Home » The onwards march of technology and smart systems | Transformation Leaders

The onwards march of technology and smart systems

We ran our first members insight session on GenAI in January 2023, the first in that year’s regular face- to- face central London ‘insight and networking’ series.

We then ran an update session in St James Square for our chosen members and clients in May 2024. We all could see the feeding frenzy on GenAI, reported by Gartner, which continues to be relentless. Best call them ‘large language models’ for GenAI is not really AI. Yet. But certainly Google will start to feel the heat, for ChatGPT often offers a far more useful and quick ‘search process’.

There have been a significant number of GenAI launches since then, all hoping to find new subscribing clients. ChatGPT, the first to emerge, is indeed remarkable. Here is what ChatGPT says about us here recently, in a simple query for ‘60 words on transformation-leaders ’. It appeared, like magic, in 30 seconds.

2024/25 Events

‘Transformation Leaders is a network of elite independent transformation professionals. It connects experienced leaders with businesses seeking successful transformation projects emphasising high level ethics and integrity. The network also offers valuable insight events and networking opportunities, including in-person and virtual sessions. The organisations success is highlighted by its effective track record and commitment to professional development and support for its members.’
Source: ChatGPT. 2024 60 word search request

To this end we have published from the end of our first year of foundation and at the end of every month a digest of things we have learned, including member and client feedback. And usually we publish the slidesets of any insight session given to our members. The link to all these members and client’s newsletters are held in the password protected directory in this website.

We also single out a recommended ‘book of the month’, brought to our notice by our members or clients which have been recently published with fresh and relevant knowledge.

We all know that an inquisitive and well- stocked mind is a critical possession of the best senior independent leaders. Nothing stands still.

In 2024 we have already held the following member sessions

21st February 2024.Army and Navy Club. St James Square A lunchtime gathering of members to discuss and gather inputs for member Jason Sprague’s draft presentation to be made by Jason and David Pinchard in the City of London in April 2024 to 200 delegates at the Business Change and Transformation Conference Europe.

Why a transformation project succeeds using our ‘five rules‘ for transformation success, taking one of our major 2 year projects as an example and the factors that can produce failure.in one of our rare projects which certainly produced value but not in the way we hoped.

23-24th April Business Change and Transformation conference at 133 Houndsditch. City of London. At over £1K a delegate ticket it certainly showed that attending a well planned and run conference by conference experts like IRM UK can be extremely good value. There were many presentations in the two days that showed the way the consultancy industry was getting behind the opportunities that GenAI was promising. A fine presentation was also made just on the subject of the critical nature of financial planning and monitoring of waypoints in a transformation project. For, as we say in our 5th rule of transformation success. Finance caps technology, every time.

On the 25th of January David was invited as a guest to a major London conference next to Cavendish Square by member and banker Eliot Heilpern, who was himself an invited speaker to this remarkable conference on ‘the evolution of ‘payments’ systems. Every director of our bank payments systems was there, including the Treasury appointed ‘payments Tzar’ the ex CEO of Nationwide and critically the key payments head of the Bank of England. Also Fraud specialists and very many top Law firms. Most have little awareness of the incredible movement of money between banks and around the world every second. The conference was full of insight, thus reinforcing the need for all senior independent to invest in such valuable face to face conference sessions as part of their own professional development.

14th May 2024 . Army and Navy Club. Presenter T-L.com member ex Accenture Graham Kennedy. An update on GenAi. The ‘end May members newsletter’ contains a full report and Graham’s slides. But it is becoming increasingly clear that since the thinking behind GenAI search vehicles started to emerge in a small international team in Google in 2017 that enormous sums of money have been and are being spent on variations of GenAi models looking for customer takeup and thus in due course producing subscribers. There will be winners and big losers. What it is clear is that ChatGPT search is faster and often more useful a search mechanism than Google. Big consultancies are working at their big clients to invest in ‘learning’ what GenAi models will produce what savings or increases in competitiveness. In truth learning will be happening on both sides. By the same token what comes out of any GenAI system is only as good as the data that is accessed. And should never be treated as 100% reliable.

