinned by strong public cloud usage. Data is the next thing I'd highlight, and I'd separate data from artificial intelligence. Data is the massive struggle that every organization has, and again, nowhere more true than in the public sector. Every company's struggling, and it's the quality of the data, the cleanliness of your data, the ability to link it across purposes to serve, provide the services you need across agencies and really meet the needs of the constituents and such. And I think that's a massive task that organizations are dealing with. Then artificial intelligence, I've already hinted at a little bit. We're just like, we're like just here in terms of unpeeling the potential of artificial intelligence. And that's the technology that's moving fastest of everything we've talked about. It's what we write about a lot in the book Radically Human. And I think it's something that my advice would be to really embrace in government, in the state and local agencies, because it has so much potential to offer more services. We're seeing tremendous applications in health, things like treating— treatment applications for certain mental health-related issues, certain other issues. issues that require different support in different ways that artificial intelligence can compensate for, providing efficiency in terms of operations, providing customer responsiveness or citizen responsiveness, as I've talked about earlier. So really tremendous opportunity. And really the way to think about the human capability in that regard is we still need all the people. We still need the people that do the jobs. That's a key thing I wrote about in my first book, Human Machine. Radically Human, it's even more true that this is about augmenting the capability of people. So one of the things we talk about in the book is this idea of moving from machine learning to machine teaching. Machine learning is definitely a key artificial intelligence technique that organizations are adopting, but we're trying to flip people's thinking about it to think about machine teaching. How do you use the people, the expertise that you have in your organizations, and pair the algorithms up with the people to truly have better applications and better ways of serving your constituents.

Yeah, that's great advice. And I think that addresses some of the potential dangers that I think agencies worry about when they think about new technologies that are aware and adaptable. Is there anything else kind of on your list as we think about how should we navigate some of those complexities? We hear about ethical AI, AI bias, all of these nuances that are there. I'd love to get your thoughts on avoiding maybe some of the potential dangers of that. And I love the human-in-the-loop dynamic that you kind of wrote about.

Yeah, I think one of the key— we write about this a lot in the book. We have a framework in the book. It's called the IDEAS framework. I-D-E-A-S. It stands for intelligence, data, expertise, architecture, and strategy. Those are the 5 parts, and we came up with the clever word IDEAS so you can remember it. But what we're doing with that is we're flipping the assumptions, trying to flip people's assumptions of how to think about those. So with intelligence, we talk about less artificial, more human. With data, we talk about from maximum to minimum, because sometimes it's your smallest data. I think this is really important in government applications. Yes, the big data is important, but this small data, small datasets, data that, you know, fragments of data you might have in edge applications and such are really critical, etc. I won't walk through them all, but I'd encourage people to look at to look at that ideas framework in terms of understanding how to flip your assumptions and think about the use of technology differently. And then on this responsibility side, it's something I've been passionate about for many years. We've been— I've been very active, Accenture has been very active in working with organizations such as the Business Roundtable and other global organizations, World Economic Forum, and other local bodies on responsible use and ethical use of artificial intelligence and other technologies. We talk about this a lot in the book, and I would say that there's There's 3 things to really think about when you think about the responsibility. One is trust. How do you— and that's so true, you know, it's so important from a government perspective to, at a time when trust is under question in a lot of ways, is to think about how do you use data and information and technology to create trust. And that's about security, it's about privacy and other things that build on that. There's a safety element of it, which is Are you promoting experiences that lead to safety? If you're using applications, have you thought about the consequences around safe use for— maybe a little less true in government, but in other applications, as we get into metaverse, maybe have you thought about the wellness and safety implications of providing services in the metaverse as an example? Sustainability is a key issue with technology because the interesting stat I'll share with that I think is very relevant and really important for governments to understand is that carbon emissions from technology usage were 1.5% 15 years ago. 15 years ago, 1.5%. 4% today, so almost tripled. Projected to be 14% in another 15 years, which would be catastrophic. So we have an obligation as technologists to understand the sustainability and climate impacts of the technology we're using. Things like cloud can help, but then things like AI could take it in the other direction because of the tremendous tremendous resources it consumes, but there's ways to mitigate that. And we have an obligation, you know, as technologists, again, to understand that. So we created something called the Green Software Foundation, an open source foundation working with many other organizations to bring awareness around these green IT and green software principles to many organizations. And finally, I'd say you mentioned the idea of inclusion and diversity becomes important. Again, that's a critical issue for for government, but making sure that you're designing systems that meet the needs of an inclusive population, looking out for things like bias, etc., are critically important. So those are some of the things to think about. It might sound like an overwhelming list, but it's very manageable to parse these things down and deal with them. We talk about it in the book, and I think it's something we as technologists need to understand and bake into the approaches and processes that we use.

