Business Tansformation
And 'The Fly'

Transformation can be a scary thing. As an experienced leader of high-performing teams, I have led multiple transformations of processes, tools, and teams. I have also been directly impacted by some of these transformations, especially the current AI revolution.

When I was young, my favorite movie was David Cronenberg’s “The Fly.” In the movie, brilliant scientist Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) creates a teleportation system that, during a fit of jealousy, he uses and accidentally fuses his DNA with that of a fly. Eventually, the fly DNA takes over and he transforms into a monster. His girlfriend, Veronica (Geena Davis), is forced to watch his slow, horrific mutation and that surfaces the main theme: How long can you love someone who is changing? Sad, tragic stuff. But, one somewhat unrelated exchange in the movie has always stuck with me. When Veronica discovers that Seth has built the brilliant telepod machines himself, she asks him how. Seth replies:

Aside from Jeff Goldblum's particular way of delivering that line, the point resonates with me. In my career, I have had the fortune to work with very smart, creative people and innovative marketing products. I have been able to put things together in new ways to create something unexpected. Sometimes, it meant redefining how we approached email marketing. Other times, it was designing a new content system that streamlined our operations and accelerated our time-to-market. And, in more esoteric terms, I have put together diverse teams that have created a whole much stronger than the sum of its parts.

In the age of artificial intelligence, this idea of connecting different systems together is even more essential. Different AI tools have different strengths. Knowing which to put together (and how to operate them) opens the door to innovation and efficiency. In the last few years, I have loved using different AI tools to create new processes or content. In particular, combining different open-source image training models has created some spectacular results.

The movie's theme of loving something that is changing is also relevant when looking at today’s technical and marketing environments. After years, if not decades of gradual change, AI is obviously causing immediate seismic changes. I am watching the industries I have loved change into something new. Should I be concerned about what they are becoming? Is AI like the supercharged fly DNA that will ultimately end us? Or, do we embrace the changes and the superpowers they provide? For now, I am more on team “Brundlefly” (the name Seth gives himself during the early days of his transformation when he is still somewhat human but can climb walls like a fly). AI has allowed me to do more, faster, and probably better but it is still important to, as the movie tagline said, “Be afraid. Be very afraid.” Well, maybe not afraid but responsible.