One only has to look at the management mess and eye wateringly appalling expensive injustices that were authorised by human management at ALL levels based on ‘dodgy’ outputs by the Fujitsu Horizon system in the Post Office. Always question the data. It could be wrong.

Thursday September 19th 2024 Army and Navy Club. St James Square T-L.com Summer members, clients and friends private room lunch.

Cost to subscribing members was just £60inc vat. £95 to non-subscribing members. We held a very convivial and very useful lunch and day in the centre of London, which was much enjoyed by all. The guest ‘insight address’ was from T-L.com alumnus Ivan Donn, founder MD of www.magnetmotos.co.uk an innovative and successful electric motorbike importer and retailer, founded in Weybridge in 2020.

November 28th . End year dinner. Army and Navy Club . St James Square.
Speaker Guest: CEO of www.ulyssestrust.co.uk Polly Marsh DL. The Important ‘Third Sector’. Successes and challenges. And something of what is coming up in 2025. Security list entry to the club from 6.30pm . Short speaker address from 7.00pm. Then sit down for supper at 7.30pm. Cost £60 for T-L.com subscribing members. £95 for guests, if there is room. Any further information apply info@transformation-leaders.com
RAG members also warmly welcome to join us in the club Library for a glass of wine between 6.30pm and 7.30 to meet Polly.

Thursday January 23rd 2025. Lunchtime insight meeting. St James’s Square. Guest speaker: Will Bentinck. Covering a subject even more important than the ‘coders of data’. Referring to our 2024 ‘5 rules for transformation success’. New Year insight session. Subscribing members £60 inc. vat. Other guests subject to availability. £95 inc. vat. Sandwiches Festive new Year wine. Security entry from 12.30. Start 1.00 finish 3.00pm Apply early to info@transformation-leaders.com

Thursday March 27th 2025. Lunchtime insight meeting. St James Square. Guest speaker: member and successful independent marketing director Peter Henry. ‘Your all important CV, how to express it as a unique ‘brand’. And additionally in this session -Tax for the independent portfolio worker. Major change in the employment market in the last 20 years means IR35 and thus PAYE for now a very large group of self-drive workers is no longer ‘fit for purpose’. IR35, around now for over 20 years ,has become serious inhibitor to the effective use of the fractional, self- drive portfolio worker. Members £65 inc vat all inclusive. Non subscribers, if there is room, £95 inc vat. Apply info@transformation-leaders.com

Thursday May 29th 2025. Lunchtime insight meeting, St James Square. The independent transformation leader as coach. Speaker Chris Brown a top defence contracts lawyer in his career before becoming a very busy senior board level independent He became fascinated by the internal drivers in all human behaviours that influence decision making. So he will be giving new insights into the coaching process which are highly relevant to your effectiveness in helping successful change come about. Members £65 inc vat all inclusive.. Non subscribers, if there is room, £95 inc vat. Apply info@transformation-leaders.com
We aim for two further face to face insight sessions in St James’s, London, after the summer. Details will be announced in due course. At the end of every month now since 2001 we have published a extensive independent report for our members and clients. This is where the detail of what we have learned about this ever- evolving market for ‘projects’ for experienced independents at board level.

Wednesday November 26th. End of year members and friends dinner. The Library, The Army and Navy Club. ( the Rag) St James Square. Diary date. More will follow in due course.

Our Chosen Charity. Since 1992 this excellent charity supports challenging Reserve and Cadet Force expeditions throughout the United Kingdom. Transformation-leaders.com is proud to be partnered with www.ulyssestrust.co.uk. Patron and Trust co-founder is the Prince of Wales, now King Charles the Third. The founding expedition was the first British winter assault on Everest led by Trust co-founder Lt Col Philip Neame MBE, then in command of 10 Para.