The 3 Biggest Threats Business Leaders Are Facing in 2019

As a business leader, which threats have you experienced thus far? Now that 2019 is half over, it's likely that you have run into at least one of these challenges.  One of Britain's top digital influencers and one of Europe's 30 leading women in tech, Shivvy Jervis, shares her insights on the topic.

As a business leader, you will face these 3 core challenges. These may vary in importance depending on your industry and market sector but will include:

• Keeping enterprise and customer data secure - Cybersecurity breaches cost an
  average of $4.4 million each instance and threaten company reputation and sensitive
  data exposure.

• AI-powered cybersecurity systems will need to be incorporated into enterprises to assist CSOs and your teams and you'll need to move away from the traditional username-and-password construct towards bio-security and AI-assisted methods.

• Sifting through the “noise” and building in-house capability – I’m asked on a near-daily basis by decision-makers from business and governments to help identify which new technologies they must consider embedding, those being used by their competitors and how to prioritize implementation. Being able to cut through the vast amount of noise to hone in on the best-in-class startups, founders and future technologies that will help them create in-house capability and be self-reliant.

Does Automation Play an Important Role?

Automation is nothing new, but it’s skyrocketed into mainstream media’s radar over the past few years. AI will have a significant effect on some industries such as manufacturing where many repetitive jobs can be replaced by robotics and automated systems, however, in truth, only 5 percent of jobs can be fully automated.

Shivvy Jervis will join Oslo Business Forum on September 25, 2019. See the full speaker lineup here.

How Can Leaders Prepare For This?

Leaders and business owners need to plan for this transition, assessing which new job functions are needed, and crucially re-skilling employees as much as possible so they aren’t cast aside and instead are enriched by working alongside powerful algorithms that will make their roles more productive. I believe AI will create as many or more jobs as it will potentially displace.

What is the Biggest Risk of All?

Research reveals that 85 percent of business leaders feel they have less than two years to make significant in-roads into digital transformation or they will fall behind, and yet only 25 percent say they understand which digital innovation to embed. Facing up to the realities and rich benefits of the Fourth Industrial Revolution will ensure you are leading the charge and not watching from the sidelines, and I firmly believe we have everything to play for to make this happen.

Interested in hearing more from Shivvy Jervis? Read the article: Steps established companies need to take to survive this disruptive age