Sometimes being a pioneer isn’t easy. As a professional, being first can be perceived by others in the market as too risky, too naive. You might appear to overlook risks, lack mitigation strategies, or even look silly at times.
Yeah, the crazy ones… remember?
But, as my good LinkedIn friend Jesus Serrano once highlighted in a conversation (rephrasing slightly):
„No matter what you’ll do, the fact that you are already in execution mode and others are still just talking about their big plans and concepts DOES set you apart and puts you in a (thought) leadership position.“
It’s refreshing to see public reactions, such as those from Dr. Tristan Behrens (whom I admire for his pioneering spirit in all things AI). Initiatives like the Telekom Huggingface contribution or our fresh Magenta „ColorFix“ demonstrate Deutsche Telekom’s commitment to „putting some skin in the game.“
From an internal perspective, I can attest to the incredible commitment of individuals within our organization who are 200% passionate about their work. There’s a genuine passion (#Werkstolz) not just for doing a great job, but for doing the right thing – finding meaning in daily responsibilities and contributing with impact to change things for the better, far beyond the confines of a Telco infrastructure supplier.
Srini Gopalan stated this year that we strive to be a digital role model for everyone. Witnessing what is currently happening with our company, we are clearly on a promising trajectory. AI is here to stay.