The Tech Council of Australia share 5 pointers to be on the AI ride . Maria Macnamara shares them succinctly in her LinkedIn post
Now's the time to be brave and act.
๐Develop your vision.
๐Choose your niche and own it.
...
๐ฅThere are many things to consider - here are 5 to get you started:
1. be deliberate, move fast and collaborate. There's absolutely no time to waste.
2. plan for the transition of your workforce - they who will need to be re- educated, reskilled, redeployed, retained or retired. AI reduces weeks to minutes.
3. manage the impact on the #environment
4. be conscious of security. The cyber threat is on a whole new level.
5. be alert and alive to what's happening globally - clearly in China and the USA, Middle East, the Stans, the Global South and Africa. Enormous investments are being made there.
VET in NSW have identified the evolving digital skill needs across seven key vocational education sectors in NSW:
Through extensive research, surveys, focus groups, and stakeholder consultations, the project found that 94% of respondents believe jobs now demand more digital skills than just two years ago, yet over 93% reported a significant gap between industry requirements and current training offerings.
Foundational digital competencies such as cyber security, cloud computing, data analysis, and effective digital communication are now baseline expectations across all sectors.
There were 10 cross-industry digital foundation skills that were consistently identified as critical to workforce readiness:
1. Digital literacy (ICT use and navigation)
2. Online communication and collaboration
3. Cyber security awareness
4. Data entry and digital record-keeping
5. Use of workplace-specific software
6. Problem solving with digital tools
7. Online customer service etiquette
8. Digital scheduling and time management tools
9. Remote work protocols and virtual meetings
10. Social media and content creation for business use
These skills support not only individual employability but also organisational resilience and adaptability in an increasingly digital economy.
Inspired by insights from the All-In Podcast with Scott Bessent, Howard Lutnick, Chris Wright, and Doug Burgum
Over the past 200 years, history has repeatedly shown that every seismic shift in innovation—while initially feared—has ultimately led to higher productivity, better living standards, and an expanded workforce.
From the industrial revolution to the digital age, new technologies have displaced some jobs but created many more in return, reshaping society for the better.
Today, we stand at the edge of a new paradigm: Artificial Intelligence
Lessons from the Past
In the recent All-In Podcast episode featuring financial luminaries and political leaders like Scott Bessent, Howard Lutnick, Chris Wright, and Doug Burgum, a compelling case was made for how AI is following a familiar arc of disruption—and opportunity. They placed AI in the context of:
The Railway Boom – which shrunk vast continents and created global trade.
The Airplane Age – opening the skies for commerce and culture.
The Moon Landing – galvanizing innovation and national pride.
Reagan’s Deregulatory 1980s – which unleashed capital markets.
The Internet Explosion of the 1990s – digitizing communication and commerce.
The Smartphone and Social Media Era of the 2010s – which changed how we interact and transact.
Each innovation came with existential hand-wringing over jobs and security. Each time, humanity adapted—and thrived.
AI: A Force for Growth, Not Fear
As Scott Bessent pointed out, AI will not shrink the workforce—it will grow it. But in new, unpredictable ways.
Yes, some repetitive, manual tasks may be automated. But AI will:
Unlock new industries and creative roles
Empower small businesses and solopreneurs
Democratize expertise and education
Accelerate scientific discovery and medical breakthroughs
Doug Burgum, with his experience in technology and governance, argued that AI could be the tool that helps governments do more with less—increasing productivity in the public sector, much like what Reagan’s deregulation did for the private sector in the ’80s.
The Challenges That Lie Ahead
However, AI doesn’t operate in a vacuum. As highlighted by the podcast panel:
Geopolitical tensions, especially around China selling U.S. treasuries, raise questions about global trust in the U.S. financial system.
High debt levels, interest rates, inflation, and tariffs may slow down adoption if capital becomes too expensive.
The U.S. might even face a shift away from traditional Treasury Bills—will the next “currency” of trust be data and energy rather than coins and notes?
Cheap Energy: The Fuel for the AI Boom
One key insight from Chris Wright, a veteran in the energy sector, is that AI’s exponential computing power requires exponential energy supply.
This makes cheap, clean, and scalable energy essential for AI to reach its potential. That could mean:
Major advances in nuclear fusion
A resurgence in next-gen fossil fuel alternatives
A breakthrough in battery storage and grid tech
Climate issues remain a parallel concern. Without a solution to sustainable energy, AI’s growth could be bottlenecked by physical and environmental limits
The AI Era: A Defining Chapter for Humanity
If the past 200 years have taught us anything, it’s this: technological disruption is not the end—it’s a beginning. The AI revolution will not just change how we work. It will change what work is, and who gets to do it.
The All-In Podcast team leaves us with a powerful takeaway: The future is not something we inherit—it’s something we build. And AI, like the railway and the internet before it, is our next great track to lay.
๐ Follow the discussion on the All-In Podcast with Scott Bessent, Howard Lutnick, Chris Wright, and Doug Burgum to hear more real-time insights into AI, economics, and the evolving world order.
Learn “socially acceptable” navigation – like avoiding walking between people mid-conversation!
More than just a mobility aid, it guides, describes surroundings, answers questions, and even helps users find a coffee shop and choose a seat and menu item.
Built in collaboration with Guide Dogs and the UTS Robotics Institute, this modular, evolving innovation is set to transform accessibility and independence for thousands.
An inspiring leap for inclusive AI – and proof that tech with heart changes lives.
In 2022 Nik Storonsky , the founder of Revolut launched QuantumLight, an AI-driven investment platform that replaces traditional investors with machine intelligence and not only scaled a $45B fintech company - he’s now raised $250m and is challenging the entire venture capital model.
No coffee meetings.
No partner pitches.
No “gut feel.”
Instead, the system ingests over 10 billion data points across 700,000+ venture-backed startups. It looks for correlations, anomalies, and signals that even the sharpest GPs might miss.
So far?
It’s working. Their AI-led investments are outperforming top-tier VCs by 2x.
We already rely on #AI in trading, underwriting, even diagnosing disease.
So why are we still backing startups with human bias, pattern recognition, and anecdotal conviction?
versus
a system that’s less emotional, more scalable, and possibly more accurate.
“Should we remove humans from the investment decisions entirely.”
Will QuantumLight replace humans or enable humans to make investment decisions
How important is human bias, pattern recognition, and anecdotal conviction?
Can AI truly understand the founder journey?
The vision, resilience, and timing that often live between the data points?
What happens to VC when the pitch deck matters less than the dataset?
