In AMBITION we analyse regularly the issues and trends that are set to impact business leaders over the coming months, but in a special set of interviews, we asked leaders directly about the challenges keeping them up at night – and what looks set to have an effect on their own organisations over the coming six months
Daniel Cooper, Managing Director at Lolly.co
I can safely say that the level of interest in B2Cs and B2Bs in automation has never been higher.
Staffing shortages mean that companies need to find some way to keep up routine business functions with less staff than ever before. Bots and AI-backed algorithms are moving from being stopgap measures to permanent parts of businesses that once assumed human intervention was entirely necessary.
This is particularly prevalent in retail as we look to the final quarter of 2021. B2Cs that can’t find staff now are surely going to have even greater hiring issues during the inevitable holiday season hiring surge. They want their customer support and service bots built right now to field test and optimize them throughout the third quarter, ensuring that by the fourth they’ll be fully resilient.
By 2022 we’ll see an increased understanding of how human workers and AI bots should work together to deliver even greater value – there’s a real possibility we’ll see open hiring positions for job roles that don’t even exist right now.
The ability to create low-code automation workflows, for example, is increasingly a must-have skill for positions in all departments and industries.
Max Benz, Founder and CEO at remote-job.net
In our increasingly digitalised society, we are seeing a shift in how people use time.
With AI assistance, it is no longer difficult for businesses to find the right content for their audience. However, this can only be achieved with the help of a skilled writer who understands the core emotions that drive an audience’s purchasing decisions and can write according to them.
The future of content marketing is one that has been shaped by AI. It is becoming more about finding organic ways to reach out to your target audience and delivering them what they want to convert them into customers rather than merely trying to sell them on something else.
It is predicted that the global ecommerce market size will increase from $2.15 trillion in 2020 to $2.84 trillion in 2022.
According to estimates by UBS Group, the luxury market will be worth around $1.8 trillion in 2021 and will grow to a total value of $3.3 trillion by 2022, which translates into a compound annual growth rate of 4%.
In other words, global e-commerce sales are expected to be double what they were just four years ago and should continue their rapid growth over the next few years.
Ben Wallington, CEO of Designerwear
Business is rapidly changing, and here is my prediction for what’s coming next.
Softer skills – like business writing – will take precedence over the next few years. Since travel and in-person interactions will reduce greatly, both because of unpredictability and safety issues, written communication may very well the first interaction between business associates.
While this has always been important, it may turn into what is most important over the next few years. If written communication becomes the primary mode of communication, ranking above meetings and conferences, this is a soft skill that must be perfected.
Anthony Martin, Founder and CEO, Choice Mutual
With many companies moving to the remote model on a long-term basis their talent acquisition strategies are constantly evolving.
The employment market will favour candidates with strong hard skills and weak soft skills as structuring of the teams become more focused on just getting the job done rather than taking into consideration personality fit. Communication skills will also be at the forefront with brevity being replaced with in-depth and full information briefs to stream line processes and avoid miscommunications.
Michael Hamelburger, CEO of Sales Therapy
As mobile devices move to 5G, more buyers are expected to leverage on technology to transact with online shops through their mobile phones.
All things considered, organisations ought to give an approach to work with a more smoothed out versatile business measure. With the developing portion of the overall industry of versatile business, we can anticipate more choices for portable instalments and exchanges sooner rather than later.