Yeah, no, I think it's really great advice. And, you know, another thing that stood out to me is you kind of talked about these 4 dimensions for businesses to differentiate themselves, and I saw so much parallel with that of government agencies as well, you know, talent, trust, experiences, sustainability, as you talked about. You know, are those all equally applicable to government in your opinion? Any nuances there? Any kind of advice for leaders that are looking at, you know, how to leverage all of this insight that you have to really do things differently and to reimagine the way that, you know, they do government?

I think, yeah, I'll just single out a couple. I think they're all important, they all apply to the public sector as much as the private sector, but I think trust is well understood. I'm not going to go on about that. This audience understands trust, you know, as well as anybody, better than me, I'm sure. Talent is another one of those things we singled out as a differentiator. I'd argue that that's one to really think about because talent, you need the right talent to really succeed in this environment. Technology talent in particular is going to be scarce. And there's 3 things we talk about in the book. Becoming a talent creator, which is how do you create the talent you need because there's not enough available. So at Accenture, for example, in the US, we've committed that 20% of our new hires in the US will be apprenticeships and talent we create, you know, people that aren't— we're not just hiring in from the job market, we're creating, providing people with that ability. So that's an example. There's talent creation. So there's the learning platforms you build because some organizations take a perspective, well, I'll hire the new skills I need. I think you need to reskill the people you have because the talent's always not going to be out there. And then the third is democratizing use of technology. I think that's a big opportunity for government. Low-code, no-code types of tools, citizen data analysts. That really is the future. If you think of every— I talk about the idea that every organization really does become a technology company, which is the implication of all this digital technology. It means it's not just about the IT department, it's about everybody being trained and equipped within the right frameworks to apply technology in the right way. So that's a way to— something I'd offer for this audience to just consider and think about. And then the experience side, I've already talked about sustainability, but the experience side is something we talk about as a differentiator. I think I've seen so many inspiring examples coming from government, the public sector, about unique creative ways that they're creating experiences to serve, provide social services for children and things like that. I think that's a way that, again, government can really distinguish themselves is by applying experience principles at a level at or above the private sector, so we're creating truly meaningful experiences and, you know, great experiences for the constituents and how they, you know, use the services that are coming from government.

Yeah, that's great feedback. So I know that, you know, I promised a metaverse question. So, you know, what does government need to know about, you know, the metaverse, Web3, where these things intersect? I know we've got a few minutes left with you, so I'd love to kind of get your take on the metaverse for state and local government leaders.

I would just say this is— I'm a bit controversial on this topic, so I'll acknowledge that. But I do believe it's a critical and a very important issue for all of us to understand, and it is a big part of the future. I would argue that between now and 2030, which isn't that far away for all of us, as we're— for the things we're working on, the metaverse will transform what we do more than digital technology has in the last 10 years, maybe 20 years. So the metaverse will be transformational. But I'd say that you really need to reframe the way you think about the metaverse. It's not just the consumer things and Decentraland and these crazy things that you see in the non-fungible tokens. That's a small element of the metaverse. The metaverse we described as a continuum that includes digital twin types of applications. It includes augmented reality. It includes how you use the metaverse for workers. In our company, Accenture, we'll onboard 150,000— that's 150,000 employees using immersive 3D headsets and our metaverse, which we call One Accenture Park, to onboard and train those employees. And we're not doing it because it's a gadget, it's cool. We're doing it because it's a better way to create that experience for our employees. And so I think this is transformative. Web3, I think, is a reality. There's a lot of debate about it.

Yep.

Web3 is an inevitability in my perspective, and it's gonna provide what we call the internet of place, which is these new 3D immersive environments. It's going to provide the internet of ownership, which is blockchain and other ways of providing better identity around people and things and money. And it really will create a different future for us. So we have a— separate from my book, I talk about a little bit in the book, but we have a technology vision that I'm happy to send out the links to that goes into detail on why we think the metaverse will be that transformative. We do talk about a number of government and public sector examples. There are such that are going on in South Korea and Singapore, as well as in the United States.

Great. Yeah, we'll put those links in the show notes. And final quick question for you is, where can our audience get a copy of the book?

Well, you can get it anywhere. It's on sale at most virtual outlets. You can get electronic copies. You can get Audible versions, et cetera. Accenture.com/radicallyhuman is the best single place to go because it'll point you all to all those directions, but go to your favorite bookselling site. I'm pleased to see it in many retail— we still have real stores out there, it turns out. But I was walking around some airports and some other stores and pleased to see it on the shelves as well.

Yeah, I love it. There's no pop-up notifications in the physical book. So that's all the time that we've got today. So thanks, Paul, for carving out some time to join us. Tune in on Fridays at 12:00 PM Pacific time on LinkedIn, YouTube, and Twitter, and now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts for more In Case You Missed It. Have a great weekend and we'll have you back again, Paul, in the near future.

A pleasure, Dustin. Thank you.

Thanks.