The Fossa AI Diagnostic

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American Professional Network (APN)  is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) startup designed to help companies, nonprofits, and governments with their AI strategy. Basically, most people are scared that they are going to be replaced by robots and business owners are worried that they are going to be seriously disrupted by all things AI and exponential technology that they don’t  understand. There are basically 3 kinds of entities in the world right now:

  1. Those that have an AI Strategy.

  2. Those that think it’s probably a good idea to create one.
  3. Those that don’t have a clue as to where to start.
We believe at APN that we can help folks in all 3 categories. 

It’s designed to educate a business (both its owners and employees) on the relevant AI and other exponential technologies that affect its industry. It helps reduce fears by showing that employees aren’t going to be replaced...only some of their tasks are. We are entering the era we call the “Augmented Age” which means they will have unprecedented productivity gains from human + machine (humans working with artificial intelligence machines). In the “Missing Middle”, humans work with smart machines to exploit what each party does best. (see illustration above)

The second way we help is with our data science division. Today it is well known that data is the new oil. But not every company is set up to extract this oil. Our data science division assists our Singularity Consultants in finding this “oil”.  More importantly, it is designed with helping the build or buy decision in acquiring the AI necessary to help employees do their jobs more productively.

We are entering the greatest business transformation in history, with humans and machines working together in ways never before imaginable. We believe that CPAs have an incredibly important role in helping guide their clients through this transformation.  Whether it is help with Innovation Accounting or figuring out the ROI’s on AI capital expenditures, clients need help from their most trusted advisor, the CPA, now more than ever!

The Diagnostic Process

The FOSSA AI Diagnostic is a teaching and assessment tool to help organizations create or improve upon their AI Strategy. It is well known that less than 20% of all organizations actually have an AI Strategy and it is predicted that over 40% of all business organizations will be disrupted in the next 5 years. The Diagnostic explains how AI and exponential technologies are being used in organizations today to make them more efficient and how an organization might harness them to gain competitive advantage. Perhaps more importantly, the Exponential Organization (ExO) is introduced which helps increase an organization’s ability to harness AI and increase its ROL (Return on Learning).

Right now in the world there are two skill sets in extremely short supply, people that understand AI strategy and data scientists that understand the most pertinent subset of AI called Deep Learning. We address this situation in two ways. We have a proprietary service we call a ‘Fossa Singularity Diagnostic’ which we perform on businesses. The illustration above how it works.
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Fossa Singularity Diagnostic Steps Description

Step 1

Deliver presentation to all employees “AI Basics and the Future of Work".

1 hour presentation on “need to know” elements of AI.  Emphasizes people and machines working together (people are not going to be replaced...only tasks are).  Emphasizes why a company needs to be a learning organization and value innovation and experimentation.